The Law Commission and statute law revision

Removing the ‘dead wood’ of the law is one of the most successful aspects of the work of the Law Commission, but it is often overlooked in exams when students are asked to explain and evaluate the role of the Law Commission

This article is relevant to AQA A-level 3.1 (law making) and OCR A-level Unit 2 (law making).

Ina talk on ‘Good Law’ in 2013, first parliamentary counsel Richard Heaton estimated that the UK statute law comprised some 50 million words (www.gov.uk/guidance/good-law). According to Heaton, this figure increases by 100,000 words every month as existing statutes are amended, and new law is created. This is the equivalent to the entire works of Shakespeare twice a year. The ‘Good Law’ talk explored how technology might be utilised to make legislation more accessible and user-friendly.