Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Bill

Project status: Complete

The Act consolidates legislation from 1965 onwards on co-operative and community benefit societies (formerly known as industrial and provident societies).  It gives effect to a Report made by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission making recommendations for changes to the law being consolidated.  The Report was laid before Parliament and published on 19 … Read more >

Easements, Covenants and Profits à Prendre

Project status: Complete

Download the report Download the report summary The problem There is a complex web of rights and obligations that link different parcels of land, and their owners, together. Three of those are easements, profits à prendre and covenants. Easements are rights enjoyed by a landowner over another person’s land. A positive easement (such as a … Read more >

Criminal Liability in Regulatory Contexts

Project status: Analysis of responses

The main recommendations we made in this project aimed to establish a principled basis for the creation of criminal law in regulatory contexts. We also considered particular doctrines of liability applicable to businesses and make proposals to ensure that they are fair to such bodies, in particular small businesses. The project A significant proportion of the new … Read more >

Damages for Personal Injury

The Law Commission undertook a review of the law of damages, particularly personal injury damages, as part of the 5th and 6th Programmes of Law Reform.    

Data Sharing between Public Bodies

Project status: Complete

Data sharing affects us all.  Public bodies report that they cannot always share the data they need to share and, as a result, miss out on opportunities to provide better services to citizens.  At the same time, the protection of privacy is fundamental to any data sharing regime. The law surrounding data sharing is complex.  … Read more >

Defamation and the Internet

Project status: Complete

A preliminary investigation to clarify the issues relating to defamation on the internet. We were asked to provide preliminary advice to Government on whether the existing law causes difficulties for online publishers, internet service providers, their customers or others, with a view to informing possible further work.  

Publication of Local Authority Reports

Project status: Complete

In this project, we considered whether changes were needed in the law relating to inquiries undertaken by local authorities. In February 2000 Sir Ronald Waterhouse published the results of the inquiry he chaired into the abuse of children in council homes in North Wales. He was concerned there might be circumstances where local authorities might feel … Read more >

Double Jeopardy and Prosecution Appeals

Project status: Complete

A project to review the need for reform of two distinct but related rules: the rule against double jeopardy, and the rule that the Crown cannot appeal against an acquittal even if it results from an erroneous ruling by the judge.  

Consumer Remedies for Faulty Goods

Project status: Complete

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 forms part of a package of measures to clarify consumer law. These measures draw on three joint reports by the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission.Read more about our consumer rights work and the Bill. The problem Currently, UK consumers have a legal “right to reject” faulty goods. This means a … Read more >

Company Security Interests

Project status: Complete

Companies often grant charges and other security interests over their assets to secure loans. This project looked at how such security interests should be registered. It also considered how to resolve conflicts between different secured lenders and between lenders and buyers. The project We presented our final report on this project to Government on 31 … Read more >