LAW REFORM

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1. Influences on Parliamentary Law Making
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• Lesson Objectives
• Describe a range of influences on Parliament
• Give appropriate examples of each influence
• Evaluate the effectiveness of each influence

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• What is Parliament?

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• The supreme law-making body in the United
  Kingdom.
• Who is it made up of?

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Influences on Parliament
The government may be influenced by organisations
in changing existing laws or making new ones. It
may seek the advice of different organisations to
help it formulate its policy.
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Law Commission (1)

• The Law Commission Act 1965 set up the Law
  Commission as a permanent body. It consists of
  five legal experts chosen from the judiciary,
  legal profession and legal academics. Its job is
  to
• identify areas of law where reform is necessary
• codify the law
• repeal obsolete laws
• consolidate and modernise the law, for example
  the
• Family Law Act 1996 changed the law on divorce
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
  codification?

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Law Commission (2)
The Law Commissions role in repealing obsolete
legislation is more straightforward. The Statute
Law (Repeals) Act 1998 repealed over 150
complete Acts of Parliament, which were
outdated. Parliament is not always keen to find
time to pass the Law Commissions draft bills,
e.g. the lengthy Draft Criminal Code.
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Law Commission (3)
Around 70 of the Law Commissions proposals
eventually become law, but a lot of the work that
it does is disregarded. The government is not
obliged to pass any of the Law Commissions
recommendations.
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Advantages

• Possess considerable legal and non-political
  expertise
• Considerable research conducted
• Well informed recommendations
• Independent body (not just areas which the
  government wants to focus on are looked at)
• Works on its own initiative not the
  governments

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Disadvantages

• Only about a third of its recommendations are
  implemented
• The government is not obliged to implement its
  proposals
• Proposals do not always suit the governments
  agenda
• Lack of power
• Lengthy process which can take years
• Conducts 20-30 investigations at a time meaning
  each one might not be as thorough as it could be

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Royal Commissions
Royal Commissions are groups of independent
experts who are asked to consider a specific area
of concern in the law. They are set up on an ad
hoc basis and work part time to investigate
issues and then formulate their
proposals. Examples of Royal Commissions include
the Runciman Commission, the Pearson Commission
1978 and the Wakeham Commission.
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Other influences on Parliament

• public inquiries
• media
• pressure groups
• manifesto promises
• european Union law

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Public inquiries
Public inquiries are usually set up after a
serious event or disaster, e.g. the Taylor Report
(set up after the Hillsborough disaster) and the
Cullen Report (set up after the Dunblane tragedy).
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Media
The media may campaign for a change in the law,
e.g. reports concerning pit bull terriers
attacking children led to the Dangerous Dogs Act
1991. Criminal Justice Act 2003 double
jeopardy rule. The campaign to name and shame
paedophiles after the death of Sarah Payne was,
however, unsuccessful.
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Advantages

• Raise government awareness of certain issues
• Voice the public opinion
• Can support pressure groups
• Raises public awareness pressures the
  government into making reforms as they are
  answerable to the electorate

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Disadvantages

• Newspapers have political allegiances
• Media outlets are looking to make profits (sex
  sells)
• Can easily whip up moral panic

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Pressure groups
The Fathers 4 Justice campaign uses publicity
stunts (known as direct action), but so far it
has been unsuccessful. However, gay rights groups
were successful in getting the age of homosexual
consent lowered from 18 to 16 in 2000. Pressure
groups may lobby Parliament, e.g. trade unions
lobby MPs to get better rights for workers.
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Sectional Pressure Groups

• Sectional or interest groups exist to further the
  interests of a section of society
• e.g. National farmers Union, British medical
  association
• The degree of influence depends on whether the
  government supports their particular interest.
• Large groups have a lot of members and usually
  affluent and connected members meaning the
  government will usually take on board what they
  are saying.

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Cause Pressure Groups

• Cause groups promote a particular idea or belief.
• e.g. Greenpeace, RSPCA, Fathers 4 Justice, Jamie
  Oliver
• Usually have less influence than sectional
  groups.
• Less likely to be consulted regarding the
  creation of laws as they do not really have close
  links with government ministers or departments.
• Well organised groups are able to publish their
  ideas with good impact and generally have the
  support of the public.
• Sometimes it can be just one person campaigning
  for a certain cause Mary Whitehouse, Jamie
  Oliver.

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Advantages

• Have a broad range of tactics to raise public
  awareness of their cause Fathers 4 justice
  (what do they do?)
• They can help keep the government in touch with
  the issues that the public believe are important
  global warming
• Huge numbers some groups have more members than
  political parties
• Pressure groups have considerable expertise as
  they will need to put their point across

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Disadvantages

• Biased in favour of their cause dont give both
  sides of the argument
• Passionate views can lead to undesirable tactics
  criminal behaviour
• Lots of groups have no access to ministers
• Opinions held by these groups may only be those
  of a small number of people

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Manifesto promises
Political parties publish their proposals for new
laws in a manifesto before a general election.
The Labour Partys manifesto in 1997 promised
reforms to the House of Lords, which have been
carried through. The Conservative Party promised
the introduction of the poll tax in its 1987
manifesto.
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European Union law
If UK law does not conform to EU law, Parliament
must create a new law. For example, the Sex
Discrimination Act 1986 was created to improve
protection of female workers.
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Your Task

• Create a table that explains each of the
  following
• What the law commission does
• What pressure groups do (both types)
• What the media does
• To influence parliamentary law making
• Then for each influence explain the advantages
  and disadvantages
• Then give 2 appropriate examples of each
  influence
• Then give your opinion on the effectiveness of
  each influence