In this blog, we will be looking at the Law Commission – what it is and how it works, as well as the aims and objectives of its work. We will then be considering how to reference both reports of the commission and its consultation papers, although they are done in a fairly similar way. We will start by asking what the Law Commission is and what its origins are.
What is the Law Commission?
The Law Commission (as well as the Scottish Law Commission) was first created by the Law Commissions Act 1965. It is not part of the government; rather, it is an independent statutory body focused on reviewing the law and suggesting reform for it to keep legislation in line with its principles, which we will return to later.
It is sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, which is the governmental department responsible for certain parts of the justice system, such as courts, prisons, probation services and attendance centres. You can see why it is concerned with law review and reform, as this has a huge impact on its work.
The Law Commission is only an advisory non-departmental public body, meaning that, while it can carry out law reviews and propose potential law reforms, it doesn’t actually have any power to implement these. Its suggestions can be persuading but the government is under no obligation to follow them.
On the other hand, as the Law Commission is an advisory non-governmental body it has a lot more freedom to decide which parts of the law it would like to review – this is the independent part mentioned above. This gives it choice at three levels: what area of law or policy question it would like to pursue, how to conduct the investigation and what the final report and recommendation to the government should be.
The Law Commission being independent means that it is not bound by government policy and has more flexibility to follow a consultation in a different direction to the one expected. It doesn’t have to stick to an initial draft put forward and can invite new views and change its recommendations accordingly.
What are the Law Commission’s aims?
The Law Commission has a number of principles; it aims to ensure that the law is fair, modern, simple and cost-effective. These are the basic tenets of the Law Commission and it is on these which it operates and keeps in mind for all of its consultations and reports.
It aims to improve the accessibility of the law to the general public and to remove or update some of the older, more archaic laws that still exist and are in effect. The law should also be just and impartial and not have unreasonable expenses.
The Law Commission also aims to conduct research and consultations and make recommendations to Parliament based on its findings. This is its purpose and will be carried out in accordance with the principles listed above, so the advice it gives will be focused around making the law fair, modern, simple and cost-effective.
In addition, the Law Commission aims to codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments and reduce the number of separate statutes. This is to make the law simpler and easier to understand by removing extraneous elements and gathering others together to make one law in place of a number of smaller, separate ones.
At times, it may also recommend the removal of a law where another similar one already exists or bring them together to make a new one. It will also look for disagreements between (or within) laws and suggest clarification of these.
Who is on the Law Commission?
The Law Commission is made up of a Chair, four more Commissioners, the Chief Executive and two Non-Executive Board Members. The Chair will be a judge of the High Court or Appeal Court and is appointed for up to three years by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
The other Commissioners are judges, barristers, solicitors or teachers of law and are appointed for up to five years, although this may be extended. The Commissioners will decide which areas of law to focus on and the content of the final reports.
The Commissioners are supported by the Non-Executive Board Members, who can provide expertise on different areas such as governance and strategic management. They are also supported by the Chief Executive, around 20 members of the Government Legal Service, two Parliamentary Counsel and a team of research assistants.
How Do You Reference Law Commission Reports and Consultation Papers?
The basic format is:
Law Commission, | Title of report | (Law Com number, | Year)
For example:
Law Commission, Reforming Bribery (Law Com No 313, 2008).
Start by writing “Law Commission”, followed by a comma. This is to show the author of the citation and to let readers know that you are referring to a Law Commission report.
Next, write the title of the report in italics, then open brackets and insert the Law Com number, then a comma, followed by the year in the format YYYY. Finally, close brackets and add a period if the reference is in a footnote.
If the reference is to a Law Commission consultation paper, simply replace the Law Com number with a Law Com CP number, for example:
Law Commission, Privity of Contract: Contracts for the Benefit of Third Parties (Law Com CP No 121, 1991).
If you need to pinpoint a certain part of the report, place this at the end of the reference:
Law Commission, Reforming Bribery (Law Com No 313, 2008) paras 3.12–3.17.
Wrapping Up
I hope that you now feel more confident in your knowledge of Law Commission reports and how to reference them. Next time we will be looking at how to reference reports of the Scottish Law Commission, as well as finding out a bit more about the Scottish Law Commission.
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