The Law Reform

Question 1

Judicial change

Answer 1

Judges make law through the system of judicial precedent.
• Relies on the individual taking a case to court, which is not always successful, for example Tony Nicklinson who wanted to change the law on
assisted suicide.

Examples:
R v R (marital rape)
R (Steinfield and Keiden v Secretary of State for International Development) – heterosexual civil partnerships.
• Judicial law making is not very popular; it is undemocratic and unconstitutional, and judges are not representative and have a narrow view of the law,
not being able to benefit from the debate and discussion that in Parliament

Question 2

Influencing parliament: private members bills

Answer 2

MPs can respond to their constituents’ concerns
by introducing a Private Members’ Bill.
• The concept is that the MP will win a ballot
which gives them 20 minutes to pitch their
proposal in the House of Commons.
• Very unlikely to be successful.
• Examples:
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
New upskirting offence – Sexual Offences Act
2003
Abortion Act 196

Question 3

Influencing parliament: e-PETITIONS

Answer 3

• Anyone can start a petition on the UK Parliament website.
• 10,000 signatures = response from House of Commons
• 100,000 signatures = debated in the House of Commons.
• Current statistics (March 2019):
295 = received a response
53 = debated in House of Commons.
• Examples:
- reform to sentencing for knife crime
- lower age for smear tests from 25 to 18.

Question 4

Law commission

Answer 4

• Set up under s3 Law Commission Act 1965 to “keep under review all the law”
• Process: Research – Consultation – Report – Draft Bill – Parliament.

Repeal: to delete old, obsolete and out of date laws. Example: Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013.

Create: to create new laws in response to public demand or because of pressure from other groups.
Example: Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

Consolidate: to bring together successive statutes on the same subject. Example: Care Act 2014.

Codify: to bring together all the rules including case law into one statute.
Example: failed attempt to codify criminal law in UK / Legislation (Wales) Bill 2020 to codify Welsh law.

• Law Commission Act 2009: annual report, new parliamentary procedure, guarantee from relevant Minister
• Current Projects: surrogacy, electronic signatures, smart contracts, automated vehicles

Question 5

Influencing parliament: the media

Answer 5

• Issues of public concern can be
highlighted in the media.
• Campaigns can be run through the
tabloids to put pressure on the media.
• Examples:
Sarah’s Law (disclosure of convicted
sex offenders)
Clare’s Law (disclosure of partners’
violent history

Question 6

Two types of pressure groups

Answer 6

Interest groups
Cause groups

Question 7

Interest groups

Answer 7

These are groups which represent the interests
of their members, and membership is restricted to the people they represent.
Examples: Law Society, British Medical Association, National Union
of Teachers

Question 8

Cause group

Answer 8

These are groups which represent a common cause,
based on the shared interests of its members.
Examples: Greenpeace, Fathers 4 Justice, Age UK

Question 9

The law commission have to keep under review all the law s3(1)

Answer 9

Codify
Repeal
Consolidate

Question 10

Codify

Answer 10

To bring together all the rules including case law into one statute
Writing up unwritten rules

Question 11

Repeal

Answer 11

To delete old, obsolete and out of date laws e.g. statute law repeals act 2013

Question 12

Consolidate

Answer 12

To bring to gather successive statutes on the same subject e.g care act 2014

Turning laws from multiple places into one document