(1) A finding of guilt or conviction of an old offence counts as a finding of guilt or conviction of a new offence for the purpose of determining whether or not a person has previously been found guilty or convicted of the new offence.
(2) For this section:
(a) an old offence is an offence under a repealed statutory provision which is constituted by the same acts, omissions, matters, circumstances or things as an offence (the new offence) under an Act or an instrument of a legislative or administrative character which substantially re-enacts (whether in the same language or not) the repealed statutory provision; and
(b) a repealed statutory provision is an Act or a provision of an Act that has been repealed or an instrument of a legislative or administrative character or a provision of such an instrument that has been repealed or revoked.
(3) This section applies even where the new offence differs from the old offence in:
(a) its penalty; or
(b) the procedure applicable to its prosecution; or
(c) its classification; or
(d) its name;
unless a contrary intention appears in the Act or the instrument of a legislative or administrative character that creates the new offence.