a) -Agencies of Reform
Outline the roles of courts and parliaments in law reform and describe their limitations.
Parliament is the main establishment where law reform takes place, through the passing of bills. Governments have a political agenda and so many only recognize certain groups pushing for change. The ability to change the law is easier when the bill being passed is a representation of the views of the political party in charge. However, few governments control both the upper house and lower house of parliament. Parliamentarians often lack the expertise needed to change law in a certain area. Sometimes, as in Queensland recently, they sometimes decide to challenge the independence of legal institutions and make them subservient to parliament. Therefore, law reform is limited to situations where the government recognizes the case of other agencies pushing for changes in the law.
The role of the courts is to understand and use the law presented by parliament. Judges can change laws through precedent. Precedents made in higher courts carry through to the lower courts when the law is in its initial stages of development. However, they are limited in what they can do as they do not intentionally set out to reform the law. In addition, legal precedent is always a matter of legal interpretation. Judges deal with the cases at hand, and sometimes the result is unplanned and progressive law reform.
Outline the role of the NSW Law Reform Commission.
The NSW Law Reform Commission was constituted under the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW). Its role is to review the laws of NSW and try to remove the parts of the law that are outdated, redundant, complicated, or flawed. It also makes the law more straightforward by joining interrelating legislation.
Identify and outline the features of the NSW Law Reform Commission.
The NSW Law Reform Commission talks with stakeholders as well as legal and industry specialists. They review issues for reform via consultation papers (which sets out the issue). The papers are available for anyone, and anyone can make a suggestion to the commission on a reference (issues that are referred to the Commission by the Attorney General). The Commission receives and examines submissions from stakeholders and the public. They gather with stakeholders. The submissions inform the direction of their report substantially, including the proposals they make for reform.
Identify four current projects that NSW Law Reform Commission is working on.
Four current projects the NSW Law Reform Commission is working on are:
- Criminal appeals
- Encouraging appropriate
- Parole
- Statutory provisions on dispute resolution
Identify and describe the other organisations, which are also ‘catalysts of change’ in NSW.
The media is a catalyst for change as the government should not be able to influence what and how it is reported. The media provides a factual account of events (theoretically) and should keep the public informed. The public can then use this knowledge and put pressure on the government for law reform in certain areas.
Non-government organisations are under no obligation to conform to any government policy and therefore can be a source of objective information about various issues. For example, NGOs such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace are effective in putting pressure on the government for law reform in certain areas, e.g. human rights and environmental threats.
Lobby groups are bodies of people who put pressure on the government to legislate their social and political views. They influence law reform through raising public awareness by targeting members of the public and the media, parliament, parliamentary committees, and governmental inquiries.
The United Nations is the chief organization that deals with international law by implementing and developing international treaties. These treaties, if signed, can influence Australian domestic law, thus resulting in law reform.
Construct a flow diagram to illustrate the steps in the law reform process in NSW.
Outline the roles of courts and parliaments in law reform and describe their limitations.
Parliament is the main establishment where law reform takes place, through the passing of bills. Governments have a political agenda and so many only recognize certain groups pushing for change. The ability to change the law is easier when the bill being passed is a representation of the views of the political party in charge. However, few governments control both the upper house and lower house of parliament. Parliamentarians often lack the expertise needed to change law in a certain area. Sometimes, as in Queensland recently, they sometimes decide to challenge the independence of legal institutions and make them subservient to parliament. Therefore, law reform is limited to situations where the government recognizes the case of other agencies pushing for changes in the law.
The role of the courts is to understand and use the law presented by parliament. Judges can change laws through precedent. Precedents made in higher courts carry through to the lower courts when the law is in its initial stages of development. However, they are limited in what they can do as they do not intentionally set out to reform the law. In addition, legal precedent is always a matter of legal interpretation. Judges deal with the cases at hand, and sometimes the result is unplanned and progressive law reform.
Outline the role of the NSW Law Reform Commission.
The NSW Law Reform Commission was constituted under the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW). Its role is to review the laws of NSW and try to remove the parts of the law that are outdated, redundant, complicated, or flawed. It also makes the law more straightforward by joining interrelating legislation.
Identify and outline the features of the NSW Law Reform Commission.
The NSW Law Reform Commission talks with stakeholders as well as legal and industry specialists. They review issues for reform via consultation papers (which sets out the issue). The papers are available for anyone, and anyone can make a suggestion to the commission on a reference (issues that are referred to the Commission by the Attorney General). The Commission receives and examines submissions from stakeholders and the public. They gather with stakeholders. The submissions inform the direction of their report substantially, including the proposals they make for reform.
Identify four current projects that NSW Law Reform Commission is working on.
Four current projects the NSW Law Reform Commission is working on are:
- Criminal appeals
- Encouraging appropriate
- Parole
- Statutory provisions on dispute resolution
Identify and describe the other organisations, which are also ‘catalysts of change’ in NSW.
The media is a catalyst for change as the government should not be able to influence what and how it is reported. The media provides a factual account of events (theoretically) and should keep the public informed. The public can then use this knowledge and put pressure on the government for law reform in certain areas.
Non-government organisations are under no obligation to conform to any government policy and therefore can be a source of objective information about various issues. For example, NGOs such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace are effective in putting pressure on the government for law reform in certain areas, e.g. human rights and environmental threats.
Lobby groups are bodies of people who put pressure on the government to legislate their social and political views. They influence law reform through raising public awareness by targeting members of the public and the media, parliament, parliamentary committees, and governmental inquiries.
The United Nations is the chief organization that deals with international law by implementing and developing international treaties. These treaties, if signed, can influence Australian domestic law, thus resulting in law reform.
Construct a flow diagram to illustrate the steps in the law reform process in NSW.