31 Ad Hoc Measures 119.  The  Law  Reform  Committees  were  not  the  exclusive  source  of  law  reform during this time.  Some important reform proposals were initiated and developed within Departments and the Department of Justice continued to be a source of important   reforms   which   were   promoted   independently   of   the   committee structure. Law reform responsibilities were taken out of the Advisory Branch of the Department and eventually a Law Reform Division was created to provide a link between the reports of Committees and the Government and Parliamentary machinery.³¹  The  Department  continued  to  have  overall  responsibility  for  law reform and the legislative process.    120.  According  to  B  J  Cameron,  former  Law  Commissioner,  Deputy  Secretary  for Justice and member of two of the Law Reform Committees,³² the Department of Justice became actively engaged in an ambitious programme of law reform in the 1960s  at  the  behest  of  the  Minister,  Hon  Ralph  Hanan.³³  The  programme included revision of the criminal code and the abolition of capital punishment for murder  (Crimes  Act  1961),  the  Matrimonial  Proceedings  and  Matrimonial Property Acts 1963, the establishment of an Ombudsman in 1962, the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1963. 121.  In addition to the Law Reform Council and the Law Reform Committees reform was  also  achieved  by  way  of  ad  hoc  Commissions  and  specialist  committees which were established from time to time.  For example the Royal Commission on Compensation for Personal Injury (the Woodhouse Commission) in 1967 and the Royal Commission on the Courts (the Beattie Commission) in 1978.   122.  Another source of significant change was the report of the Macarthur Committee on  the  Companies  Act  (1973).  In  more  specialised  areas  there  was  also,  for example, the Special Law Reform Committee on Admiralty Jurisdiction (1972) and the Committee on Defamation (1977).                                                  31    Above n1, 93. 32   B J Cameron was a member of the Contract and Commercial, and Public and Administrative Law Reform Committees, above n4. 33    B J Cameron, above n4, 126.