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Law AS - Sonia LA2 > Law Reform > Flashcards

Law Reform Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the purpose of the law reform?

A

The law needs to be reformed so it adapts to the changing needs of society

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2
Q

Name 6 influences upon parliament that pressure a change in the law

A 
Political changes - manifesto
Social changes - paternity leave
Economic changes - taxation
Scientific changes - Data Protection Act 1998
Pressure from the EU
Pressure groups & public opinion
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3
Q

What are the 4 law reform bodies?

A

Law commission
Royal commission
Criminal law revision committee
Law reform committee

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4
Q

What is the law commission?

A

The main body with changes and proposes changes for the law

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5
Q

How was the law commission established?

A

in 1965 by the law commission act

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6
Q

Is it a part time or a full time body?

A

Full time

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7
Q

What is the role of the law commission? (6)

A 
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
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8
Q

Who may ask to review an area of law?

A

The lord chancellor

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9
Q

What is the first step from the law commission when reforming law?

A

Prepares a working paper and sends it to interested parties and then the press comments on it

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10
Q

What is the second step from the law commission when reforming law?

A

Comments are considered and a report is prepared, then debated by the whole commission

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11
Q

What is the third step from the law commission when reforming law?

A

Bill is presented to the lord chancellor together with a statement of existing law

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12
Q

What is the final step from the law commission when reforming law?

A

The government makes a decision over whether it is prepared to promote the Bill through parliament

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13
Q

What was the overall success of the law commission?

A

Mixed success

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14
Q

When was its success rate high?

A

Initially, its 1st 20 law reform programmes were enacted within an average of 2 years (Criminal Attempts Act 1981)

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15
Q

What was the success rate in the first 10 years of the law commission?

A

85% of proposals enacted by parliament

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16
Q

In the following 10 years why did its success rate decrease and what to?

A

50% of proposals enacted by parliament due to lack of parliamentary time and interest

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17
Q

In what year were none of the law commissions proposals enacted?

A

1990

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18
Q

What was the Jellicoe Procedure 1994?

A

Introduced to speed up the introduction of new reforms

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19
Q

What does the Jellicoe procedure allow?

A

Uncontroversial legislation to be introduced directly into the House of Lords

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20
Q

How many reports became law through the Jellicoe procedure in the 1st 13 months?

A

13

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21
Q

How has the Jellicoe Procedure done since?

A

The procedure has not been used recently

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22
Q

Give an example of a recent proposal by the law commission enacted by parliament

A

The Fraud Act 2006 (reformed law on fraud and deception offences)

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23
Q

What is the biggest unresolved problem by the law commission?

A

Reforming the criminal law

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24
Q

What was the draft laid down by the law commission that parliament never considered?

A

A draft criminal code in 1985 that was hoped to cover many areas of criminal law

25
Q

When did the law commission abandon the idea of having a compete criminal code?

A

2008

26
Q

What is one proposal on criminal law that has become law by the law commission?

A

The Coroners and Justice Act 2009

27
Q

Does parliament quickly implement suggested reforms?

A

No, they are slow

28
Q

Overall how many of the law commissions proposals have become law?

A

2/3rds

29
Q

What does the law reforms effectiveness depend on?

A

How willing the government and parliament are prepared to find time to enact reforms

30
Q

What is used to introduce reforms when there is insufficient time?

A

Private Members Bills

31
Q

What does codification mean?

A

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)

32
Q

Why did the law commission abandon big schemes in codification?

A

To concentrate on small sections of law that can be added to later

33
Q

What does it mean to repeal an act?

A

Statutes exist until they are formally killed off.

34
Q

What did the statute law repeals act 1995 by the law commission do?

A

Repealed 223 whole acts to tidy up the statute book

35
Q

What is meant by consolidation?

A

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)

36
Q

What are royal commissions?

A

Set up to investigate a particular area of law

37
Q

Who are the royal commissions given a team of?

A

Civil servants

38
Q

Who often leads a royal commission?

A

Judges (The Phillips Committee 1981 led to PACE 1984)

39
Q

What is an advantage of the royal commissions?

A

More time and money is spent on them

40
Q

What is a disadvantage of the royal commissions?

A

They disband after their research has been completed

41
Q

What is the law reform committee?

A

Part-time and reviews all small areas of civil law

42
Q

What does the law reform committee suggest reforms on?

A

Narrow and technical points of law which are referred to the by the government

43
Q

What is the composition of the law reform committee (4)?

A

Judges, solicitors, barristers and academic lawyers

44
Q

When was the law reform committee established?

A

1952

45
Q

What is the criminal law revision committee?

A

A part-time body that recommends changes to the criminal law, reporting to the Home Secretary

46
Q

When was the criminal law revision committee established?

A

1957

47
Q

What is one of the success acts produced by the criminal law revision committee?

A

Theft Acts 1968 and 1978 (only smaller recommendations have become law due to parliamentary lack of time)

48
Q

Is the government obliged to follow recommendations by the law commission?

A

NO

49
Q

What are the advantages of the law commission? (3)

A

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

50
Q

What are the disadvantages of the law commission? (5)

A

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

51
Q

When does the royal commissions work?

A

As and when they’re needed

52
Q

When are public inquires usually set up?

A

After a serious event or disaster such as the Hillsborough disaster the TAYLOR REPORT was set up

53
Q

What do the media sometimes campaign for?

A

Changes in the law

54
Q

What are the advantages of the media being an influence on parliament? (3)

A

They can voice the public opinion
Support pressure groups
Raise public awareness which pressurizes the government

55
Q

What are the disadvantages of the media being an influence on parliament? (3)

A

Political motivators (left/right wing)
Looking to sell money
Can whip up moral panic

56
Q

What is a pressure group that has succeeded in changing the law and what law?

A

Gay rights pressure groups, got the homosexual consent age lowered from 18 to 16 in 2000

57
Q

What are the advantages of pressure groups? (4)

A

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

58
Q

What are the disadvantages of pressure groups? (4)

A

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

Law AS - Sonia LA2 (7 decks)

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