WJEC Eduqas A Level Law Book 1 sample

Law reform 31 What are the problems with law reform bodies? • The Law Commission is the only full-time law reform body. So much law reform needs to happen that it may be that it is not big enough to cope with the demand. • There is no obligation for the government to consult permanent law reform bodies, or to set up Royal Commissions or other committees. • Governments also have no obligation to follow any recommendations made by law reform bodies, and are able to reject them entirely. Even where general proposals are implemented, the detailed proposals are often ignored or radically altered. • Even where proposals are implemented, there may be insufficient funding to put them into practice. • Legal professionals, such as judges and barristers, contribute to the consultation documents and their strong influence on any type of reform can defeat proposals even before they reach an official report or get to Parliament. • The temporary committees are disbanded after they have produced their report, and take no part in the rest of the law-making process, so this can be a waste of expertise. • There is no single ministerial department responsible for law reform, so ministers are unlikely to make law reform their priority. Judicial change: Judges can bring about law reform through judicial precedent Examples: R v R (1991), Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza (2004) Judicial law making is rare because of constitutional position and judges not being elected to make laws Parliamentary change: main way to reform law, usually to reflect government manifesto or a political agenda Changes can be made in one of four ways: • Repeal : Take old and obsolete laws off the statute books • Create : Make completely new laws • Consolidate : Bring together successive statutes on the same subject • Codify : Bring together all the rules into one statute to increase certainty Influences on Parliament are media pressure, the annual Budget, significant events, recommendations from law reform agencies, public opinion and the European Convention on Human Rights Two types of pressure groups : • Interest groups : a particular section of society, e.g. the British Medical Association, National Union of Teachers • Cause groups: a shared attitude or value, e.g. Amnesty International, Fathers 4 Justice Pressure groups sometimes use illegal methods to attract attention, and are not always successful in forcing change They are good at highlighting issues that Parliament may decide needs debate Law Commission: Role under s3 Law Commission Act 1965 is to ‘keep under review all the law’ The only full-time law reform body Puts draft Bills before Parliament after a period of research and consultation Law Commission Act 2009 puts an obligation on the Lord Chancellor to report to Parliament whether the government has decided to implement any of the previous year’s Law Commission proposals Successful at first, less so in the 1980s and 1990s, then more success since the 2009 Act Advisory committees: Temporary committees set up to review a particular area of law, e.g. Royal Commissions, public inquiries and ad hoc committees Summary: Law reform