Читать книгу Criminal Law - Mark Thomas - Страница 33

The Law Commission was set up in 1965 following the enactment of the Law Commissions Act (LCA) 1965 for the purpose of ‘promoting the reform of the law’ (LCA 1965, s 1(1)). The Commission is headed by a Chairman (at the time of writing, Sir Nicholas Green) and four Commissioners, including Professor Penney Lewis, who is the Commissioner for criminal law. The Commission is an independent body, though it is sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. The aim of the Law Commission is to ensure that the law is:

•fair;

•modern;

•simple; and

•cost effective.

The work of the Law Commission in reforming the criminal law has been preeminent for a number of years (and has effectively superseded the work of the Criminal Law Revision Committee (CLRC)). The Commission will produce a consultation paper before then publishing a full report, with the potential inclusion of a draft Bill. Many reports have been successfully adopted by the government of the day (see, for example, ‘Assisting and Encouraging Crime’ (Law Com No 131, 2006) which was implemented by the Serious Crime Act 2007). These reports are useful for providing detailed summaries of the law as it stands, the problems with the law and the proposals for reform. Other reports have not been accepted by the government (eg ‘Intoxication and Criminal Liability’ (Law Com No 314, 2009)).