2013 District of Columbia Code
Division VIII — GENERAL LAWS
Title 45 — COMPILATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF CODE
Chapter 4 — LAWS REMAINING IN FORCE
Section 45-401 — Common law, principles of equity and admiralty, and acts of Congress.

(a) The common law, all British statutes in force in Maryland on February 27, 1801, the principles of equity and admiralty, all general acts of Congress not locally inapplicable in the District of Columbia, and all acts of Congress by their terms applicable to the District of Columbia and to other places under the jurisdiction of the United States, in force in the District of Columbia on March 3, 1901, shall remain in force except insofar as the same are inconsistent with, or are replaced by, some provision of the 1901 Code.
(b) The repeal of a criminal statute in the District of Columbia that is declaratory of or in abrogation of a common law crime shall not reinstate the common law crime.

History
(Mar. 3, 1901, 31 Stat. 1189, ch. 854, § 1; Apr. 29, 2004, D.C. Law 15-154,§ 3(l), 50 DCR 10996.)

Annotations
Prior Codifications. 1981 Ed., § 49-301.
1973 Ed., § 49-301.

Effect of Amendments. D.C. Law 15-154 designated the existing text as subsection (a); and added subsec. (b).

Legislative History of Law 15-154. Law 15-154, the "Elimination of Outdated Crimes Amendment Act of 2003", was introduced in Council and assigned Bill No. 15-79, which was referred to Committee on the Judiciary. The Bill was adopted on first and second readings on October 7, 2003, and November 4, 2003, respectively. Signed by the Mayor on November 25, 2003, it was assigned Act No. 15-255 and transmitted to both Houses of Congress for its review. D.C. Law 15-154 became effective on April 29, 2004.