Law Commission Flashcards
Describe law Commission
Set up in 1965.
It consists of a chairman, a high court judge and 4 law commissioners who are experts in certain areas of law
There are also researchers and draftsmen who prepare proposed Bills
What is the role of Law Commission?
Is it to consider areas of law that are believed to be in need of reform
And set out by s 3 of the LC act that it, s role is codification of such law, the elimination of anomalies, the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments and the simplication and modernisation of the Law
How does the Law Commission works?
The government may refer topics to the commissioner or it may select areas of law in need of reform
Firstly, it researches areas of law in thought to be in need of reform
Secondly, it publishes a consultation paper seeking views from lawyers
Consultation paper will suggest options of reform
The Commission will then draw up proposals for reform in a report
What happeneds in the repeal of existing law?
There are many old, unessecery and irrelevant statutes still in existence
The LC prepares a repeal Bill for Parliament to consider
2015, 19 statute Law repeal acts and the whole of 3000 old acts have been repealed
What happens in Consolidation?
It aims to draw all the existing provisions together in one Act to make the law more accessible
The LC produces about 5 consolidation Bills each year
However, consolidation is not always successful
Example powers of Criminal Courts act. 2000
What happens in codification?
Involves bringing together all the law on a topic (both statutory and judicial precedent) into one single law
The LC continues to press for a sentencing code so that all the law is one document.
This will make the law more accessible and understandable and give consistency and certainty
What are the disadvantages of Law Commission?
Firstly, There has been a failure of parliament to implement it’s reforms. Parliament has to wait for the government to accept a report and act on it
Secondly, some areas of law has not been changed yet. The LC recommended reforms to the criminal law on non fatal offences in 1999 and to the civil law of negligence in 1998 but neither area of law has been changed
Thirdly, the government is not bound to consult the LC before bringing any changes in the law of Parliament
Example is that it was not consulted in the change of sentencing
What are the advantages of the Law commission?
Areas of law are researched by legal experts
The LC is politically independent to ensure it’s recommendation reform are impartial, objective and based on legal principles
It’s recommendations are based on through research
Draft bills are prepared and presented to Parliament
Many old irrelevant laws are removed from the statute book
Successes of law commission?
The fraud act 2006 which simplified the law on fraud
The corporate manslaughter and corporate Homicide act 2007 made corporations and organizations criminally liable for deaths caused of their working practices
Successes of law commission?
The fraud act 2006 which simplified the law on fraud
The corporate manslaughter and corporate Homicide act 2007 made corporations and organizations criminally liable for deaths caused of their working practices
