Law Reform (LR)

Question 1

PLM Influences Recap

Answer 1

Political
Public/Media
Pressure Groups
Lobbyists
Law Commission (LC)

Question 2

The Law Commission (LC)

Answer 2

Created by the Law Commissions Act 1965

The chair
Other 4 commissioners
Chief Executive + Personnel
Non-executive Board Members

Question 3

The Chair

Answer 3

High Court or Appeal Court judge

appointed to the Commission by Lord Chancellor + Secretary of State for Justice for up to 3 years

Question 4

Other Commissioners

Answer 4

Other 4: experienced judges, barristers, solicitors or teachers of law

Appointed by Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice for up to 5 years (appointments may be extended)

Question 5

Chief Executive + personnel

Answer 5

commissioners are supported by a Chief Exec. and about 20 members of the Government Legal Service, 2 Parliamentary Counsel and a number of research assistants

Question 6

2 Non-Executive Board Members

Answer 6

provide support, independent challenge and expertise on issues of governance + strategic management

Question 7

LC purpose

Answer 7

S3 of LC Act ‘65:

Reviewing all area of law to make systematic reform by codifying the law, consolidating the law and repealing the law

Question 8

Codifying

Answer 8

bring together all laws on one topic into one complete code e.g. LC want to bring all areas of criminal law into 1 Criminal Code

1985 - LC published first draft Criminal Code - tied together lots of areas of criminal law
No Government has implemented full code, and LC tend to work on smaller areas of the law e.g. NFOs so Government could be more willing to adopt the changes

Question 9

Consolidating

Answer 9

bring a law that’s spread across many cases and statutes into 1 Act (i.w. all NFOs spread across OAPA and cases)
e.g. Draft Bill for NFOs in 1998 - still not been implemented despite a second review in 2015

success - Family Law Act 1996 - tied together + modernised disparate law on divorce and domestic violence

Question 10

Repealing

Answer 10

getting rid of law that doesn’t need to exist

19 Statute Law (Repeal) Acts as a result of the LC (repealing more than 3000 Acts in their entirety)

Question 11

How do LC make reforms?

Answer 11

• choose an issue
• research
• consultation
• final report

Question 12

How - Choosing an Issue

Answer 12

Area of law is referred to LC by Lord Chancellor on behalf of Gov, or LC may choose a topic themselves + seek Gov approval

Usually works on substantive area of law e.g. crime, tort, family etc

Question 13

How - Research

Answer 13

LC look at cases, statutes and academic articles to understand the current state of the law

Question 14

How - Consultation

Answer 14

LC publish a consultation paper containing description of the current law, problems with it, and suggest options for reforms (often explaining how other countries have handled the problems)

people can then respond to this paper with their views

Question 15

How - Report

Answer 15

LC then make a proposal for reform based on the responses
In a report which explains research + consultation + usually contains a draft Bill that lays out exact ways the new law should be formed

P would then need to actually pass this Bill for it to be a real law

Question 16

Success of LC

Answer 16

first 10 years: 80% of recommendations implemented
second 10 years: 50%
1990: 0%

(more reluctant to use LC)

Question 17

Improvement

Answer 17

LC Act 2009 amended the 1965 Act so that the Lord Chancellor must report to P once a year to follow up on reports + give reasons why implementation hasn’t happened

Since 2010: special Parliamentary procedure to implement LC reports that are ‘uncontroversial’

Question 18

Overall Success

Answer 18

2016 - LC were at a 66% implementation success rate overall (1965-2016)

Biggest implementations:
- Coroners and Justice Act 2009
- Consumer Rights Act 2015
- Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015