Law Commission celebrates half a century of legal reform

The Law Commission celebrated its 50th anniversary with an event held on Parliament’s Terrace Pavilion. More than 180 guests were in attendance, including former Law Commissioners and Law Commission staff, stakeholders, friends of the Commission and parliamentarians.    

Welcoming guests to the reception, Lord Carlile remarked on the role played by the Law Commission in continuing to present Parliament with well thought-out legislation, adding that the venue was “absolutely the right place” to celebrate 50 years of the Law Commission.

Raising a toast to the Commission, Dominic Raab MP, Minister with responsibility for sponsoring the Law Commission, commended the “impressive” rate at which the organisation’s recommendations for reform had been implemented over the years, and noted the extent to which its work has impacted on “everyone in our society”.

Acknowledging the assembled guests, Mr Raab spoke of “the high esteem in which you are rightly held by Parliamentarians, the judiciary and stakeholders across England and Wales and beyond.”

As well as marking the achievements of 50 years of law reform, the event was also an opportunity for the Commission to thank its supporters.

Chairman, Sir David Lloyd Jones, noted the organisation’s achievements: over 200 law reform reports, of which around two-thirds have been implemented, 220 consolidating Acts and 20 Statute Law Repeals Bills, repealing over 3,000 obsolete statutes. A

These achievements, he said, had only been possible because of the “expertise and dedication of the Commission’s lawyers and its staff, and because of the support we have received from our friends, in particular those in Parliament, and our stakeholders.”

This short, three-minute video illustrates some of the ways in which the Law Commission’s law reforms have brought benefits to individuals and organisations, and to society, over the past 50 years.