Law commission

• The law commission propose ideas for law change
• Law commission was set up by the Law Commission Act 1965
• The law commission composes of five commissioners and a chairperson

  • The chairperson is either a High Court or an Appeal Court judge (sit for 3 years max)
  • The commissioners are experienced judges, barristers, solicitors or teachers of law (sit for 5 years - renewable)
• The law commission are both

  • proactive (decides what areas of law to consider)
  • reactive (responds to government requests to investigate law reform possibilities)
• The roles of the law commission is that they will do the green and white paper (sometimes also the bill) for government (they take on their role) whilst also considering laws for reform
• The law commission will consider reviewing laws if...

  • important (to the country for the law to change)
  • suitable (if they are a suitable body)
  • resources (commissioners have valid experience, good funding available, etc)
• S3 of the Law Commissions Act 1965 says their role is to

  • Repeal archaic and unnecessary laws (Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013 repealed 817 Acts)
  • Codify (Draft Criminal Code 1989 -> Parliament failed to consider it) and consolidate (Charities Act 2011)
  • Fix anomalies
  • Simplify and modernise the law
• A positive about codification and consolidation is it increases accessibility, consistency and certainty as the law is contained in one place


  Negative about codification and consolidation include it could make law too rigid and unable to respond to change and it rarely stays as a single document for very long
• Examples of things that the law commission are currently working on include

  • Disabled children's social care
  • Wills
  • Burial and cremation
  • Remote driving
• In 1965-75, 85% of proposals were enacted by Parliament

  In 1975-85, 50% of proposals were enacted

  In 1990 there were 0 enactments

  In 1992 there was a backlog of 36 bills

  In 2008 there was a backlog of 21 (Due to Halliday Report)

  In 2013, 70% of recommendations were enacted (Due to Law Commission Act 2009)

  Since 2018, 4% of proposals have been enacted (Due to Covid)
• The Halliday Report 2003 states

  • the law commission's contribution to law making was held in very high esteem
  • criticism centres on the lack of implementation by Government/Parliament (e.g. Draft Criminal Code 1989)
• The Law Commission Act 2009 introduced a new protocol

  • there is a duty to report annually to Parliament on the implementation of Commission proposals
  • Government must respond within 6 months and give a full response within a year
• The Halliday Report 2003 states

  • the law commission's contribution to law making was held in very high esteem
  • criticism centres on the lack of implementation by Government/Parliament (e.g. Draft Criminal Code 1989)
• The Law Commission Act 2009 introduced a new protocol

  • there is a duty to report annually to Parliament on the implementation of Commission proposals
  • Government must respond within 6 months and give a full response within a year