Law reform Flashcards
Who deals with law reform?
Law commissions
Royal commissions
Judge-led inquiries
When was the law commission created?
1965.
What created the law commission?
The Law Commissions Act.
What is the law commission?
An independent body that aims to ensure the law is fair, modern, simple and cost-effective.
It also keeps the law under review.
What are the four main areas of Law Commission?
Reform
Repeal
Codification
Consolidation
What is meant by reform of the law?
Identifying outdated and unclear laws and recommending changes.
What is codification?
The process of organising laws into a clear, systematic code.
What is consolidation?
Collecting together existing laws on one subject into one statute.
What is repeal?
Removing obsolete and out-of-date Acts.
What is one advantage of the law commission?
Research is done by legal experts so is likely to be comprehensive and accurate.
What is a 2nd advantage of the law commission?
Likely to be free from political bias.
What is a 3rd advantage of the law commission?
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Many of the Law Commission’s reports go unimplemented so some areas of law may remain outdated and difficult to understand.
What are royal commissions?
Advisory committees set up by the government to investigate matters of public concern.
Why do the government use royal commissions?
To take an independent look at controversial issues.
What is one advantage of royal commissions?
They are independent so can tackle politically sensitive issues in an unbiased way.
What is a 2nd advantage of royal commissions?
Membership includes non-lawyers allowing them to bring people with expertise in different areas.
What is one disadvantage of royal commissions?
They are rarely used.
What is a 2nd disadvantage of royal commissions?
Political considerations often mean that recommendations go unimplemented.
What is a judge-led inquiry?
When a judge is appointed by the government to look into a specific area of the legal system.
What are advantages of judge-led inquiries?
Those conducting the review have expert knowledge, allowing them to handle complex topics.
What are disadvantages of judge-led inquiries?
They are time consuming and can be expensive.
