IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW COMMISSION REPORTS
The Record Concerning Enactments
291. The Law Commission has produced in its history many Reports, Discussion
Papers and other documents. But one hard measure of its effectiveness is to
assess how many of its final Reports reached the Statute Book through enactment
by Parliament.
292. While such a measure is important, it is not the only touchstone by which the
Law Commissions effectiveness should be measured. Some of its Reports have
never been designed to alter legislation, but only the administration of it. Others
have been intended to alter the way the law is printed and presented on the
Statute Book itself. So it is vital to observe that enactment is not the only
measure. Indeed, it is doubtful that any objective criteria could be developed to
measure the effectiveness of the Law Commission or its performance. It is not
likely that much improvement can be made to Section 5 of the Memorandum of
Understanding "Performance Standards for the Law Commission's Work
Programme". But enactment is one measure, and the evaluator feels compelled
to quantify the performance of the Law Commission.
293. There are difficulties in such a quantification. It is not always possible to tell the
degree to which recommendations have been taken up. Judgments can differ on
how to characterise the achievement.
294. Another variable is whether a Report is the result of the Law Commissions own
decision to investigate a topic, or whether it is one that has been referred to it by
the Minister. The distinction between these two categories is not altogether clear
either. The process of getting a reference is an iterative one between the
Ministers officials and the Commission, and many of the references that the
Commission receives from the Minister are the result of proposals put to the
Minister by the Commission.
295. Taking into account the weaknesses attendant upon an analysis that measures
Reports enacted, a report card appears in Table 2 Reports of the Law
Commission.