1. 2 (a) Source A at lines 7 – 8 refers to the Law Commission.
Describe the role of the Law Commission. [15]
Mark Levels AO1 AO3
Level 4 10–12 -
Level 3 7–9 3
Level 2 4–6 2
Level 1 1–3 1
THINGS TO NOTE!!
• This is an AO1 question and so demands knowledge and
understanding rather than analysis.
• You should aim to structure your answer as follows.
• YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES TO ANSWER
INTRO 2 mins
What is the Law commission and when did it come about? (1 well developed
point)
As Source A states at lines 7-8 the Law commission is a law reform body
whose function is to keep the law under review.
• This is the main law reform body. It was set up by the law Commissions Act
1965.
• Full-time body consisting of a chairman (High Court judge), and 4 other Law
Commissioners. There are also support staff and 4 Parliamentary Draftsmen.

2. MAIN 10-11 mins
a) What are the main roles of the commission and how does it perform its
role? (at least 4 well developed points here);
The role of the Law Commission is set out in s. 3 of the Law Commissions Act.
In summary the main roles are to:
1. To systematically keep all English law under review;
2. To repeal, codify and consolidate areas of law; Repeal
• REPEAL: Removes out-of-date statutes by the LC preparing a
Statute Law (repeals) Bill for Parliament to pass
• CONSOLIDATION: Draws all existing related provisions together in
one Act yo make it more accessible E.g. 10 amendment acts
regarding youth sentencing drawn together in the Powers of the
Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 But in 2003 the CJA
changed much of it again!!
• CODIFICATION: Involves bringing together all the law on one topic
into one source
3. To receive and consider proposals for law reform and consult
relevant parties; May act on referrals from the Lord Chancellor or
select areas in need of reform and seek Government approval to a
draft report on them.
4. To propose reform: It researches and then produces a consultation
paper seeking views and once these views are received will draw up a
positive proposal and attaches a draft bill
CONCLUSION ( at least 1 well developed point) 2 mins
How successful has the commission been? Give statistics and legislation
examples if you can.
 Years 1-10 = 85% of proposals made law
 Years 10-20 = 50% (lack of parliamentary time and interest in technical law
reform)
 In 1990 not one of its reforms was made law
 Improvements recently
 Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
 Land Registration Act 2002
 Fraud Act 2006
 In 2006 there were 26 reports awaiting implementation dating back to 1991
 Criminal law even slower – OAP Act 1861 – proposals for reform in 1993 still
not implemented despite the CA in 2003 calling for radical reform.