Law Reform Flashcards
Why do we have to review the law?
The law of England and Wales comes from a variety of sources and therefore it is important to keep the law under review and ensure it is reformed when necessary.
Does the government review laws?
The Government has a political agenda and is mostly concerned with matters such as taxation or passing laws that are popular and improve their chances of re-election. They rarely set aside time to reform more ‘general’ criminal and civil laws.
Who actually draws attention to law review?
udges tend to draw attention to the need for reform in the law in some of their decisions and in some instances they end up creating new law, as in R v R where the judges ruled that a man could be guilty of raping his wife.
Does that help the law to be organised? If not what is done?
However, this does not lead to our law developing in an organised and controlled way. It is therefore, essential to give the overall review of the law to an officially appointed group.
Therefore, there are official agencies that research and investigate areas of law that may need updating. Official law reform agencies will suggest proposals for reform of the law to the Government. A permanent, full-time law reform body that came into existence properly in 1965 is the Law Commission.
Who set up the Law commission set up and who is it made up by?
The Law Commission Act 1965 set up this permanent group consisting of five legal experts. It consists of a Chairman who is a High Court Judge and four other Law Commissioners who are all highly qualified lawyers. (There is also support staff to assist with research).
What is the process for reform?
- The actual areas of law which are believed to be in need of reform may be referred to the Law commission by the Lord Chancellor on behalf of the government, or the Law Commission may itself select areas and seek governmental approval. They will concentrate on substantive law such as criminal law, law of tort, contract law etc.
- The Law Commission will then first research that law.
- They will then produce a consultation paper to allow experts and politicians to comment.
What does the law commission do after there is a response about the consultation paper?
- Following the responses, the Law Commission will then produce a final report which will include a draft Bill if they consider a change to the current law is necessary. This draft will then go before Parliament and go through the necessary parliamentary stages if it is to become law.
- Some Law Commission reports have been successful and include the Family Law Act 1996 which changed the law of divorce. More recent examples include the Fraud Act 2006 and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.
What is the role of the law commission?
Section 3 of the Law Commission Act 1965 states: ‘The objective of the Law Commission is to identify areas of law where reform is necessary, codify the law, repeal obsolete laws, consolidate and modernise the law.’
What is codification?
When the Law Commission was first formed in 1965, an ambitious programme of codification was announced. Codification involves bringing together all the law on one topic into one complete code of law. This makes the law simpler and easier to find. For Example, the Theft Act 1968
Do they still use the scheme of codification?
However, the Law Commission has gradually abandoned these massive schemes of codification in favour of what might be termed the ‘building-block’ approach. Under this it has concentrated on codifying small sections of the law that can be added to later.
What is the aim of consolidation?
The aim of consolidation is to draw all the existing provisions together in one Act. This is needed because in some areas of law there are a number of statutes, each of which sets out a small part of the total law. A successful consolidation Act was the Justice of the Peace Act 1997 concerning the role of Magistrates. Much of the laws of sentencing were consolidated in the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000,
Has any other consolidation been made since that?
however, since this Act was passed, Parliament has made three more Acts of Parliament relating to sentencing (it will not be long before it will need consolidating again!). The Equality Act 2010 was also successful in consolidating the plethora of Acts dealing with discrimination into one Act. (However, not all of the current law on disability made it into the Act and there are still separate regulations for this).
What is another role of the Law Commission?
Another of the Law Commission’s roles is to identify old Acts which are no longer used, so that Parliament can repeal these Acts. Their role of repealing obsolete legislation is more successful. The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1998 repealed over 150 complete Acts of Parliament, which were outdated – Such as the Abandonment of Animals Act 1960. (Such consolidation of the law can pass through Parliament quickly without necessarily the need for debate).
What is the purpose of the Law Commission Act 2009? when did it came into force?
The Law Commission Act 2009 came into force in January 2010. The purpose of this Act is to improve the rate at which Law Commission recommendations are implemented by the Government and eventually become law. This could improve the Law Commission’s success rate in the future. (See evaluation for low implementation rate).
What is required of the Lord Chancellor every year?
This statute requires the Lord Chancellor to make an annual report to Parliament. This report will outline the number of the Law Commission’s recommendations that have been implemented by the Government. There is also now a Protocol between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission which explains how the Government and the Law Commission should work together.
