Law making: law reform Flashcards
What is law reform?
Law reform or legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing change in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency. Intimately related are law reform bodies or law commissions, which are organizations set up to facilitate law reform.
They include the simplification and modernisation of the law through recommendations on codification, the removal of anomalies, and the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments.
who is the law commission?
the law commission act 1965, full time body, chairman plus 4 judges. support staff assist with research
review the law in particular with the codification of such law, elimination of anomalies, repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments. the simplification
what does it mean to reform?
the law commission may select areas itself - seek government approval to draft a report
What is codification:
review all the law on a particular topic, create a new code to cover all aspects of law, the code is likely to include existing law as well as new laws where old law was unsatisfactory. draft criminal law bill
Codification is the process of bringing together a legal act (or several related acts) and all its amendments into a single new act.
Codification can take two forms:
vertical – where an original act and its amendments are incorporated into a single new act; or
horizontal – where two or more original acts covering related subjects, and any amendments to them, are merged into a single new act.
What is consolidation?
draws all law on one area into one act; this doesn’t change or review any existing law. may be needed when areas of law fall under different statutes
e.g sentencing powers 2003
Consolidation Bills bring together a number of existing Acts of Parliament on the same subject into one Act without changing the law in any way. They are used as a way of tidying-up areas of statute law that have become fragmented over time.
For this reason Consolidation Bills are normally passed by Parliament with little or no debate.
What is a repeal?
old acts that are no longer needed are identified
revokes or rescinds it wholly or in part. The word ‘repeal’ is used for primary legislation. The word ‘revoke’ is used to similar effect for delegated legislation. Repeal of legislation is usually made expressly, but can also be implied.
In reforming the law, the Law Commission does not just propose new laws. It also proposes the repeal of laws that have become obsolete.
The purpose of our statute law repeals work is to modernise and simplify the statute book, reduce its size and save the time of lawyers and others who use it.
This in turn helps to avoid unnecessary costs. It also stops people being misled by obsolete laws that masquerade as live law.
If an Act still features in the statute book and is referred to in text books, people reasonably enough assume that it must mean something.
repealed 209 complete acts
how successful are the law commission?
85% success rate in the first 10 years
50% success rate in the next 10 years
1990s - none of the reforms were passed
March 2016:
217 reports published
66% implemented
31 rejected
19 still waiting
e.g. consumer rights act 2015
criminal justice and courts act
govt disinterested in reforms, may not have to discuss issues that are not time critical
- requires the LC to report to parliament annually on the governments progress at implementing reports
- a new protocol sets out that the relevant govt. minister must send a response within a year
- a dedicated govt procedure to ensure repirts are passed
What are the advantages of law reform?
independent- free of govt. bias
legal experts- research is thorough, expertise knowledge
whole areas- can consider whole areas for reform not individual parts. allows them to take an overall look at the law, which is better for resolving the wider issues in it.
consultation- anyone can see it i.e. media, more accurate.
simplify and modernise the law
What are the disadvantages of law reform?
-long process: reviews take time so may take years + out of date
-heavy workload: some areas may not be reviewed as well
-consult: govt. doesn’t have to consult them,
implement: not in control, waste
some dont get implemented,
non fatal offences is still waiting to be reformed + negligence
discuss other matters - pure law is often not seen as a priority
What does the law commission consider?
the Law Commission takes three things into account. Firstly, it considers the importance of the suggested reform and how much the law would benefit from reform. Secondly, it looks at whether the area is suitable for review by the Law Commission. Finally, it will consider whether there are the resources available to review the law in question, for example, in terms of funding and experience.
What is the law reform commission?
what is the law reform commission? The Law Commission is a statutory independent body that keeps the law under review and recommends reform where it is needed. The aim of the Commission is to ensure that the law is fair, modern, simple and as cost-effective as possible. to conduct research and consultations in order to make systematic recommendations for consideration by Parliament, and
to codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments and reduce the number of separate statutes.
What is the make up of the law reform commission?
he Board of the Law Commission is made up of the Chair, four Commissioners, the Chief Executive, up to three Non-Executive Board Members, the Head of Legal Services and the Head of Corporate Services. Commissioners work full time, but they may also do some other work such as judicial training or judicial service. The Board is also assisted by members of the Government Legal Service, two Parliamentary Counsel and research assistants.The Chair will be either a High Court or Appeal Court judge and is appointed by the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Justice for up to three years. They will be the public face of the Law Commission and will lead the Board in certain areas of law reform.
