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We are a small, trusted, independent body of legal policy experts chaired by a Court of Appeal Judge. We have four teams of lawyers and researchers focusing on distinct areas of law. Each team is led by a Commissioner who is an experienced judge, barrister, solicitor or teacher of law.
We are a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice, but we take on projects across Whitehall and the Welsh Government.
What we do
We keep the law of England and Wales under review and make recommendations for development and reform where needed. This is because:
- sometimes the law is too complex and out of date – it needs to be simplified and modernised
- the law has not kept up with social attitudes and needs a fresh approach to balance competing rights
- new technologies emerge and need a comprehensive legal framework to be developed
We are a world leader in law reform and our work ensures that the law and policy in a particular area is as fair, modern, simple and cost-effective as possible. We do this through intensive research, analysis and consultation. We produce comprehensive recommendations for the UK and Welsh Governments, Parliament and Senedd.
Our Commissioners are outstanding in their fields, our legal staff have expertise in law reform, and we have Parliamentary Counsel based in-house. Our reputation and independence mean people trust us, allowing us to carry out in-depth, high-quality consultations and build consensus around proposals.
Find out more about how we work
The Law Commission and independence
The Law Commission is an independent statutory body. This means it operates at arm’s length from government and reports directly to UK Parliament and Senedd Cymru.
Transcript
The implication of independence, is that where we go, may not be where we expect or where you expect, or where government expects, because our consultations are searching, they are genuine.
The policy that we arrive at may not be what we provisionally proposed in our consultation paper and it may not be what we initially expected at all, because we do listen to what you say, you do change our minds. The relationship between government policy and Law Commission recommendations, may be none whatsoever. Certainly we are not bound by government policy any more than government is bound by our recommendations.
The tie-in is at the start of the project, there will be a department with
a serious interest in reform but not necessarily with a view to where
reform is to go, or with a view to necessarily following our conclusions. But very often, government departments talk to us to say we really do want an independent view on this, it needs to be not government consulting, I’d like you to do it. I’m not saying be careful what you wish for I am saying
if you want Law Commission to take on a project it will be with a truly independent viewpoint.
Our priorities and performance
Our law reform pages include more about our current reform work and previous programmes.
Our business plan details how we will meet our priorities. We record our achievements against these priorities in our annual reports.
View our corporate documents.