Law Reform Flashcards
What are the 5 influences on parliment
- Public/media
- Private members bill
- Pressure groups
- Law commission
- Political power
How does the public influence parliament
Via protest and petition
How does the media influence parliment
Publicise stories to gain attraction
Example of laws that have been influenced by the media/public
Firearms amendments act 1997 - this was passed from influence of the snowdrop campaign
Was a public protest media put it all over the papers
Now have to have a license, gun locked away, bullets kept separate
How does private members bills influence parliment
1 mp sponsors this bill
Then it HAS to be debated in parliment
Give an example of a private members bill
Abortion act 1967
Introduced by David steel
How do pressure groups influence parliment
A group with a common goal pushing parliment to act
Sectional - represents a section of society Eg: law society represents soldiers
Cause - all fighting for a particular cause
Give an example of a law that’s a results from pressure groups
Hunting act 2004 - league against cruel sports campaigned for this act to stop fox hunting with dogs
How do the law commission influence parliment
Paid body who constantly review law and give parliament suggestions
An example of how the law commission have influenced parliment
Coroners and justice act 2009
Brough in due to the law commission recommending the laws on homicide by updated
How do political powers influence parliment
People in government have the best influence as they are already in a position of power
An example of how political powers have influences parliment
Human rights activists 1998 - introduced by labour government to ‘bring rights home’ to incorporate husk rights into UK law
What is codification?
Bringing all the relevant acts and cases on one area together
What does consolidation mean ?
Bring all the relevant acts on one area together
Who set up the law commission
Law commission act 1965 and amended by the law commission act 2009
Who is in the law commission
1 chairman - either a HCJ or a CoAJ
4 other commissioners - solicitors, barristers, lecturers
20 admin staff - research assistants , librarians, uni students (work experience)
What is the role of the law commission
Simplify the law
Modernise the law
Make the law fair
Remove out of date law
How does the law commission work
Referral stage - the law commission are given their projects by the lord chancellor, or they are able to self-select a project and relieve approval
Research stage - look at current law, what’s good bad , look at law in other countries, consult with public
Report stage - a final report of their recommendations will be given and drafted into a bill ready to take to parliament as a white paper
2 examples of reforms following the ;aw commission reports
Coroners and justice act 2009 - suggested DR and loss of control updated. DR simplify language so easier for jury . LoC change the name to not blame V “provocation”
Occupiers liability act 1984 - now covers trespassers
The success rate of the law commission
- 85% in first 10 years
- from 1965 to 2016 2/3 of suggestions are becoming law
- between 2010-2017 - 45 reports were made only 2 not taken forward (less than 5%)
