law commission Flashcards
booklet 2
what is it meant by ‘law reform’?
when we try to fix/make the law better by changing it
who are the law commission?
an independent group whose sole purpose is to “keep all law under review”
what 4 things do the law commission do
1)Receive and consider proposals for the law 2)Reform and consult interested parties
3)Codify and Consolidate areas of law in the UK
4)Put forwards proposals for reform of the law
consolidate meaning with an example
The aim is to draw all existing provisions together in one Act.
This is needed because in some areas of law here are a number of statutes which set out small parts of the overall law. This can make it confusing as the law may be contained in various different sources.
The Law Commission will highlight areas of the law where this has happened, and will propose a new law which brings together all of the existing parts into one Act of Parliament.
A specific example is the Sentencing Act 2020 which collated together 65 Acts of Parliament on sentencing of offenders.
codify meaning with an example
This is similar to Consolidation, in that all the existing law on one area is brought together into one Act of Parliament.
However, the difference is that codification also includes bringing together any statutes as well as judge made law created in cases.
This was done with the Draft Criminal Code 1985, which attempted to bring all criminal law aspects into one law – however this has not yet been passed into law.
repeal meaning with an example
One of the roles of the Law Commission is to identify old Acts which are no longer used.
The Law Commission has been very successful in this. By 2015 there had been over 3,000 out-of-date Acts completely repealed in addition to thousands of sections of Acts.
A specific example is the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1998 which got rid of over 150 outdated laws that are not used.
what is a statute
a written law passed by a legislative body
who are the 6 commissioners that are apart of the law commission
The Chairman (a High Court or an Appeal Court judge)
four Commissioners are experienced judges, barristers, solicitors or teachers of law
Chief Executive
about 20 members of the Government Legal Service
Research Assistants
2 Parliamentary Counsel members
what is the process of law commission (5 steps)
1) referral
2) research
3) consultation
4) proposals for reform
5) draft bill
can you explain referral
topics may be referred by the Lord Chancellor on behalf on the Government or it may select areas in need of reform
can you explain research
The Law Commission researches the area in need of reform and publishes a consultation paper seeking views on possible reform
can you explain consultation
a consultation paper will describe the current law, set out the problems and look at options for reform
can you explain proposals for reform
a report is published which lays down the proposals as well as the research conducted. this is made public and the government will review it
can you explain a draft bill and how many of these become a law
this report should include a draft of how the new law should look like to make it easy for parliament to act on. however only 1/3 become a law
advantages of the law commission (5)
independent and free of gov control- unpolitical
they have proven to be successful
have made important changes to laws
legally trained to have expertise in certain areas
reports are thorough as they take lots of time doing their research
