Law reform Flashcards
What ways can you think of that bring about change in the law?
- Judicial change.
- Reform by Parliament
- Pressure groups
- Law reform agencies.
Should the courts / judges be making such important changes to the law as seen in R v R?
R v R [1991] the House of Lords determined that under English criminal law, it is a crime for a husband to rape his wife.
Both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords upheld the rape conviction, declaring that a marital rape exemption did not exist in English law[1] and that therefore, it is possible for a husband to rape his wife
Is judicial law making popular?
NO.
* It is undemocratic and unconstitutional.
* Judges are not representative and have a narrow view of the law.
* They do not benefit from the debate and discussions that take place in Parliament.
Most of law reform is carried out by Parliament – 4 ways:
- Repeal - If the government repeals a law, it officially ends it, so that it is no longer valid
- Creation of a new law - Any new law that comes into effect.
- Consolidation - 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
- Codification is the process of bringing together a legal act (or several related acts) and all its amendments into a single new act.
e.g. Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILLS
- What is it?
- Examples of successful Private Members bills.
MPs can respond to their constituents’ concerns by introducing a Private Members’ Bill.
- The concept is that the MP will win a ballot which gives them 20 minutes to pitch their proposal in the House of Commons.
- Very unlikely to be successful.
- Examples:
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
New upskirting offence
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Abortion Act 1965
What pressure groups can you think of?
- Charities e.g. Shelter, Child
- Poverty Action
- Professional bodies such as the GMC
- JUSTICE
- Greenpeace, CND
If you were a member of a Pressure group how would you go about campaigning for a change in the law?
- Publicity.
- Petitions.
- Lobbying MPs.
- Demonstrations.
- Writing to MPs/ Ministers.
Snowdrop Petition (Dunblane) managed to persuade the Government to ban most types of handguns .
What other forms of pressures for change can you think of?
- Public opinion
- Media pressure/ campaigns e.g. Stephen Lawrence; ‘naming and shaming’ paedophiles
- Treaty obligations influence changes in our law.
- Other political parties
- The civil service
Influencing Parliament: THE MEDIA.
When might the media be used to influence parliament?
- Issues of public concern can be highlighted in the media.
- Campaigns can be run through the tabloids to put pressure on the media.
- Examples:
Sarah’s Law (disclosure of convicted sex offenders)
Clare’s Law (disclosure of partners’ violent history)
Influencing Parliament: E-PETITIONS
- Who can start an e-petition?
- How many signatures do you need to get the topic debated in the House of Commons?
- Can you give any examples of successful e-petitions?
Influencing Parliament:
e-PETITIONS
* Anyone can start a petition on the UK Parliament website.
- 10,000 signatures = response from House of Commons
- 100,000 signatures = debated in the House of Commons.
- Current statistics (March 2019):
295 = received a response
53 = debated in House of Commons. - Examples:
- reform to sentencing for knife crime
- lower age for smear tests from 25 to 18
Influencing Parliament: PRESSURE GROUPS
Pressure groups fall into two main categories… Can you name them?
Two types of pressure groups:
- Interest Groups:
These are groups which represent the interests of their members, and membership is restricted to the people they represent.
Examples: Law Society, British Medical Association, National Union of Teachers. - Cause Groups:
These are groups which represent a common cause, based on the shared interests of its members.
Examples: Greenpeace, Fathers 4 Justice, Age UK.
Describe how pressure groups can be effective/ineffective?
Effective:
− Facilitate public discussion and educate people
− Specialist knowledge can inform governments - They can act as a consultative body by being consulted as part of the Green and White Paper process.
− Enhance democracy and encourage people to engage in
politics.
Ineffective:
− Only provide a one-sided view of an issue
− Undemocratic in the sense that they are unelected
− Can use illegal tactics to attract attention – Occupy London.
The Law Commission
- When was it set up?
- Who makes up the law commission?
- What is its task?
The Law Commission - Set up in 1965 - Set up under s3 Law Commission Act 1965 to “keep under review all the law”
5 people from - judiciary, legal profession and legal academics, assisted by legally qualified civil servants
Law Commission’s task is to:
* Codify the law;
* Remove anomalies in the law;
* Repeal obsolete and unnecessary legislation;
* Consolidate the law;
* Simplify and modernise the law.
* The Commission publishes a consultation paper and final recommendations are set out in a report with a draft Bill
LAW COMMISSION
Describe the 3 stage process
LAW COMMISSION
- Process:
Research – Consultation – Report
Draft Bill – Parliament.
Repeal: to delete old, obsolete and out of date laws. Example: Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013.
Create: to create new laws in response to public demand or because of pressure from other groups.
Example: Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
Consolidate: to bring together successive statutes on the same subject. Example: Care Act 2014.
Codify: to bring together all the rules including case law into one statute.
Example: failed attempt to codify criminal law in UK / Legislation (Wales) Bill 2020 to codify Welsh law.
Law Commission Act 2009:
Key feature?
In November 2009 the Law Commission Act 2009 was passed by Parliament (amending the Law Commissions Act 1965).
A key feature of this Act is that it places a requirement on the Lord Chancellor to report to Parliament annually on the Government’s progress in implementing our reports.
