Projects

Project status: Pre-project

Compulsory purchase

Project status: Pre-consultation

The problem Compulsory purchase is a legal mechanism by which certain bodies can acquire land without the consent of the owner. The ability to purchase land using compulsory powers is essential to the implementation of large-scale projects to improve both local and national infrastructure. The number and scale of such projects is likely to intensify … Read more >

Aviation autonomy

Project status: Pre-consultation

Documents View the press release announcing the project here. Background The Law Commission has been asked by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Department for Transport (DfT) to review the law around autonomous flight, in order to support the safe development of rapidly advancing technology. The two-year review is funded by UK Research & Innovation … Read more >

Contempt of court

Project status: Pre-consultation

Documents Terms of reference The problem “Contempt of court” refers to a wide variety of conduct that may impede or interfere with a court case or the administration of justice. Examples include deliberately breaching a court order, refusing to answer the court’s questions if called as a witness, or releasing photographs or publicly commenting on … Read more >

Remote driving

Project status: We have published our advice to Government on remote driving Documents Remote driving: advice to Government Summary of remote driving: advice to Government Overview of remote driving: advice to Government Overview of remote driving: advice to Government (Welsh) Remote driving: analysis of responses to the issues paper All responses to the issues paper … Read more >

Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs)

Project status: Pre-consultation

The Government asked the Law Commission to produce a scoping paper which examines the description and legal status of DAOs – a new type of collective organisational structure that often uses blockchain, smart contracts or similar technology. > Read our call for evidence paper here.  > Respond to our call for evidence paper here. What … Read more >

Immigration Consolidation

Project status: Pre-project

The Government has asked the Law Commission to pause the work to consolidate the primary legislation on immigration.  The Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which was published in March 2020, drew attention to the complexity of immigration and nationality law and included this recommendation: Reduce the complexity of immigration and nationality law, immigration rules and guidance … Read more >

Evidence in Sexual Offence Prosecutions

Project status: Analysis of responses

Documents Download the consultation paper Download the summary of the consultation paper Download an overview of our key proposals Download the Easy Read summary of the consultation paper here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. The problem The Government’s End to End Rape Review found that the prevalence of rape and sexual violence has remained … Read more >

Digital assets: which court, which law?

Project status: Pre-consultation

Read the press release here. This project was previously called “Conflict of laws and emerging technology” The problem In recent years, the Law Commission has undertaken a range of work on emerging technology, including digital assets and electronic trade documents. In each of these law reform projects, several conflict of laws issues have been identified, … Read more >