law reform -topic 3

Question 1

when was the Law Commission set up?

Answer 1

1965 by the Law Commissions Act 1965

Question 2

who are the members of the Law Commission?

Answer 2

• a chairman - a high court judge
• four other law commissioners - highly qualified lawyers
• support staff - assist with research

Question 3

what does section 3 of the Law Commission Act state?

Answer 3

the three main aims of the law commission are:
1. systematic development
2. codification and repeal

Question 4

how does the law commission decide which areas of law need reform?

Answer 4

1. topics may be referred b y Lord Chancellor on behalf of the government
2. the law commission may decide itself areas in need of reform and seek governmental approval to draft a report on them

Question 5

what does a consultation paper contain?

Answer 5

describe current law
set out the problems
look at options for reform

Question 6

what happens after the consultation paper has been published?

Answer 6

the commission will then arrow up positive proposals for reform

Question 7

what is codification?

Answer 7

reviewing all the law on a particular topic and then creating a code that covers all aspects of law on that topic

Question 8

what is consolidation?

Answer 8

combining the law from several acts of parliament into one Act of Parliament

Question 9

explain what has happened with the law on sentencing in relation to consolidation

Answer 9

the sentencing law changed so much that it is now been suggested that there be a new consolidated bill for sentencing

Question 10

explain what is meant by repeal
has the law commission been successful in this area?

Answer 10

the act ceases to be law
only parliament can repeal an act of parliament
yes

Question 11

how many reports has the law commission produced?

Answer 11

over 3,000

Question 12

what was the law commission’s success rate in its first ten years?

Answer 12

many of the repealed acts are now completely redundant

Question 13

what happened in its second decade?

Answer 13

lots of the laws made don’t relate to society anymore so are not used at all

Question 14

what happened in the 1990s?

Answer 14

the rate hit an all-time low when not one of its reforms was enacted by parliament

Question 15

what measures have been brought in since the 1990s to ensure more reforms are implented?

Answer 15

1. the law commission act 2009 amending the 1965 act and which places a requirement on the Lord Chancellor to report to Parliament annually on the progress in implementing reports
2. protocol agreed the government and law commission in 2010. the minister for the relative department will provide an interim response as soon as possible and will give a final result as soon as possible
3. a dedicated parliamentary procedure to implement law commissions reports regarded as ‘uncontroversial’.

Question 16

give examples of important acts of parliament which have resulted from the law commision’s work

Answer 16

1. land registration act 2002
2. corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide act 2007
3. coroners and justice act 2009
4. criminal justice and courts act 2015

Question 17

summarise the advantages of the law commission

Answer 17

1. areas of law are researched by legal professionals
2. the law commission consults before finalising its proposals
3. whole areas of law can be considered not just small issues

Question 18

summarise the disadvantages of law commission

Answer 18

1. has to wait for the government to bring in the reforms it proposes
2. a problem with the amount of time available in parliament