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Options include:
(a) Continuing to respond to Law Commission Reports as they are produced,
with more attention to communicating Governments priorities regarding
their work programme.
(b) Making a conscious decision to allocate more policy resource and legislative
drafting resource to implement Law Commission recommendations per se.
(c) Reviewing the function of the Law Commission as a vehicle for law reform.
21. The Government has decided to evaluate the Law Commissions work and this
Report is the result of that decision.
22. The Report is divided into four Parts. Part One contains the summary and
recommendations. Part Two examines the history of New Zealand law reform
machinery prior to 1986 when the Law Commission was established.
23. Part Three outlines the current trends in law reform machinery in the United
Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
24. Part Four is the heart of the Report. It looks specifically at the New Zealand
Law Commission and discusses the statutory framework for the Law
Commission; the implementation of Commission Reports; the relationship
between the Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice; the Law
Commissions relationship wth other bodies; timeliness of Reports; Law
Commisssioners and Commission staff; the Maori dimension in law reform; the
provision of policy advice in Government; and, use of Government resources by
the Law Commission.