Fifty Years of the Law Commissions

This book brings together past and present law commissioners, judges, practitioners, academics and law reformers to analyse the past, present and future of the Law Commissions in the United Kingdom and beyond.

Its internationally recognised authors bring a wealth of experience and insight into how and why law reform does and should take place, covering statutory and non-statutory reform from national and international perspectives. The chapters of the book developed from papers given at a conference to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Law Commissions Act 1965.

1. Introduction
Matthew Dyson, James Lee and Shona Wilson Stark

2. Fifty Years of the Law Commissions: The Dynamics of Law Reform Now, Then and Next
Lady Hale
Part 2: The First Half-Century of the Commissions

3. Introduction
Lord Hodge

4. Strategies of the Early Law Commission
Paul Mitchell

5. Fifty Years of Law Reform-A Note on the Northern Ireland Style
Neil Faris

6. Working on the Larger Canvas-Law Reform in a Federal System: Thoughts on Forty Years of the Australian Law Reform Commission
Kathryn Cronin

7. Law Reform and Social Policy
Eric Clive
Part 3: Institutions, Commissions, Committees, Codifiers

8. Introduction
Lord Beith

9. Memoir of a Reforming Chairman
Sir Terence Etherton

10. The Duty to Make the Law More Accessible?
The Two C-Words
George L Gretton

11. The Former Law Commission of Canada: The Road Less Travelled
Yves Le Bouthillier

12. The Law Commission and the Criminal Law: Reflections on the Codification Project
Ian Dennis
Part 4: The Many Faces of Law Reform

13. Introduction
Lord Carnwath

14. Democracy, Law Reform and the Rule of Law
Lord Toulson

15. Promoting Law Reform: By Means of Draft Bills or Otherwise
Shona Wilson Stark

16. Law Commissions, Courts and Society: A Sceptical View
William Binchy

17. A Good Name, a Long Game
Laura Dunlop
Part 5: Implementation by Statute

18. Introduction
Dame Mary Arden

19. The Legislative Implementation of Law Reform Proposals
Sir Grant Hammond

20. Post-legislative Scrutiny, Legislative Drafting and the 'Elusive Boundary'
Andrew Burrows

21. Reflections on Statutory Implementation in the Law Commission
Nicholas Paines

22. Implementation by Statute: What the Future Holds
Hector MacQueen
Part 6: How Law Commissions Work

23. Introduction
Sir James Munby

24. The Law Commission Method: Exportable to the EU?
Hugh Beale

25. How Law Commissions Work: Some Lessons from the Past
David Johnston

26. Challenges for Independent Law Reformers from Changing External Priorities and Shorter Timescales
Sir Jack Beatson

27. The Bill's Progress
Stephen Lewis
Part 7: Courts and Commissions

28. Introduction
Lord Drummond Young

29. The Etiquette of Law Reform
James Lee

30. Law Reform in Private Law: The Role of Statutes in Supplementing or Supplanting the Common Law
Barbara McDonald

31. The Refiner's Fire
Charles Harpum

32. Reflections on the Courts and the Commission
David Ormerod
Part 8: Commissioning the Future

33. Introduction
Elizabeth Cooke

34. The Scottish Law Commission and the Future of Law Reform in Scotland
Lord Pentland

35. Looking to the Future
Sir David Lloyd Jones

36. Commissioning the Future-A Chief Executive's Perspective
Elaine Lorimer

37. Implementation of Law Reform Reports: Developments in Scotland
Malcolm McMillan

38. The Future is a Foreign Country, They Do Things Differently There
Matthew Dyson

39. Making Law-Who, How and What?
KJ Keith