What is the Law Commission Established by the Law Commission Act 1965 Permanent and independent A fulltime staff headed up by five Commissioners Chairperson is a High Court Judge ID: 552061
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Slide1
Influences on Parliament – The Law Commission Slide2
What is the Law Commission?
Established by the Law Commission Act 1965Permanent and independent A full-time staff headed up by
five CommissionersChairperson is a
High Court Judge
– responsible for promoting the work of the Commission and is its public face and voice
Other four members are from the
legal professions and academic lawyers
All staff are
legally trained
Aim of Law Commission
- S3(1
) Law Commission Act 1965
– role of Commission is to “keep under review all the law
”Slide3
How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Codification
Codification is bringing together all of the law (both statutory and case law) on a particular topic into a
single Act of Parliament
Draft Criminal Code
was published in
1989
but has never become
law
The Commission
has gradually accepted that its initial plans were
over-ambitious
and that
codification of smaller areas is preferable
E.g
.
The Land Registration Act 2002
and the
Fraud Act 2006
have been reformed in this waySlide4
How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Consolidation
Drawing together all the statutory provisions relating to a particular area into one Act
(i.e not case law)About 5 Consolidation Bills produced each year
E.g. –
Education Act 1996
and
The Powers of Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000Slide5
How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Repeal
Recommends the repeal of obsolete statutes – removing laws that have no further use
Important to remove these Acts as they make research of the law more time-consuming and cause
confusion
Statute Law (Repeals) Bill in 2012
recommended the repeal of nearly
800
old lawsSlide6
How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Law Reform
It is also necessary to suggest changes to existing laws and to create new areas of law in response to social change and technical developments
E.g. – Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 made occupiers of land responsible for injury to trespassers while on their land,
Computer Misuse Act 1990
deals with the problem of computer hackingSlide7
The Process of Law Commission Investigations
Commission has topics referred to it by government departments, or may select a topic of its own, which will be considered after the
government has approved
Pressure
to investigate an area of law may also come from other sources – e.g.
Criminal Attempts Act 1981
was a result of a Law Commission report prompted by
academic pressure
Process:
Research
of the issue
Produce a
working paper
setting out the current law, the problems, and suggestions for reform
Consultations
with anyone interested in commenting on the issue
Produce a
report
including a
draft Bill
Government decides
whether to introduce the draft Bill into Parliament and implement the recommendations
E.g
. – legislation which has resulted from this process includes the
Law Reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act
1996Slide8
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
A
permanent non-political full-time body
and can investigate any area of law it believes to be in need of reform –
independent of the Government
Reduces
the workload for
ministers -
Produces
draft Bills
ready for Parliament to
introduce
Responsible
for many sensible changes to the law
– e.g.
Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
, the
Fraud Act 2006 and the abolition of the ‘Year and a Day’ ruleCan undertake extensive research and engage in wide consultation so its recommendations for law reform are well informed and this helps avoid problems with the application of the law
Disadvantages
Parliament has often ignored the Commission’s proposals
- only about
two thirds
of its proposals have been implemented – often because governments
cannot find time
in the legislative programme for non-urgent law reform –
e.g.
reform of the law on non-fatal offences
– recommended by the Law Commission in a report in 1993 and accepted by the Labour government of 1997 who produced a draft Bill in 1998 but they never implemented it
Further lack of power
shown by the fact that
Government does not need to consult with the Commission on any new laws
Investigates as many as 20-30 areas at the same time
– may mean that each investigation is not as thorough as one carried out by a
Royal Commission
or a
Commission of InquirySlide9
Types of questions you could be asked
Describe the influence of the Law Commission on Parliament (10 marks)Briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the influence of the Law Commission on Parliament (10 marks)Slide10
Answering Exam Questions
Describe/Explain questions:Explain how they influence law making – use examples of statutes (laws) created/reformed as a result of the Law Commission Evaluation questions:Explain why the particular point is an advantage or disadvantage
Use evidence and examples of successes and failures