Law commission

Question 1

Set up by

Answer 1

law commission act 1965

Question 2

Consist of

Answer 2

Seperate from gov
5 full time commissioners: chairperson (high court judge of appeal)
4 further commissioners who are judges, barristers, solicitors or academics in law
Supperted by chief exec and 20 members of gov legal service
2 parliamentary counsel who draft laws
Research assistants

Question 3

Involves

Answer 3

Receive and consider proposals and consult interested parties
Codify, consolidate and repeal

Question 4

Codify

Answer 4

Bring together existing law in one area to one act
combines existing acts of parliament and common law from courts
E.g. draft criminal code 1985

Question 5

Consolidate

Answer 5

Brings all existing law in one area into act
only combines existing acts of parliament
E.g. sentencing act 2020

Question 6

Repeal

Answer 6

identifies old laws not needed and removes them
E.g. statute law (repeals) act 1985 - 150 outdated laws removed

Question 7

Process

Answer 7

Referral
Research
Consultation
Proposal for reform
Draft bill

Question 8

Referral

Answer 8

Topics referred to law commission
Can be referred by lord chancellor/ government
Can also be by MOP or pressure groups
Law commission can also identify it themselves

Question 9

Research

Answer 9

Commissioners research area of law in need of reform
Identify the existing laws in that area and identify why its needed

Question 10

Consultation

Answer 10

Produce a consultation paper which asks for views from interested parties
Consultation paper describes the law, explains problems, and looks at options for reform

Question 11

Proposals for reform

Answer 11

After consultation, views are considered and report is finalized
Report includes research
Made public and copy sent to government

Question 12

draft bill

Answer 12

Report includes draft proposal for what new law could look like
Makes easy for government to enact law
only 1 in 3 introduced

Question 13

Advantages

Answer 13

Research by legal experts so is thorough and lot of time put in
Consultation process allows interested parties to be considered, so is fit for purpose
Whole areas of law looked at, making it more coherent such as sentencing act being all in one place for rules
Independent from government
Successful in making changes such as Computer misuse act needed change

Question 14

Disadvantages

Answer 14

1/3 introduced means 2/3 ignored despite lot of time e.g. draft criminal code 1995
Can be doing 20-30 at a time meaning research lacks focus
Takes years to produce report, so issues may not exist by then
No guarantee final law reflects law commissions proposals, second reading etc…