The Intellectual Property Office has opened a consultation to assess whether there would be sufficient stakeholder support to introduce our Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill into Parliament using the special procedure reserved for uncontroversial Law Commission Bills. The consultation, which opened on 22 October, asks whether stakeholders: agree that law reform in this area is … Read more >
We have published a Bill that would implement the reforms we recommended in 2014 to patent, trade mark and designs, at the request of the Government. The Bill is published with an explanatory report Patents, Trade Marks and Designs: Unjustified Threats.The report also makes two new recommendations that would apply the reformed law to the … Read more >
Today we are opening the second consultation in our project to create a new sentencing code for England and Wales. The law on sentencing affects all criminal cases, and is applied in hundreds of thousands of trials and at thousands of appeals each year. But it lacks coherence and clarity: it is spread across many statutes, … Read more >
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 comes into force today bringing new rights for consumers and protecting businesses from unfair competition. The Act implements recommendations for reform made by the Law Commissions for England and Wales and for Scotland in two areas of consumer law: remedies for faulty goods and unfair terms in consumer contracts. From … Read more >
Businesses can suffer serious loss if insurance companies delay paying claims. But under Law Commission reforms introduced into Parliament today, insurers would be obliged to make prompt payment or face a claim for damages. At the moment, insurers are under no legal obligation to pay valid claims within a reasonable time. If they pay unreasonably … Read more >
Businesses can suffer serious loss if insurance companies delay paying claims. But under Law Commission reforms introduced into Parliament today, insurers would be obliged to make prompt payment or face a claim for damages. At the moment, insurers are under no legal obligation to pay valid claims within a reasonable time. If they pay unreasonably … Read more >
Logbook loan borrowers have too little protection – and those who unwittingly buy cars subject to logbook loans have none at all. Today the Law Commission opens a consultation to reform the archaic law underlying logbook loans – the “Bills of Sale Acts” – which remains unchanged since Victorian times. Logbook loans are a way … Read more >
Logbook loan borrowers have too little protection – and those who unwittingly buy cars subject to logbook loans have none at all. We have opened a consultation to reform the archaic law underlying logbook loans – the “Bills of Sale Acts” – which remains unchanged since Victorian times. Logbook loans are a way for borrowers … Read more >
Professor Nicholas Hopkins has been appointed Law Commissioner for property, family and trust law and will be joining the Commission on 1 October 2015 to lead on our projects examining charity law, marriage, family financial orders, wills and land registration. Currently Professor of Law at the University of Reading, Professor Hopkins has been researching and … Read more >
The law governing the ownership and use of firearms is complex and difficult to apply. It is spread across a number of pieces of overlapping legislation, creating significant practical difficulties for investigating authorities and prosecutors, and generating uncertainty for the licensed firearms community. As part of its 12th Programme of Law Reform, the Law Commission … Read more >