Law Commission

• What created the Law Commission?

  Law Commissions Act 1965
• Who are the Law Commission?

  The chair, 4 commissioners, chief executive and personnel, and non-executive board members.
• Who is the chair?

  • Always a superior judge (court of appeal or high court)
  • Sir Peter Fraser
  • Appointed by Lord Chancellor for up to 3 years
• Who are the 4 commissioners?

  1. Prof. Sarah Green - corporate and common law
  2. Prof. Penney Lewis - criminal law
  3. Prof. Nick Hopkins - family law
  4. Prof. Alison Young - public law
• Who is the current Chief Executive?

  • Joint CE : Joanna Otterburn and Stephanie Hack
  • Lay people : not qualified lawyers
  • responsible for government interactions
• Who are the personnel?

  • Economists : do impact assessments
  • Parliamentary counsel : draft Acts of Parliament
• Who are the non-executive board members?

  • lay people
  • advise on management and governance
• What is the purpose of the law commission?

  • S3 of LCA 1965 says its duty is to consolidate, codify and repeal the law.
• Codifying the law was the original aim of the LC and is defined as "bringing all existing law on a particular area into one code".
• What are examples of the LC codifying the law?

  • Occupiers Liability Act 1975
  • Criminal Code for England and Wales 1985
• Consolidating the law is defined as "bringing different sources of law on one topic into one statute". The LC's consolidation reforms tend to be smaller reforms rather than large-scale reforms.
• What are examples of the LC consolidating the law?

  • Fraud Act 2006 was consolidated thanks to an LC report in 2002.
  • Family Law Act 1996 was passed on to LC by the government.
• Repealing the law is to remove statutes that don't need to be in force. Laws are repealed when parliament passes a Statute Law Repeal Act.
• How successful have the LC been at getting repeals implemented?

  • 19 Statute Law Repeal Acts = over 3000 Acts of Parliament removed.
• How does the LC propose reforms to parliament?

  1. Choose an issue
  2. Research
  3. Consultation
  4. Report
• Explain the first stage of proposing law reforms.

  
  

  Firstly the LC choose an issue to focus on. This is done when the Lord Chancellor instructs the LC to include a reform in an upcoming project or if there's a referral from a gov dept. This will typically be a substantive area of law such as negligence.
• Explain the second stage of proposing law reforms.

  Secondly, the academics in the LC conduct research in order to understand the present state of the law. They look at common law, statutes, etc.
• Explain the third stage of proposing law reforms.

  A consultation paper is then published which contains a description of the law and options for change. Any relevant parties or individuals will respond to this report.
• Explain the fourth stage of proposing law reforms.

  Finally, the LC publish a report based on the consultation paper. It explains their findings and proposals for law reform. Sometimes a draft bill will be included.
• What is a disadvantage of the LC's proposals?

  The reforms aren't obligatory because parliament is supreme.
• In the first 10 years of the LC, 80% of reports were implemented.
• In the second decade of the LC, 50% of the reports were enacted.
• In 1990, 0 reports were implemented.
• What measures have improved the success rate of the LC?

  2009: Law Commission Act - Lord Chancellor required to report to parliament annually.

  2010: Parliamentary procedure to implement uncontroversial reports.
• Overall, how successful have the LC been?

  1995 to 2016: 66% success rate.
• What are some of the LC's biggest successes?

  • Coroners and Justice Act 2009 :
  • "provocation" replaced by "loss of control"
  • Consumer Rights Act 2015 :
  • Customers can reject faulty goods for a refund
  • Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 :
  • Jurors can't research defendant.
• The Law Commission

  • Independent body
  • Non-departmental body
  • Statutory body
• The Law Commissions Act [1965]


  s1, created the Law Commission.

  s3, codify , consolidate and repeal
• Codification

  • original aim.
  • bringing all existing law on one area into one code
• Consolidation


  Bringing different laws on one specific topic into one statute.
• Codification


  1985, draft Criminal Code
• Consolidation

  1. The Fraud Act 2006
  2. Family Law Act 1996
• Repeal


  To remove statutes that no longer need to be in force.
• Statute Law (Repeal) Act


  Repeals a law

  19 in total