Railway and Canal Commission (Abolition) Act 1949
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1949 c. 11 |
| Year | 1949 |
Railway and Canal Commission (Abolition) Act, 1949
(12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 11
An Act to abolish the Railway and Canal Commission and make provision for the future exercise and performance of their functions; to amend and repeal certain enactments relating to their functions; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[9th March 1949]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Abolition of Railway and Canal Commission and general provisions as to transfer of their functions.
(1) The Railway and Canal Commission (in this Act referred to as ‘the Commission’) shall cease to exist, and the functions which immediately before the commencement of this Act were functions of the Commission shall—
(a ) so far as they extend to England and Wales, be exercised and performed by the High Court; and
(b ) so far as they extend to Scotland, be exercised or performed by the Court of Session;
and any reference to the Commission in any enactment relating to the functions aforesaid shall, in relation to those functions, be construed as references to the aforesaid courts:
Provided that this section shall not apply to functions of the Commission as respects which provision is made by any of the following sections of this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the expression ‘enactment’ includes any regulation, order or other instrument made under an Act of Parliament.
2 Functions of Commission under the Telegraph Acts.
(1) For section four of the Telegraph Act, 1878 , (which provides for the determination of differences relating to telegraphs on streets and public roads by a stipendiary magistrate or county court judge in England or Wales or Northern Ireland, or by the sheriff in Scotland, subject to a right of appeal to the Commission) there shall be substituted the following section:—
4 ‘Differences generally to be determined by a county court or the sheriff, subject to appeal to High Court or Court of Session.
4. Where—
the difference shall be determined by a county court:
Provided that an appeal shall lie to the High Court from any determination under this section of a county court and any such appeal shall be by way of re-hearing before a single judge who shall be designated from time to time by the Lord Chief Justice.
(2) In the application of this section to Scotland, for references to the county court there shall be substituted references to the sheriff, for the reference to the High Court there shall be substituted a reference to the Court of Session, and for the reference to the Lord Chief Justice there shall be substituted a reference to the Lord President of the Court of Session.
(3) In the application of this section to Northern Ireland, for the first reference to a county court there shall be substituted a reference to the county court having jurisdiction within the district in which the difference has arisen; for the reference to the Lord Chief Justice there shall be substituted a reference to the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland; and as respects any appeals to the High Court, provision may be made by rules of the Supreme Court under section sixty-one of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland), 1877 , as amended by the Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) (No. 2) Act, 1897 , for regulating the time within which appeals to the High Court may be made and the procedure and costs of such appeals.’
(2) Section five of the Telegraph Act, 1878, except so far as it relates to differences between the Postmaster General and any body or person having any right, power, jurisdiction, or authority in, over or relating to any estuary, branch of the sea, or the shore or bed of any tidal water, shall cease to have effect, and accordingly shall be repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the Schedule to this Act.
(3) Any difference arising under the Telegraph (Construction) Act, 1911 , shall be determined in the manner specified in section four of the Telegraph Act, 1878, as amended by this section.
(4) Any reference in any other enactment to section four or section five of the Telegraph Act, 1878, shall be construed as a reference to that section as amended by this section.
(5) Section one of the Telegraph (Arbitration) Act, 1909 (which provides for the referring to the Commission of differences arising under the Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1908) shall have effect as if references to the Commission were construed, as respects England and Wales and Northern Ireland, as references to the High Court and, as respects Scotland, as references to the Court of Session.
3 Determination of questions under Defence of the Realm \(Acquisition of Land) Act, 1916.
(1) Any question arising under the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition of Land) Act, 1916 , as to the compensation payable in respect of the use of land under section four of that Act shall be determined by an official arbitrator appointed under the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919 , such arbitrator to be selected in accordance with rules made by the Reference Committee under section one of the last mentioned Act; and section three, subsections (4) to (8) of section five, and section six of the last mentioned Act shall apply to proceedings for the determination of any such question, subject to...
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