Law Reform Flashcards
What is the purpose of the law reform?
The law needs to be reformed so it adapts to the changing needs of society
Name 6 influences upon parliament that pressure a change in the law
Political changes - manifesto Social changes - paternity leave Economic changes - taxation Scientific changes - Data Protection Act 1998 Pressure from the EU Pressure groups & public opinion
What are the 4 law reform bodies?
Law commission
Royal commission
Criminal law revision committee
Law reform committee
What is the law commission?
The main body with changes and proposes changes for the law
How was the law commission established?
in 1965 by the law commission act
Is it a part time or a full time body?
Full time
What is the role of the law commission? (6)
Reviews all areas of law which are believed to need reforming Keeps all matters of law under review Codifies the law Consolidates the law Repeals unnecessary acts Elimination of anomilie
Who may ask to review an area of law?
The lord chancellor
What is the first step from the law commission when reforming law?
Prepares a working paper and sends it to interested parties and then the press comments on it
What is the second step from the law commission when reforming law?
Comments are considered and a report is prepared, then debated by the whole commission
What is the third step from the law commission when reforming law?
Bill is presented to the lord chancellor together with a statement of existing law
What is the final step from the law commission when reforming law?
The government makes a decision over whether it is prepared to promote the Bill through parliament
What was the overall success of the law commission?
Mixed success
When was its success rate high?
Initially, its 1st 20 law reform programmes were enacted within an average of 2 years (Criminal Attempts Act 1981)
What was the success rate in the first 10 years of the law commission?
85% of proposals enacted by parliament
In the following 10 years why did its success rate decrease and what to?
50% of proposals enacted by parliament due to lack of parliamentary time and interest
In what year were none of the law commissions proposals enacted?
1990
What was the Jellicoe Procedure 1994?
Introduced to speed up the introduction of new reforms
What does the Jellicoe procedure allow?
Uncontroversial legislation to be introduced directly into the House of Lords
How many reports became law through the Jellicoe procedure in the 1st 13 months?
13
How has the Jellicoe Procedure done since?
The procedure has not been used recently
Give an example of a recent proposal by the law commission enacted by parliament
The Fraud Act 2006 (reformed law on fraud and deception offences)
What is the biggest unresolved problem by the law commission?
Reforming the criminal law
What was the draft laid down by the law commission that parliament never considered?
A draft criminal code in 1985 that was hoped to cover many areas of criminal law
When did the law commission abandon the idea of having a compete criminal code?
2008
What is one proposal on criminal law that has become law by the law commission?
The Coroners and Justice Act 2009
Does parliament quickly implement suggested reforms?
No, they are slow
Overall how many of the law commissions proposals have become law?
2/3rds
What does the law reforms effectiveness depend on?
How willing the government and parliament are prepared to find time to enact reforms
What is used to introduce reforms when there is insufficient time?
Private Members Bills
What does codification mean?
Bringing together all the law on a topic from a variety of sources into one source of law (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 PACE)
Why did the law commission abandon big schemes in codification?
To concentrate on small sections of law that can be added to later
What does it mean to repeal an act?
Statutes exist until they are formally killed off.
What did the statute law repeals act 1995 by the law commission do?
Repealed 223 whole acts to tidy up the statute book
What is meant by consolidation?
Bringing together all existing laws from several acts into one act (Criminal Justice Act 2003 brings all areas of the powers of the criminal courts, sentencing etc under once act)
What are royal commissions?
Set up to investigate a particular area of law
Who are the royal commissions given a team of?
Civil servants
Who often leads a royal commission?
Judges (The Phillips Committee 1981 led to PACE 1984)
What is an advantage of the royal commissions?
More time and money is spent on them
What is a disadvantage of the royal commissions?
They disband after their research has been completed
What is the law reform committee?
Part-time and reviews all small areas of civil law
What does the law reform committee suggest reforms on?
Narrow and technical points of law which are referred to the by the government
What is the composition of the law reform committee (4)?
Judges, solicitors, barristers and academic lawyers
When was the law reform committee established?
1952
What is the criminal law revision committee?
A part-time body that recommends changes to the criminal law, reporting to the Home Secretary
When was the criminal law revision committee established?
1957
What is one of the success acts produced by the criminal law revision committee?
Theft Acts 1968 and 1978 (only smaller recommendations have become law due to parliamentary lack of time)
Is the government obliged to follow recommendations by the law commission?
NO
What are the advantages of the law commission? (3)
They possess legal and non-political expertise
They do lots of research so have well informed recommendations
They are an independent body so work on their own initiative rather than the governments
What are the disadvantages of the law commission? (5)
Only 70% of its recommendations are implemented
Government is not obliged to implement proposals
Lack real power as can’t force government
Lengthy process which can take years
Conducts 20-30 investigations at a time so maybe not thorough enough
When does the royal commissions work?
As and when they’re needed
When are public inquires usually set up?
After a serious event or disaster such as the Hillsborough disaster the TAYLOR REPORT was set up
What do the media sometimes campaign for?
Changes in the law
What are the advantages of the media being an influence on parliament? (3)
They can voice the public opinion
Support pressure groups
Raise public awareness which pressurizes the government
What are the disadvantages of the media being an influence on parliament? (3)
Political motivators (left/right wing)
Looking to sell money
Can whip up moral panic
What is a pressure group that has succeeded in changing the law and what law?
Gay rights pressure groups, got the homosexual consent age lowered from 18 to 16 in 2000
What are the advantages of pressure groups? (4)
Broad range of tactics to raise public awareness
Keep government in touch with issues public believe are important
Huge numbers involved
They have considerable expertise
What are the disadvantages of pressure groups? (4)
They are biased in favour of their case
No access to ministers
Opinions may only be held by a small number of people
Passionate views can lead to criminal offences
