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The law must keep pace with social, economic, and technological change. When the law becomes outdated, unjust, or unnecessarily complex, it must be reformed. While Parliament has the ultimate power to change the law through legislation, and the courts develop the law through judicial precedent, there are also dedicated bodies whose specific function is to review the law and recommend reform.
The most important of these bodies is the Law Commission, an independent statutory body established by the Law Commissions Act 1965. This lesson examines the role, methods, successes, and criticisms of the Law Commission, as well as other sources of law reform.
The Law Commission was established by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where the law is:
The Law Commission is an independent body. Although it is funded by the Ministry of Justice, it operates independently of the government and makes its recommendations based on legal analysis rather than political considerations.
The Law Commission consists of:
Each Commissioner is responsible for a particular area of law and leads a team working on specific reform projects.
graph TD
A["Law Commission"] --> B["Chairman<br/>(High Court Judge)"]
A --> C["4 Commissioners<br/>(Experienced Lawyers)"]
A --> D["Research Assistants"]
A --> E["Parliamentary Counsel"]
B --> F["Overall leadership and direction"]
C --> G["Each leads a reform area"]
D --> H["Research and analysis"]
E --> I["Draft Bills attached to reports"]
style A fill:#8e44ad,color:#fff
style B fill:#2980b9,color:#fff
style C fill:#2980b9,color:#fff
Under section 3 of the Law Commissions Act 1965, the Law Commission has a duty to:
The Law Commission uses several methods to achieve its objectives:
The most important function of the Law Commission is producing reform reports. The typical process is:
Topics for reform may come from:
The Commission conducts extensive research, including:
The Commission then publishes a Consultation Paper (formerly called a "Working Paper") setting out:
The consultation is open to anyone — legal professionals, academics, pressure groups, government departments, the judiciary, and the general public.
After considering consultation responses, the Commission publishes a Final Report containing:
The inclusion of a draft Bill is important because it means Parliament does not have to draft legislation from scratch — the Law Commission provides a ready-made Bill that can be introduced directly.
The Report and draft Bill are presented to Parliament. It is then up to Parliament whether to introduce and pass the Bill. The Law Commission has no power to compel Parliament to act.
Codification involves bringing together all the law on a particular subject (both common law and statutory provisions) into a single, comprehensive code. Codification aims to make the law more accessible, coherent, and rational.
Examples of attempted codification:
Challenges of codification:
Consolidation involves combining multiple Acts of Parliament on the same subject into a single Act, without changing the substance of the law. This makes the law easier to find and understand.
Examples of consolidation:
Consolidation is less controversial than reform because it does not change the law — it merely reorganises it. Consolidation Bills can pass through Parliament on a fast-track procedure without full debate.
The Law Commission has an ongoing programme to identify and repeal obsolete statutes — laws that are no longer relevant or effective. This tidying-up exercise simplifies the statute book.
Statute Law (Repeals) Acts are passed periodically to repeal batches of obsolete legislation. For example:
The Law Commission has achieved significant reforms across many areas of law:
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