Law Reform

• What is Law Reform?

  Law reform is the process of examining and reviewing the law and making recommendations for a change in the law, introduction of a new law or making a law obsolete
• What is the Law Commission?

  An Independent organisation

  Established by the Law Commission Act 1965
• What did the Law Commission Act 2009 achieve?

  1.creates a duty on the Minister of Justice to report annually to Parliament on proposals put forward by the Law Commission.

  2.The government department must provide a response within 6 months of a Law Commission proposal and a full response within a year.
• •Who heads the Commission ?

  Headed by five Commissioners who are legal professionals

  They are appointed by the ‘Minister of Justice' for up to five years
• how is it structured?

  main work is the reform of the law

  • They get topics referred to the Law Commission by the Government- e.g.: Ministry of Justice - Law on Murder and Manslaughter
  • They may select areas to research and get the approval of the Government- e.g.:report on reforming NFO in 2015
  • sometimes will work with pressure groups or after some publication made be legal academics- e.g.:The law relating to Double Jeopardy – Criminal Justice Act 2003
• What are the 3 ways of reforming the law?

  Consolidation

  Repeal

  Codification
• What does Codification mean?

  Grouping Act’s into one section.

  Makes the law accessible and understandable but the Commission has abandoned aims to codify large sections of the law.  
• What does Repeal mean?

  Scrapping unnecessary law.

  The Law Commission prepares a Statute Law (Repeals) Bill for Parliament to pass. By 2009 18 Bills have been enacted meaning over 2000 Acts have been repealed. This tidies up the statute book
• What does Consolidation mean? + example

  Brings together the law on one topic into one source of law/ one Act. On average, five Consolidation Bills are produced each year.

  E.g: Consumer Rights Act 2015; Sentencing Act 2020
• examples of proposals implemented

  1.Law Reform (Year and a day rule) Act 1996

  2.Criminal Justice Act 2003 – changing the rule on Double Jeopardy