LAW REFORM

INFLUENCES ON LAW REFORM

PARLIAMENT Throughout any session of parliament the government has the major say on the news laws Queens Speech At the opening of each session of parliament the government announces its plans for new laws in that session. The speech is written for the queen by the prime minister and other senior ministers However there is a problem of te amount of time available in parliament. A lot of time has to be given to financial matters such as budgets and taxation.

JUDGES When judges decide points of law in cases they sometimes have to decide a new point. This allows them to ‘make’ law. Decisions by judges over the years have created the tort of negligence. This is the law that allows you to claim compensation when you have been injured by another persons negligence. In the criminal law the judges have sometimes created new offences, example in R v R However judges only create or reform law in a very small number of cases.

PUBLIC OPINION When there is strong opinion about a change to the law, government may bow to such opinion. This is likely towards the end of a term of government when there will be a general election soon and the government want to remain popular with the majority of people.

MEDIA The media play a huge role in bringing public opinion to the governments attention. When an issue is given a high profile on television and in the newspaper, it is brought to the attention of other members of the public However it can be seen as the media manipulating the news and creating public opinion End of influences on law reform

PRESSURE GROUPS

THE LAW COMMISSION Set up by the Law Commissions Act 1965 It is a full time body consisting of a chairman, who is a high court judge and 4 other law commissioners. There are also support staff to assist with the research and 4 parliamentary draftsman who help with the drafting of Proposed Bills. Each commissioner takes responsibility for proposing reform in an area where they are considered SPECIALISTS The commission consider areas of law which are believe to be in need of reform The role of the law commission is set out in S3 of the Law Commissions Act 1965 It works on about projects at one time and submits reports.

HOW THE LAW COMMISSION WORKS Topics may be referred to it by the Lord Chancellor or it may select topics itself in areas which need reform. It works by researching the area of law that is thought to be in need of reform It then publishes a consultation paper which will describe the current law and set out the problems and look at options for reform Following the response to the consultation paper, the commission will then draw up positive proposals for reform, these will be presented in a report that led to the conclusions. There will often be a draft Bill attached to the report with the intention that this is the exact way in which the new law should be formed The draft bill must go before parliament before it becomes a law

A topic for research is chosen by the Law Commission or referred by the Government Law commission researches law Law commission issues consultation paper Law commission issues final report

REPEAL AND CONSOLIDATION Repeal There are many very old and ridiculous statutes still on the statute book which now have no relevance. The Law Commission prepares a statute law Bill for parliament to pass Through this more than 2,500 out of date acts have been completely repealed It helps make the statute book more accessible Point: To REPEAL of obsolete statutes Explain: Many very old and sometimes ridiculous statutes which are still on the book Examples: More than 2,500 out of date acts have been completely repealed

REPEAL AND CONSOLIDATION Consolidation This is needed because in some areas of law there are a number of statutes which set out a small part of the total law. The aim is to draw all the existing provisions together in one act The Law Commission produces about 5 Consolidation Bills every year Point: To reduce the number of acts parliament covering the same subject by CONSOLIDATION Explain: The aim is to draw all the existing provisions together in one act Examples: Before 2000 the law on sentencing offenders under the age of 17 had been amended 10 times & it was necessary to consult each of the acts

CODIFICATION Codification involves brining together all the law on one topic into one source Specifically referred to by S3 of the Law Commission Act 1965 When the law commission was first formed an ambitious programme of codification was announced It aimed to at codifying family law, contract law, landlord and tenant laws and the law of evidence. The law commission gradually abandoned these schemes in favour of what might be termed the ‘building-block’ approach Under this it has concentrated on codifying small sections of the law that can be added to later Point: To CODIFY the law Explain: It involves bringing together all of the law on one topic into one source Examples: The building block approach

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LAW COMMISSION In the first 10 years it had a high success rate with 85% of its proposals being made law by parliament During the next 10 years it dropped to 50% this is suggested to be because of lack of parliamentary time In 1990 not one of it’s reforms was made law by parliament Since then matters have improved and different governments have put made more reforms put forward by the law commission such as… -The land Registration Act The Fraud Act The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007