Work of the British Law Commissions

Shona Wilson Stark is Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow and College Lecturer in Law at Christ’s College, Cambridge.

• 1. Introduction I. Lifting the Law Reform BonnetII. Beyond Great Britain III. Overview IV. Some Final Preliminaries 2. The Origins of the Law Commissions I. Pre-1965 II. How Soon is ‘Now’: Why 1965?III. Pressures for a Scottish Law Commission IV. The Law Commissions Act 1965 V. Consequent Issues3. The Scope of Commission Activity I. The 1965 Act and Discretion II. The Need to Control and Facilitate the Exercise of Discretion III. Previous Deficiencies in the Control and Facilitation of the Commissions’ Exercise of Discretion IV. The Project-Selection Criteria V. Developing and Strengthening the Criteria VI. Conclusion: Clarifying and Securing the Scope of Commission Activity 4. The Extent of Implementation I. Preliminary Issues II. Reasons for Non-Implementation III. The Importance of Being Implemented IV. Attempts to Improve Implementation V. Conclusion: Quality Over Quantity5. The Codification Task I. Definition of Codification II. Reasons for Tasking the Commissions with Codification III. Pre-Existing Obstacles to Codification IV. Developments Reducing the Need for Codification V. The Commissions’ Codification Track Records VI. Conclusion: Substance Over Style 6. From Harmonisation to Devolution and Brexit I. Collaborative Projects II. Individual Projects III. Devolution IV. Conclusion: Separate Commissions Working in Sync 7. Law Reform… Now? I. Servicing our Law Reform Machinery II. Proposed Amendments to the 1965 Act III. Final Remarks for Great Britain and Beyond

...it is certainly a work which adds to the sum of knowledge in this important field. It should find a place on the shelves of academics who research the British legal system and share that learning with their students.