law reform

• Influences on law making

  .Government manifesto

  .European union law  i.e. Treaties (sex discrimination act 1986)

  .Every year laws

  .Law reform agencies

  .Public opinion/media

  .Pressure groups (age of homosexuality consent, civil partnership)

  .Specific events (anti terrorism, crime and security act 2001)
• Government manifesto

  -The budget is approved every year. How much will the Government be spending on schools, NHS, public services such as the police etc.
• European union laws

  -When we were in the EU (made up of 27 countries), we were bound by their laws as the EU court was above the supreme court. An example of one of these laws is the Sex Discrimination Act 1968 which allowed for equal pay. As part of our commitment to the EU we were forced to pass new law bin line with the direction they wish to take. 
• Law reform agencies

  -Law reform bodies are permanent organisations whose only job is to suggest law reforms. Arguably, the most influential one is the Law Commission. An example of an act that the law commision suggested needed to be reformed was the Children's Act 1989 which now includes vulnerable adults.
• Public opinion/media

  -media can be hugely influential as their campaigns are influenced by and can influence public opinion.
• Public opinion/media - sarah's law

  >Sarah's law - introduced following the abduction and murder of 8year old Sarah Payne by Poedophile Roy Whiting in 2000. The aim of this campaign was to protect children from such horrific acts in the future. The campaign managed to change the law on disclosure meaning it allows you to ask the police for information about someone who has contact with their child, has a record for child sexual offences and poses a risk to the child. Sarah's law allows people to find out if there is a registered sex offender in the area.
• Public opinion/media - examples

  >Winterbourne view care home - staff abusing members of residential hospitals by giving them cold showers, being left in the freezing cold, having mouthwash in their eyes etc.

  >Dangerous dogs act 1991 - introduced after lots of dog attacks mostly to children

  >Hillsborough - collapsed stadium now means stadiums are now controlled.
• Advantages of Public opinion/media

  .issues of concern are raised - government may then introduce proposals ne.g. Clean air zone

  .The media can lead and bring about public awareness and concern - people elect politicians and can push for these issues to be raised. 

  .Reach a wide audience e.g. social media

  .highlights public opinion
• Disadvantages of public opinion/media

  .Media sources are often not neutral or impartial e.g. they only show what they want you to see

  .Traditional media is a business - needs to make money to sell copies, so campaigning can be influenced by this. They often say things you want to share

  .Views and information shared on social media may be incorrect, offensive or unlawful

  .Can exaggerate and design to cause panic
• Pressure groups

  .Sectional - only their section of society e.g. trade unions, British Medical Association etc

  .Cause - promote their ideas/beliefs e.g. greenpeace, Just stop oil, BLM, Extinction rebellion

  .Insider groups - have direct contact with the government e.g. Royal college of nurses, National trust

  .Outsider groups - no direct contact with the government so they have to resort to direct action to be heard e.g. Fathers4justice, Amnesty International, BLM.
• Advantages of pressure groups

  .Can raise public awareness of an issue

  .Large groups have huge memberships which the government doesn't want to upset

  .Considerable detailed knowledge of their interest

  .Can do research/reports on their interested to help government policy
• Disadvantages of pressure groups

  .May be biased in favour of their particular cause and not be able to see an alternative post of view

  .Outsider groups may be prepared to use violence or criminal action to draw attention to their cause

  .Supporters of groups may also only represent a small portion of the population e.g. Countryside alliance with the fox hunting act

  .Influential groups may push through views that don't represent the public as a whole.
• Specific events

  -Events of 9/11 led to Anti terrorism, crime and security act 2001. This is where non-british nationals can be detained for an unlimited period of time if suspected of terrorist activity. An example of this is the Belmarsh case where 9 non-british nationals were detained for suspected terrorist activity. 

  -Events of the Dunblane Massacre by Thomas Hamilton led to the Firearms Act for outright ban on privately owned cartilage handheld guns.
• Law commission

  .The law reform agency whose job is to check if the law needs changing

  .Laws need repealing for reasons like it not being diverse enough, outdated laws, technological changes, laws may be discriminatory, medical changes etc
• Who is the law commission

  .The law commission created by the Law Commissions Act 1965. They are a full time independent body. This means they cannot be influenced by anybody including the government and parliament. 

  .There are 5 law commissioners who are employed for 5 years at a time who will research various areas of the law.

  .The commissioners are led by a chairman who is employed for 3 years at a time. Its important that the role changes so more experts are brought in all the time

  .The law commission research the area of law and came back with a draft bill for Parliament to consider
• Role of the law commission Repeal

  .1)Repeal

  .2) Codify (codification)

  .3) Consolidate

  .4) Reform
• Role of the law commission - repeal

  .1) Repeal - This is where the Law Commission believes that Law in a particular area is outdated and decides to abolish it. Statute law (repeals) act acts as a dustbin to put all obsolete laws into one place e.g. holding  salmon suspiciously
• Role of the law commission - codification

  .2) Codify (codification)- This is where all statutes on one area are simplified e.g. theft act 1968
• Role of the law commission - consolidate

  .3) Consolidate - This is where the commission suggests Parliament brings together under oe Act all the existing statutory provisions previously located in several acts. The law itself remains unchanged, but those who use it can now find it all in one place. An example of a consolidation act is the Offences Against a Persons Act (OAPA) 1861 e.g. laws around assault, ABH, GBH. Another consolidation act is the equality act 2010 to do with the diversity law.
• Role of the law commission - Reform

  .4) Reform - Although Parliament are reluctant to do so, a few of the law commissioners proposals have been successful in bringing about reform to legislation e.g. unfair contract terms act 1977, children's act 1989 (this ac has been reformed to include vulnerable adults) and Computer Misuse Act 1990
• Law commission act 2009

  .Due to the unsuccessful nature of the law commission in later years, the above act was passed in order to make them more influential

  .there are two main ways in which the 2009 act tried to achieve this : 

  >the chairman of the law commision was promoted as a court of appeal judge from a high court judge which gives the chairman more power in the judiciary. 

  >When parliament chose not to implement a recommended reform, the lord chancellor now has to make a statement in parliament explaining why.