9 with the President and/or other Commissioners as appropriate, before being finalised. As Commissioners have specialist expertise in various areas of the law (e.g. criminal, constitutional) ad hoc advisory work is allocated according to this expertise as it arises, and is then managed by the relevant Commissioner(s). Relationship development A key to successful law reform lies in effective relationships and over the past three years we have put a strong emphasis on this. The most important relationship is that between the Commission and Executive Government. Most Commission projects involve legislation and u the Government gives priority to Law Commission projects or wishes to enact its recommendations, it is unlikely anything will occur without Government support. The Commission is an independent entity but the question is one of balance. It has the power of independence concerning its recommendations, but it must work closely with the Government of the day and the Minister in order to secure the confidence necessary for the Government to adopt its recommendations. Towards the end of the last financial year the Commission’s project selection process was modified so that portfolio Ministers wishing to advance a law reform project for inclusion within our work programme must identify the manner in which the project aligns with the Government’s priorities. This is useful for advancing law reform initiatives, as it ensures a ‘short line of sight’ between the Commission’s work and the priorities of the government of the day. Team work is also very important and most of our major reform projects would not be successful without the development of strong collaborative relationships with officials from departments of state, professional bodies and sometimes, stakeholder interest groups. A number of our major reform projects involve joint working sessions with officials and representatives of other agencies and our policy development process always involves consultation with stakeholder groups. Our success in realising our priorities and objectives cannot be measured in isolation from the results and contribution of other agencies. We will continue to develop our working relationships with relevant agencies, acknowledging that the quality of the analysis and the likelihood of securing support for reform recommendations, particularly those with significant operational implications, will be greatly enhanced if they are the outcome of a collaborative and consultative working approac