Law Reform Committee
The Law Reform Committee was a committee in England and Wales appointed by the Lord Chancellor[1] "to consider, having regard especially to judicial decisions, what changes are desirable in such legal doctrines as the Lord Chancellor may from time to time refer to Committee".[2]
The Lord Chancellor's decision to create this committee was announced on 2 May 1952 by the Attorney General, Lionel Heald, at the dinner of the West Surrey Law Society. The Solicitors Journal said that the proposed step was "overdue".[3] The Committee was appointed on 16 June 1952.[4] In 2006, John Wheeler said that the Committee was "defunct".[5]
Composition
[edit]Six members of the Committee were judges, two were Queen's Counsel, two were solicitors and the remaining three were professors of law.[5]
Reports
[edit]| Report | Subject | Command paper | Date | Implementing act |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Statute of Frauds and Section 4 of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 | Cmd. 8809 | 1953 | Law Reform (Enforcement of Contracts) Act 1954[6] |
| 2nd | Innkeepers' liability for property of travellers, guests and residents[7] | Cmd. 916 | May 1954 | Hotel Proprietors Act 1956 |
| 3rd | Occupiers' liability to invitees, licensees and trespassers | Cmd. 9305 | November 1954 | Occupiers' Liability Act 1957[8] |
| 4th | Rule against perpetuities | Cmnd. 18 | 1956 | Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964[9] |
| 5th | Conditions and exceptions in insurance policies | Cmnd. 62 | 1957 | |
| 6th | Courts' power to sanction variations of trusts | Cmnd. 310 | 1957 | |
| 7th | Effect of tax liability on damages[10] | Cmnd. 501 | August 1958 | |
| 8th | Formalities of contracts by non-trading corporations[11] | Cmnd. 622 | 1958 | |
| 9th | Liability in tort between husband and wife | Cmnd. 1268 | January 1961 | |
| 10th | Innocent misrepresentation | Cmnd. 1782 | 1962 | Misrepresentation Act 1967[12][13] |
| 11th | Loss of services | Cmnd. 2017 | 1963 | Section 2 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982[14] |
| 12th | Transfer of title to chattels | Cmnd. 2958 | April 1966 | Not implemented by 2006[5] |
| 13th | Hearsay evidence in civil proceedings | Cmnd. 2964 | May 1966 | |
| 14th | Acquisition of easements and profits by prescription | Cmnd. 3100 | October 1966 | |
| 15th | The Rule in Hollington v. Hewthorn | Cmnd. 3391 | September 1967 | |
| 16th | Privilege in civil proceedings | Cmnd. 3472 | December 1967 | |
| 17th | Evidence of opinion and expert evidence | Cmnd. 4489 | October 1970 | |
| 18th | Conversion and detinue | Cmnd. 4774 | September 1971 | Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 (partial and modified effect).[15] |
| 19th | Interpretation of wills | Cmnd. 5301 | May 1973 | sections 20 and 21 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982[16] |
| 20th | Interim report on limitation of actions: In personal injury claims | Cmnd. 5630 | May 1974 | |
| 21st | Final report on limitation of actions | Cmnd. 6923 | September 1977 | Limitation Amendment Act 1980.[17] |
| 22nd | The making and revocation of wills | Cmnd. 7902 | May 1980 | section 17 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982[18] |
| 23rd | The powers and duties of trustees | Cmnd. 8733 | October 1982 | |
| 24th | Latent damage | Cmnd. 9390 | November 1984 | Latent Damage Act 1986[19] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Blair, Michael C. "The Law Reform Committee: The First Thirty Years" (1982) 1 Civil Justice Quarterly 64
- Andrew S Burrows. Clerk & Lindsell on Torts. Sixteenth Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. London. 1989.
- Sir Robert Megarry and Sir William Wade and Charles Harpum and Stuart Bridge and Martin Dixon. The Law of Real Property. Seventh Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. London. 2008.
Citations
[edit]- ^ The Solicitors Journal. Volume 96. Page 418. Published in No 26 dated 28 June 1952.
- ^ Law Reform Committee. Third Report (Occupiers' Liability to Invitees, Licensees and Trespassers). Cmd 9305. HMSO. London. November 1954. Page 5.
- ^ The Solicitors Journal. Volume 96. Page 285. Published in No 19 dated 10 May 1952.
- ^ Law Reform Committee. Third Report (Occupiers' Liability to Invitees, Licensees and Trespassers). Cmd 9305. HMSO. London. November 1954. Page 5.
- ^ a b c John Wheeler. Essentials of the English Legal System. Pearson Education. 31 December 2006. Page 349 from Google Books.
- ^ Actionstrength Ltd (t/a Vital Resources) v. International Glass Engineering In.Gl.En. SpA & Ors [2003] UKHL 17, [2003] 2 AC 541, [2003] 2 WLR 1060, [2003] 2 All ER 615, [2003] BLR 207, 88 Con LR 208, [2003] 1 CLC 1003, [2003] 2 All ER (Comm) 331 (3 April 2003)
- ^ Blom-Cooper, L. J. (1955). "Second Report of the Law Reform Committee on the Law of Innkeepers' Liabilities for Property of Travellers, Guests and Residents. (Cmd. 9161; May 1954; 4d.)". The Modern Law Review. 18 (4): 374–379. ISSN 0026-7961.
- ^ Andrew Tettenborn. Clerk & Lindsell on Torts. Sixteenth Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. London. 1989. Paragraph 13-02 at page 708.
- ^ Deech, Ruth (1984). "The Rule against Perpetuities Abolished". Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 4 (3): 454–463. ISSN 0143-6503.
- ^ Jolowicz, J. A. (1959). "Damages and Income Tax". The Cambridge Law Journal. 17 (1): 86–98. ISSN 0008-1973.
- ^ Wade, H. W. R. (1959). "Contracts by Non-Trading Corporations. Formalities. Law Reform". The Cambridge Law Journal. 17 (1): 28–30. ISSN 0008-1973.
- ^ Goodhart, Arthur L. (1964). "Liability for Innocent but Negligent Misrepresentations". The Yale Law Journal. 74 (2): 286–301. doi:10.2307/794781. ISSN 0044-0094.
- ^ Atiyah, P. S.; Treitel, G. H. (1967). "Misrepresentation Act 1967". The Modern Law Review. 30 (4): 369–388. ISSN 0026-7961.
- ^ F v Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council and Another [1991] Fam 69, [1991] 2 WLR 1132
- ^ Burrows 1989, Paragraphs 22-08 and 22-09 at page 1224
- ^ Megarry et al. 2008, Note 312 and 316 to paragraph 14-064 at page 580 and note 326 to paragraph 14-067 at page 581.
- ^ Megarry et al. 2008, Note 31 to paragraph 35-003 at page 1412.
- ^ Megarry et al. 2008, Note 72 to paragraph 14-015 at page 559.
- ^ Burrows 1989; Note 49 to paragraph 9-55 at page 418.