The Law Commision

Question 1

What is Law Reform

Answer 1

Changing, amending, improving and correcting areas of the law which have been identified as problematic;
Age of statue, Language (Dangerous Dogs Act 1991)

Question 2

S.3 Law Commission Act 1965

Answer 2

-Fair
-Modern
-Simple
-Cost effective

Question 3

Law Commsion

Answer 3

-A topic for research is chosen by the commission or referred by the government (need gov approval to draft report on select areas)
-Law commission reaches the law
-Law commission issues consultation paper (seeking views on possible reform)
-Law commission issues final report (options for reform)

Question 4

Reform

Answer 4

Researching and offering suggestions
-either own suggestions or through recommendations
-criteria for law reform; importance, sustainability and resources

Question 5

Repeal

Answer 5

Getting rid of old laws that are no longer relevant
-investigate if still required and prepare a bill for parliament, more accessible

Question 6

Codification

Answer 6

Writing up unwritten laws; bringing together statutory law and judicial precede on a topic into a single law
-Achieved by the sentencing code for the Sentencing Act 2020

Question 7

Consolidation

Answer 7

Drawing all existing provisions together in one act to make the law more accessible
E.g - The Sentencing act 2020

Question 8

Success of The Law Commission

Answer 8

Law Commission has not yet achieved the original idea of codification of many areas of the law
-only 50% of suggestions have become law, lack of parliament time and interest

Question 9

Recent Reforms

Answer 9

-The Fraud Act 2006; simplified
-The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015

Question 10

Advantages of the Law Commission

Answer 10

-Researched by legal experts
-Consults before finalising proposals
-Whole areas of law are considered
-Old irrelevant laws removed
-Politically independent and has the aim of improving the law

Question 11

Disadvantages of the Law Commission

Answer 11

-Parliament does not implement all proposals
-Gov not bound to consult LC before bringing any changes
-Gov not bound to accept recommendations
-Parliament may not have time to consider and debate pure law issues

Question 12

Four Functions of the Law Commission

Answer 12

-Reform; Research + offer suggestions
-Repeal; Get rid of old laws
-Consolidation; Combine laws
-codification; Write unwritten laws