Electronic signatures can be used to sign formal legal contracts under English law, the Law Commission has confirmed. The Government’s independent legal experts have today published early conclusions which aim to sweep away the current uncertainty in the law, allowing businesses to speed up transactions by going fully digital. The Commission has also laid out … Read more >
The Government has agreed to improve the enforcement of financial orders, in response to a Law Commission report. Courts can make these orders, which mean that one spouse or civil partner must pay money or transfer property to the other after a relationship breaks down. But in 2016 a report by the Law Commission found … Read more >
Carwyn Jones, the First Minister of Wales, has announced that the Law Commission will review the laws which govern tribunals in Wales. View this story in Welsh A tribunal is a body set up to settle disputes and to review public bodies’ decisions. But the rules and procedures for the devolved Welsh tribunals are complicated … Read more >
Property fraudsters could be stopped in their tracks by technical fixes of the law, according to the Law Commission. The independent legal body say HM Land Registry has had to fork out close to £60million in indemnity payments because of fraud over the past decade. As a result, it’s recommending measures to help prevent fraud … Read more >
Anti-money laundering laws should be streamlined and strengthened to help law enforcement agencies to focus on serious crime, say the Law Commission. Money laundering is estimated to cost every household in the UK £255 a year and allows criminals to profit from their crimes. It is widespread, with between 0.7 and 1.28% of annual European … Read more >
The Law Commission’s Annual Report 2017-18 has been published. This page is also available in Welsh It reveals another positive year for the independent law reform body with: The publication of the 13th Programme of Law Reform – 14 new areas of law from automated vehicles to residential leasehold. The 6th Annual Scarman Lecture, delivered … Read more >
Nicholas Paines QC, has been reappointed for a further five years as the Law Commissioner for Public Law and the Law in Wales, the Government has announced. Originally appointed in November 2013, Mr Paines will now serve until 2023 working with the other Commissioners reforming the law to make it simple, modern and fair. Law … Read more >
Radical new proposals to provide a fairer deal for leasehold homeowners have been announced by the Law Commission. Following hot on the heels of plans by the Government to ban the sale of houses on a leasehold basis, the independent legal body is outlining a range of measures to help existing leasehold homeowners buy the … Read more >
The Law Commission has today published its responses to two Welsh Government initiatives set up to review and improve the accessibility of Welsh law. This page is available in Welsh. The consultation on the Legislation (Wales) Bill introduces a key element of the legal body’s Form and Accessibility of the Law Applicable in Wales report. … Read more >
Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has asked the Law Commission to look at improving the laws which allow leaseholders to manage their own buildings. The legislation on Right to Manage is meant to put power in leaseholders’ hands and stop abuse, by allowing some leasehold property owners to take over the management of a building. But … Read more >