News
Introduction into Parliament of the Care Bill
09 May 2013
Following its announcement in the Queen's Speech on 8 May 2013, the Care Bill was introduced into the House of Lords by Earl Howe on 9 May 2013. The Bill implements almost all the recommendations we made in our 2011 report on Adult Social Care.
Reforming the law for adult social care
08 May 2013
The Care Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 8 May 2013 and introduced into the House of Lords but Earl Howe on 9 May 2013.
As well as dealing with the Dilnot Commission recommendations on funding, the Bill implements important Law Commission law reform recommendations.
Law Commissioner Frances Patterson QC says: "We are delighted that the Care Bill has been announced in the Queen’s Speech. The Bill implements almost all of the recommendations that we made in our 2011 report on adult social care. These include streamlining and modernising a system that still has its roots in the poor law, clarifying rights and responsibilities for older and disabled people and local councils, and improving the position of carers.
"The recommendations place the individual at the heart of a reformed legal framework for adult social care. We consulted extensively on our proposed reforms. From the start, they received a great deal of support from the people who use adult social care services and the individuals and organisations who design and provide those services.
"We are very pleased that the government has accepted our thinking and acted so swiftly to implement these important and much-needed reforms.”
A Bill to implement our recommended reforms to adult social care is currently before the National Assembly in Wales.
Patents, trade marks and design rights: groundless threats
17 April 2013
We are consulting on the groundless threats of infringement and asking whether they are causing problems and, if so, how they can be brought up to date.
Unfitness to Plead
10 April 2013
We have published an analysis of responses to the provisional proposals put forward in our consultation paper on Unfitness to Plead.
Renting Homes in Wales
09 April 2013
We are recommending reforms to the rented housing market in Wales that would introduce two new, uniform contracts for the social and private housing sectors
Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles
09 April 2013
In an interim statement, we have announced our early thinking on reforms for the taxi and private hire trades.
Conservation Covenants
28 March 2013
We have opened a consultation asking whether England and Wales should adopt conservation covenants.
Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries
26 March 2013
We have started work on this new project investigating what the current law requires pension trustees, investment managers and other financial intermediaries to consider in deciding an investment strategy.
Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death
21 March 2013
Government has accepted, in part, the recommendations we made in our report Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death.
Unfair terms in consumer contracts
19 March 2013
The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission have today recommended reforms to provide better protection for consumers from unfair charges in small print.
Electronic Communications Code
28 February 2013
We are recommending reforms that will bring the Electronic Communications Code up to date with modern technology while continuing to balance the rights of landowners and the public demand for modern communications services.
Rights to light consultation
18 February 2013
We are seeking views on how the law related to rights to light can provide an appropriate balance between the important interests of landowners and the need to facilitate the appropriate development of land.
Royal Assent for Law Commission reforms
31 January 2013
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013 and the Trust (Capital and Income) Act 2013 received Royal Assent on 31 January 2013. Both pieces of legislation derive from Law Commission reports.
Law Commission under review
09 January 2013
The Secretary of State today announced a review of the Law Commission.
The review is part of a rolling three-year Cabinet Office programme designed to assess the form, function and governance of non-departmental public bodies.
Chairman of the Law Commission, Sir David Lloyd Jones, said: “This review provides us with a welcome opportunity to hear from many of the people and organisations who have a stake in our law reform work and learn from them what they think of the Law Commission and the way in which we conduct our business. It will give the Commission itself a valuable opportunity to set before Government and the citizen the vital work we do in keeping the law of England and Wales as fair, modern, simple and cost effective as possible.
“We encourage all our stakeholders to participate in this review.
“Triennial Reviews are part of the process by which Government departments scrutinise arms’-length bodies. We have been working with the Ministry of Justice on their preparations for this review and will continue to work closely with them as it progresses.”
The consultation is open from 9 January until 6 February 2013.
Statute Law (Repeals) Bill passed
07 January 2013
The Statute Law (Repeals) Bill, which derives from our 19th Statute Law Repeals report, completes its passage through Parliament.
Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill passed
07 January 2013
The Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill has passed through all its parliamentary stages and is awaiting Royal Assent. The Bill derives from our report: Capital and Income in Trusts: Classification and Apportionment.
Scandalising the Court
19 December 2012
We have recommended to Government that the offence of scandalising the court should be abolished and not replaced.
Hate Crime - review of aggravated offences and stirring up hatred offences
14 December 2012
We have started a new project to consider whether two existing groups of offences dealing with hate crime should be extended.
Reforming electoral law in the UK
11 December 2012
Publication of a report setting out the scope of a forthcoming review of UK electoral law. Conducted jointly with the Scottish Law Commission and the Northern Ireland Law Commission, the review aims to reform the law relating to elections and referendums across the UK.
Contempt of Court
28 November 2012
Launch of a consultation to ask whether the existing law on contempt of court continues to work effectively in light of the challenges posed by new media and the way these are used by the mainstream press and, increasingly, by citizen journalists.
Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements
11 September 2012
Following our 2012 consultation on marital property agreements (“pre-nups”), we have opened a supplementary consultation on needs and non-matrimonial property.
Wildlife
14 August 2012
Launch of a consultation relating the law governing the management of wildlife.
Scandalising the Court
10 August 2012
We have launched a consultation asking whether the offence of scandalising the court should be abolished or retained but modified and, if so, how.
Protecting consumers from unfair terms in contracts
25 July 2012
The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission are consulting on proposals to protect consumers from unfair terms hidden in small print.
Insanity and automatism - a call for evidence
18 July 2012
Launch of a scoping exercise to establish how, in the criminal law of England and Wales, the defences of insanity and automatism are working, if at all.
Government implements Law Commission Adult Social Care recommendations
11 July 2012
The Government has published a response to the recommendations we made in our Adult Social Care report and has issued a draft Care and Support Bill that substantially implements our recommendations.
Electronic Communications Code consultation
28 June 2012
Consultation seeking views on how the Electronic Communications Code is working for those who use it, and what can be done to make it more transparent and user-friendly.
Reforming the duty of disclosure in business insurance, and bringing warranty law up to date
26 June 2012
A consultation from the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission proposing a new law to make clear what businesses must tell insurers when they buy insurance and asking whether the law of warranties requires updating.
Law Commission Annual Report 2011-12
21 June 2012
Our 46th Annual Report, charting the challenges and achievements of 2011-12. The final report from Sir James Munby as Chairman of the Commission.
Bringing electoral law up to date
15 June 2012
We have launched a consultation on electoral law, seeking views on which of the rules governing elections and referendums should be reviewed.
Taxis and private hire services
10 May 2012
We invite comments on the provisional proposals in our consultation paper.
New Chairman
26 April 2012
We welcome the appointment of our new Chairman, the Honourable Mr Justice Lloyd Jones, with effect from 1 August 2012.
19th Statute Law (Repeals) report
04 April 2012
A report recommending the repeal of more than 800 old laws that are cluttering up the statute book. Our statute book is littered with dead law from down the centuries. Obsolete provisions from the 1600s and earlier continue to survive long after they have ceased to serve any useful purpose.
Consumer Redress for Misleading and Aggressive Practices
28 March 2012
In a report published today, we are recommending that consumers should have a new legal right of redress against traders that carry out misleading or aggressive practices.
Regulation of Health Care Professionals and Regulation of Social Care Professionals in England
01 March 2012
In a consultation opening today, the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are seeking views on how the regulation of health care professionals in the UK and social workers in England can be made clearer, simpler, more modern and more consistent.
Clarifying the law on financial provision for couples when relationships end
06 February 2012
The Law Commission is to conduct a targeted review of two aspects of the law that entitles married couples and civil partners to claim financial provision from one another on divorce or dissolution of their partnership.
Insurance Contract Law: Post-contract Duties and other Issues
20 December 2011
In this consultation we examine a number of areas of insurance contract law that impact on small businesses and families.
Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death
14 December 2011
In this report, we make recommendations to bring inheritance law into line with the needs and expectations of modern families, and simplify the law to help the bereaved deal with the property of a deceased family member.
Leslie Scarman lecture, 25 January 2012
09 December 2011
The Law Commission is pleased to announce that Justice Edwin Cameron of the Constitutional Court of South Africa will be giving the 4th Leslie Scarman lecture, "What you can do with rights", in London on 25 January 2012.
Simplification of the Criminal Law: Kidnapping
28 September 2011
The Law Commission today opens a consultation to clarify the law on kidnapping. Under the existing law it is not enough simply for a victim to be taken away – a number of other conditions need to be met, and several parts of the definition are ambiguous.
Eleventh Programme of Law Reform
19 July 2011
The Commission has published its Eleventh Programme of Law Reform, which will form a substantial part of our work for the next three years. We will also continue to work on projects from previous programmes, as well as projects referred by Ministers, advice to Government, statute law repeals and consolidation of legislation. See Work of the Law Commission 2011-2015.
Public Services Ombudsmen
14 July 2011
In a report published today, the Commission recommends reforms to the five public services ombudsmen that will make it easier for citizens to complain if they receive poor public services.
Easements, covenants and profits à prendre
08 June 2011
In a report published today, the Law Commission recommends reforms that will simplify and clarify the laws that govern relationships between neighbouring plots of land. The Commission’s proposals will make it easier for the people who develop, mortgage, sell and buy land to identify and manage the rights and responsibilities that attach to it.
Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Bill introduced
17 May 2011
The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Bill was introduced into Parliament on 16 May 2011. Originating from our joint project with the Scottish Law Commission, the Bill clarifies the law that governs what consumers should tell insurers when they take out a policy.
Law Commission recommends radical overhaul of adult social care law
11 May 2011
In a report published today, the Commission is recommending the most far-reaching reforms of adult social care law seen for over 60 years.
Consumer Redress for Misleading and Aggressive Practices
12 April 2011
We invite comments on the proposals in our consultation paper.
Adult Social Care Consultation Analysis
31 March 2011
We have published an analysis of responses to the 57 provisional proposals put forward in our consultation paper.
Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
22 March 2011
Following our recent consultation exercise, we have published a report recommending changes in the law relating to the admissibility of expert evidence in criminal proceedings.