Law reform Flashcards
Who deals with law reform?
Law commissions
Royal commissions
Judge-led inquiries
When was the law commission created?
It was created by the Law Commissions Act 1965.
What is the law commission?
An independent body that aims to ensure the law is as fair, modern, simple and cost-effective as possible.
What is the duty of the Law
Commission under s3 Law
Commissions Act 1965?
To keep all of the law under review and to simplify and modernise the law.
What are the four main areas of Law Commission?
Reform
Codification
Consolidation
Repeal
What is meant by reform of the law?
Identifying outdated, unclear, or unfair laws and recommending changes.
What is codification?
Collecting together laws on one subject into one set of rules.
What is consolidation?
Collecting together existing laws on one subject into one statute.
What is repeal?
Removing obsolete and out-of-date Acts.
What are advantages of the law commission?
Research is done by legal experts so is likely to be comprehensive and accurate
Likely to be free from political bias
It has made a large contribution to simplifying and modernising whole areas of law
What are disadvantages of the law commission?
Many of the Law Commission’s reports go unimplemented - this means some areas of law may remain outdated and difficult to understand which is contrary to the rule of law
What are royal commissions?
Advisory committees established by the government to investigate a matter of public concern on a one-off basis.
Why do the government use royal commissions?
To take an independent look at controversial issues.
What are advantages of royal commissions?
They are independent so can tackle politically sensitive issues in an unbiased way.
Membership includes non-lawyers allowing them to bring people with expertise in different areas.
What are disadvantages of royal commissions?
They are rarely used
Political considerations often mean that recommendations go unimplemented