Influences on Parliament The Law Commission What is

Influences on Parliament – The Law Commission

What is the Law Commission? • Established by the Law Commission Act 1965 • Permanent and independent • A full-time staff headed up by five Commissioners • Chairperson is a High Court Judge – responsible for promoting the work of the Commission and is its public face and voice • Other four members are from the legal professions and academic lawyers • All staff are legally trained • Aim of Law Commission - S 3(1) Law Commission Act 1965 – role of Commission is to “keep under review all the law”

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Codification • Codification is bringing together all of the law (both statutory and case law) on a particular topic into a single Act of Parliament • Draft Criminal Code was published in 1989 but has never become law • The Commission has gradually accepted that its initial plans were over -ambitious and that codification of smaller areas is preferable • E. g. The Land Registration Act 2002 and the Fraud Act 2006 have been reformed in this way

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Consolidation • Drawing together all the statutory provisions relating to a particular area into one Act (i. e not case law) • About 5 Consolidation Bills produced each year • E. g. – Education Act 1996 and The Powers of Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Repeal • Recommends the repeal of obsolete statutes – removing laws that have no further use • Important to remove these Acts as they make research of the law more time-consuming and cause confusion • Statute Law (Repeals) Bill in 2012 recommended the repeal of nearly 800 old laws

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament – Law Reform • It is also necessary to suggest changes to existing laws and to create new areas of law in response to social change and technical developments • E. g. – Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 made occupiers of land responsible for injury to trespassers while on their land, Computer Misuse Act 1990 deals with the problem of computer hacking

The Process of Law Commission Investigations • Commission has topics referred to it by government departments, or may select a topic of its own, which will be considered after the government has approved • Pressure to investigate an area of law may also come from other sources – e. g. Criminal Attempts Act 1981 was a result of a Law Commission report prompted by academic pressure • Process: • Research of the issue • Produce a working paper setting out the current law, the problems, and suggestions for reform • Consultations with anyone interested in commenting on the issue • Produce a report including a draft Bill • Government decides whether to introduce the draft Bill into Parliament and implement the recommendations • E. g. – legislation which has resulted from this process includes the Law Reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act 1996

Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages • A permanent non-political full-time body and can investigate any area of law it believes to be in need of reform – independent of the Government • Reduces the workload for ministers Produces draft Bills ready for Parliament to introduce • Responsible for many sensible changes to the law – e. g. Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, the Fraud Act 2006 and the abolition of the ‘Year and a Day’ rule • Can undertake extensive research and engage in wide consultation so its recommendations for law reform are well informed and this helps avoid problems with the application of the law Disadvantages • Parliament has often ignored the Commission’s proposals - only about two thirds of its proposals have been implemented – often because governments cannot find time in the legislative programme for non-urgent law reform – e. g. reform of the law on nonfatal offences – recommended by the Law Commission in a report in 1993 and accepted by the Labour government of 1997 who produced a draft Bill in 1998 but they never implemented it • Further lack of power shown by the fact that Government does not need to consult with the Commission on any new laws • Investigates as many as 20 -30 areas at the same time – may mean that each investigation is not as thorough as one carried out by a Royal Commission or a Commission of Inquiry

Types of questions you could be asked • Describe the influence of the Law Commission on Parliament (10 marks) • Briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the influence of the Law Commission on Parliament (10 marks)

Answering Exam Questions • Describe/Explain questions: • Explain how they influence law making – use examples of statutes (laws) created/reformed as a result of the Law Commission • Evaluation questions: • Explain why the particular point is an advantage or disadvantage • Use evidence and examples of successes and failures