Law Reform

Question 1

What is Law reform?

Answer 1

The process of ensuring that new laws are formed and existing laws are reformed when necessary to keep the legal system in an accessible and manageable state

Question 2

Why is Law reform necessary?

Answer 2

To allow our legal system to maintain effective by adapting and developing alongside society.

Question 3

What are the 6 main bodies that influence law reform?

Answer 3

-Government
-Judges
-Media and the Public
-The Law Commission
-Pressure Groups
-“others” e.g Royal Commissions

Question 4

How does the Government influence law reform?

Answer 4

-Proposals for law reform are commonly set out in their election Manifesto and announced each year at the opening of a new session of Parliament

Question 5

State some negatives on the Governments influence on law reform

Answer 5

• Possibly politically motivated and no truly focused on “pure law reform”
• Some statutes can often be unclear and confusing due to knee jerk reactions such as the Dangerous Dog Act 1991 with its vague terminology
• Governments tend to like to “make their mark” whist in power

Question 6

State some positives on the Governments influence on law reform

Answer 6

• The government has the right of initiative and can be proactive, by being able to propose any law at any time which allows necessary laws to be amended which allows our legal system to remain up to date

Question 7

State some Negatives on the Governments influence on law reform

Answer 7

-Law making may be politically motivated rather than focused on “pure law reform”
-May cause “knee-jerk” reactions that leave laws confusing e.g Dangerous Dog Act 1991 with its vague terminology
-Governments tend to like to make their mark

Question 8

How can judges influence law reform ?

Answer 8

• Judges can sometimes decide original precedent to ensure the law is effective and up to date
  -Judges can also modify the interpretation of a statue to ensure its compatibility with the ECHR required of S.3 e.g Mendoza

Question 9

State some case examples where judges have made changes to the law

Answer 9

-The law of Tort (Donoghue v Stevenson) established the “neighbour principle” which was later reformed by Caparo (1990) to create a 3 part test
- R v R (established that a man can be guilty of rape of his wife)

Question 10

State some occasions where the court deemed the law needed reform, however felt it was Parliaments responsibility

Answer 10

-C v DPP ( HL refused to abolish “Doli incapax” presumption despite agreeing it was out dated, however it was later abolished by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998)

• Nicklinson (SC refused to modify the law to permit doctors, on the grounds of necessity, to help a person end their life and reaffirmed it was the matter of parliament)

Question 11

State some advantages to judges being able to make law reform

Answer 11

-Parliament cannot legislate for every scenario, judicial reforms are necessary
-Only react on a reactive basis which limits their power

Question 12

State some disadvantages to judges being able to make law reform

Answer 12

-Judges can only deal with the specific legal issue before them
-Judicial law applies retrospectively whereas Parliamentary law is commonly prospectively which allows people to be aware of the change
-Breaches the Separation of Powers theory (fusion)
-Judges are not elected therefore arguably undemocratic

Question 13

State a conclusion for judges being able to make law reform

Answer 13

Judicial reform does not represent an adequate method for reform alone, instead must be used alongside other methods

Question 14

State some advantages to the media and public influence on law reform

Answer 14

-The media can be a very powerful force for good
e.g media pressure helped secure a judicial enquiry into the racially motivated killing of Stephen Lawrence
e.g Ellie’s law
Ellie was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend, at the time he was 17 so received a more lenient sentence than if he was 18. Ellie’s parents campaigned for 2 years and the sentencing laws were updated by the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022

Question 14

How can the Media and the Public influence law reform?

Answer 14

-Brings the public opinion to the government’s attention
-Government make take action on highly publicised issues

Question 14

State some disadvantages to the media and public influence on law reform

Answer 14

-The media can sometimes manipulate or exaggerate stories for more readers
e.g Following the death of Sarah Payne by the known sex offender Roy Whiting, there was a high profile campaign by the news of the world to “Name and shame” padeophiles however angry mobs terrorised several people for mistaken identity

Question 15

What are e-petitions ?

Answer 15

-2011 to stimulate public interest and participation in the legislative process, the government set up the e-petition website
-intended to “build bridges between people and parliament”

Question 16

How many signatures does a petition need for the government to respond to it?

Answer 16

10,000

Question 17

How many signatures does a petition need for the government to consider it for debate?

Answer 17

100,000

Question 18

Between 2017-2019 parliamentary sessions how many petitions were submitted? How many did the government respond to? How many were debated in parliament?

Answer 18

33,000
456
74

Question 19

State an advantage to e-petitions

Answer 19

Creates a direct link to the government
-Motivates people to get involved

Question 20

State some disadvantages to e-petitions

Answer 20

-Many rules and regulations prevent it from truly being successful and it is likely the government will find a loophole to prevent them from having to properly engage with a petition

Question 21

What are pressure groups?

Answer 21

-Pressure groups are groups of people concerned with specific subjects and press for law reform in the areas they care about
e.g Professional bodies
Unions
Environmental Groups
Animal Welfare Groups

Question 22

What tactics can pressure groups use?

Answer 22

Lobbying MP’s
E-petitions
Strikes
Protests
Media
Boycotting products
Telling a story
Avoid legal activities

Question 23

Give an example of a pressure group

Answer 23

Fathers4justice
Campaigned for equality in the eyes of the law for fathers when it comes to having access to their children
Snowdrop campaign
Following the shooting of 16 children, this group prompted changes to legislation to tighten the control of gun ownership

Question 24

State some advantages of pressure groups

Answer 24

-Can enhance democracy and encourage normal people to engage in politics
-raises awareness and helps to educate the public
-often successful and encourage worthwhile reforms

Question 25

State some disadvantages of pressure groups

Answer 25

-method used to gain attention are often considered controversial
-Pressure groups can only campaign in areas they feel passionate about

Question 26

What is the Law Commission?

Answer 26

-Full time, independent body to supervise the development and reform of the law
-Introduced by the Law Commissions Act 1965
-Compromises of 5 commissioners
-Proactive and reactive

Question 27

How does the Law Commission work?

Answer 27

The Law Commission Act 1965 requires the commission to submit “programmes for the examination of different branches of the law” for approval based on the importance, suitability and resources

Question 28

What Section of the Law Commission Act sets out the role of the law Commission?

Answer 28

S.3
The basic role is to:
-Codify and consolidate the law
-repeal any unnecessary law
-remove anomalies
-Simplify and modify the law

Question 29

What is codification?

Answer 29

Brining together all law on a topic to form on source of law
- The law Commission spent years creating a draft criminal code, however has never come into effect

Question 30

What is consolidation?

Answer 30

Brings together statues that individually cover smaller parts of a larger area of law. Wirth the aim of drawing all existing provisions together in one single act to make the law more accessible
-Since 1965 over 200 consolidation bills have become acts

Question 31

What is repealing?

Answer 31

-Deleting outdated statutes by the law commission preparing a statute law (repeal) bill for parliament to pass
-By 2015, 19 such acts have been enacted, repealing more than 3000 acts

Question 32

State the success rate of proposals by the law commission through the years

Answer 32

-High success rate between 1965 and 1974 with 85% proposals being made law by parliament
-1975 to 2000 50% however mostly due to lack of parliament time (with 1990 having no reform being successful)
-2003 Haliday review
-2013 70% of proposals became law
-Present day the government rejects 1 in 6

Question 33

State an example of an successful proposal by the law commission

Answer 33

Abolition of the year and a day rule for homicide
-Law Reform (Year and a day rule) Act 1996

Question 34

What was introduced by the Law Commission Act 2009?

Answer 34

A new protocol
-Placed a duty on the Lord Chancellor requiring them to report annually to Parliament
- Placed a duty on government departments to ensure they provide a response within 6 months
-A report took place in 2013 which showed this was much more effective than the old method

Question 35

State a failure by the law Commission

Answer 35

The codification of the Criminal Law
=Never considered by Parliament

Question 36

State the advantages to the Law Commission

Answer 36

-areas of the law are researched by expertise
-politically neutral organisation
-whole area can be extensively reviewed
-reforms aim to simplify and modify

Question 37

State the disadvantages of the Law Commission

Answer 37

-Lack of Parliament time means lack of reforms
-Government is often slow to enact necessary reforms
-No obligation to follow proposals or recommendations
-May not be big enough to cope with thew demand
-There is no single ministerial department responsible for law reform

Question 38

What are the 3 other reform agencies

Answer 38

1) Royal Commissions
-Temp committees set up by the government to investigate and report on specific areas of the law
(no royal commissions during the 21st century)
2) Reviews by judges
An individual judge may be asked to led an investigation into technical areas of the law and make proposals for reform
e.g Woolf Report “Access to justice”
3) Public enquiries
Commonly set up after a significant event
e.g Stephen Lawrence enquiry which concluded that the MET police had been institutionally racist