law reform

• The Law Commission was established in 1965 by the Law Commissions Act 1965
• The Law Commission is a full-time body consisting of a chairman who is a High Court judge, four other highly qualified law commissioners, and support staff for research and administration
• The role of the Law Commission, outlined in section 3 of the Law Commissions Act 1965, includes reviewing areas of law, codifying or consolidating areas of law, simplifying and modernizing law
• Codification involves consolidating the law, both statutory and judicial precedent, on one topic into a complete single law to make it more understandable, consistent, and easier to find
• The Law Commission worked on producing a sentencing code to consolidate all the laws on sentencing into one document, achieved by passing the Sentencing Act 2020
• The Law Commission has produced over 300 reports proposing reform, but for their proposals to be effective, they must be passed as law by Parliament
• In its first 10 years, the Law Commission had a success rate of 85%, but in the next 10 years, this declined to 50% due to lack of parliamentary time and interest in law reform
• The Law Commissions Act 2009 amends the 1965 Act, placing a duty on the Lord Chancellor to report annually to Parliament on the government's progress in implementing reports
• Consolidation, drawing all existing provisions together in one act, is necessary in areas where several statutes set out a small part of the total law to make the law more accessible
• The Law Commission identifies old acts no longer in use so that Parliament can repeal them, making them cease to be law
• The Law Commission works by researching areas of law in need of reform, publishing consultation papers seeking views on possible reforms, and then presenting positive proposals for reform in reports