{"id":"tas:act-1947-044","name":"Acts Enumeration Act 1947","slug":"acts-enumeration-act-1947","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"44 of 1947","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110548,"registerId":"tas-act-1947-044-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"### 1 Short title\n\n> This Act may be cited as the [Acts Enumeration Act 1947](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1947-044) .","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Acts to be numbered according to the calendar year","content":"### 2 Acts to be numbered according to the calendar year\n\n> > (1)  Notwithstanding any law or practice to the contrary, the Acts of Parliament of this State shall, after 1st January 1948, be numbered according to the secular or calendar year, and not according to the year of His Majesty's reign.\n> \n> > (2)  A new series of numbers shall be commenced with the first Act passed in each successive year.\n> \n> > (3)  *\\[Section 2 Subsection (3) added by No. 48 of 1953, s. 2 \\]*Notwithstanding any law, rule of law, or practice to the contrary, for the purposes only of this section and of [section 13 of the](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1931-059#GS13@EN) [Acts Interpretation Act 1931](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1931-059) an Act shall be deemed to be passed in the year in which the Bill for that Act is agreed to (whether with or without amendment) by both Houses of Parliament.","sortOrder":1}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Title/Preamble","severity":"high","reasoning":"An Act designed to enumerate other Acts should contain, at minimum, a list or schedule of Acts. The absence of any substantive provisions makes it impossible to assess whether the Act fulfils its own stated purpose, creating a functional absurdity where the enumerating Act enumerates nothing visible.","confidence":0.6,"description":"The Act is titled 'Acts Enumeration Act 1947' but the actual substantive content of the Act is entirely absent from the provided text. An Act whose purpose is presumably to enumerate Acts contains no enumeration whatsoever in its accessible form."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"A document described as 'current to date' in 2026 but last modified in 2019 creates a logical tension between 'currency' and 'modification'. While not a legal absurdity per se, it undermines the reliability of the currency claim and raises questions about whether intervening amendments have been captured.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The Act is stated to be 'current from 1 February 1997 to date (accessed 3 April 2026 at 15:24)' yet the file is stated to have been 'last modified 23 October 2019'. These two claims are in tension: if the Act is current 'to date' (2026) but was last modified in 2019, it is unclear how currency is maintained without modification."},{"type":"circular_definition","section":"Title/Header (repeated throughout)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The entire visible text of the Act consists of repeated headers referring only to itself and its own status information. There is no operative provision, definition, or substantive clause. An Act that contains only its own title and administrative metadata is circularly self-referential and legally inoperative.","confidence":0.45,"description":"Every heading and section title in the Act is duplicated verbatim (e.g., 'Acts Enumeration Act 1947 Acts Enumeration Act 1947', 'Status Information Status Information', 'Authorisation Authorisation'). While likely a rendering artefact, if taken as the legislative text itself, the Act is entirely self-referential and repetitive with no unique substantive content."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Status Information - Currency of version ('current from 1 February 1997 to date (accessed 3 April 2026 at 15:24)')","section_b":"Status Information - Authorisation ('File last modified 23 October 2019')","confidence":0.65,"description":"The Act claims to be current up to 3 April 2026, yet the underlying file was last modified on 23 October 2019 — nearly seven years prior. This is contradictory because a document that has not been modified since 2019 cannot, without explanation, be authoritatively described as current to 2026, particularly given the disclaimer that updates typically occur within 3 working days of legislative change."}]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No. The Act's scope remains narrowly confined to specifying year-based numbering of Acts and a limited deeming rule about the year an Act is taken to be passed for the purposes of this section and s13 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1931. It does not expand beyond citation, dating and administrative effects."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute with a single primary rule (change of numbering method)","Contains a deeming provision (s2(3)) that interacts with another statute (Acts Interpretation Act 1931 s13)","Requires administrative and bibliographic changes by parliamentary counsel, printers and legal publishers","Low substantive legal ambiguity but creates reliance/retroactivity considerations for citation and document dating","Amendment history reference (1953 insertion) adds interpretive context that implementers must note"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act changes how State Acts are numbered: from 1 January 1948 onward they are numbered by calendar year and a new numbering series starts each year, and for the purposes of this rule and s13 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1931 an Act is treated as passed in the year its Bill was agreed to by both Houses (s2(1)–(3)). It affects parliamentary drafters, statute publishers and anyone citing laws; it requires administrative updates to citation, printing and record-keeping and imposes minimal direct costs."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available text, the Act appears to have remained consistent with its original administrative purpose of enumerating (numbering and cataloguing) Tasmanian Acts since 1947. The fact that it has been largely unchanged since at least 1 February 1997 suggests no significant scope creep or expansion beyond its original intent."},"complexity_factors":["The Act appears to be purely administrative in nature, dealing only with cataloguing and numbering legislation","Very limited operative content is visible in the provided text — mostly metadata and status information","No complex legal definitions, rights, obligations, or enforcement mechanisms are apparent","Long-standing law (1947) with minimal amendments suggests stable, simple content","Narrow, technical purpose with no significant public-facing impact"],"plain_english_summary":"The Acts Enumeration Act 1947 establishes a uniform numbering and filing system for Tasmanian Acts, giving each law a unique reference so statutes can be identified, cited, and tracked. It mainly matters to legal professionals, public servants, and government administrators who manage and reference the statute book, keeping legislative records organized and searchable."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of changing the numbering system for Acts from regnal years to calendar years. The 1953 amendment merely clarified the timing rule without expanding scope."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 operative subsections","No defined terms section","Single cross-reference to the Acts Interpretation Act 1931","Straightforward declaratory language with minimal conditional logic","Historical amendment note embedded in text but not affecting operative complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"This law changes how Acts of Parliament are numbered. Before 1948, Acts were numbered based on the year of the King's reign (like \"15 Geo. VI\"). After 1948, they are numbered by calendar year (like \"Act No. 1 of 1948\"). Each year starts a fresh numbering sequence (so there's a new \"Act No. 1\" every January). The law also clarifies that an Act is considered \"passed\" in the year when both Houses of Parliament agree to the Bill — even if the formal assent happens later."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/acts-enumeration-act-1947","history":"/api/acts/acts-enumeration-act-1947/history","analysis":"/api/acts/acts-enumeration-act-1947/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/acts-enumeration-act-1947/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/acts-enumeration-act-1947/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/acts-enumeration-act-1947/documents"}}