The Letters Patent of 13 December 1948  and the Royal Instructions of 13 December 1948 set the foundation for the constitutional arrangements in this period.  The constitutional changes set out in these documents came into effect on 1 January 1949.  These new arrangements increased the distance between the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies.  The Falkland Islands lost its ability to legislate for the Dependencies however any Falkland Islands Ordinances that had already been applied to the Dependencies prior to 1 January 1949 continued to apply.

Any new Ordinance applying in the Dependencies had to be an Ordinance of the Dependencies.  In this period some 35 Application of Colony Laws Ordinances were enacted which applied some 170 Falkland Islands Ordinances in the Dependencies.  There were a handful of substantive Dependencies Ordinances in addition.  Some of these Ordinances are still in effect.

In 1943 the Falkland Islands embarked upon a process of consolidating its existing laws.  This process took 10 years and necessitated the passage of 9 Ordinances – 3 of which were Ordinances of the Dependencies specifically dealing with this consolidation process.  In addition the Falkland Islands took the opportunity to update and amend many of its laws prior to the publication of the 1951 Consolidation.   See also Laws Underpinning the 1951 Revised Edition of Laws.  Most of the laws in this 1951 Consolidation  applied in the Dependencies.

Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS)

The final Ordinance in Volume 1 of the 1951 publication of ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies’ is the Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS). This Ordinance is Chapter 1 (and in fact the sole entry) in the Dependencies Series of Ordinances.

In the period 1949-1985 this Ordinance had significant constitutional importance as it regulated how Falkland Islands Ordinances and secondary legislation applied in the Dependencies. Even now the Ordinance remains of importance when considering and interpreting laws from this period that remain in force.

With the coming into force of Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS) no Ordinances of the Falkland Islands passed after 1 January 1949 automatically applied in the Dependencies – although secondary legislation did. New Ordinances applying in the Dependencies from this date had to be enacted as Ordinances of the Dependencies. See the page How To Check Whether Falkland Islands Laws Applied In The Dependencies and Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS) for more information

Origins of Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS)

This Ordinance emerged from:

• Dependencies Ordinance 1908;
• Eight Ordinances that amended the Dependencies Ordinance 1908 in the period 1950-1951; and
• The consolidation process that produced the 1951 publication of ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies.’

In essence the Application of Colony Laws Ordinance is a heavily amended, consolidated and retitled Dependencies Ordinance 1908.

Key dates in the Ordinance emerging, applying etc:

Citation and the risk of confusion

The long title to the Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS) is:

“An Ordinance to provide for the application to the Dependencies of Certain Ordinances of the Colony.”

The short title is: ‘Application of Colony Laws Ordinance.’ Unfortunately since this Ordinance was published in 1951 there have been around 40 Ordinances with very similar short titles. Any and all of them could be abbreviated to ‘ACLO’

The correct short title citation does not include reference to any date. All the other Application of Colony Laws Ordinances do include a date in their short title.

Given that the Application of Colony Laws Ordinance emerged through:

• a series of amendments and retitling of the Dependencies Ordinance 1908; and
• the consolidation process attendant on producing 1951 publication of ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies’;

and that it was applied retrospectively choosing a date to apply to it solely for the purpose of distinguishing from other Ordinances has its difficulties. There would be some logic in ascribing ‘1949’ given that it came into force on 1 January 1949. However, it did not emerge into the form it was published in the 1951 publication of ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies’ until December 1951. The form the Ordinance took in that publication took account of six amending Ordinances all dating from 1951 notwithstanding that the 1951 publication of ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies’ published the laws in force on 31 December 1950!

The Ordinance is referred to Chapter 1 (DS) in 1951 publication of ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies.’
Both for ease of reference and in an attempt to minimise confusion the following convention is adopted for this website:

• the Ordinance is referred to as Application of Colony Laws Ordinance (Cap 1 DS); and
• all Application of Colony Laws Ordinances that had as their primary function the application of Falkland Islands laws in or to the Dependencies are referred to as ‘ACLOs’ and are cited with reference to their year – eg ACLO 1959. If there was more than one ACLO in that year the second or subsequent ACLO includes the relevant number – eg ACLO2 1957. In 1965 there were two ACLOs given the same short title ‘Application of Colony Laws Ordinance 1965.’ The second one of these is referred to as ACLO(2) 1965.