15 responded  to  in  other  places,  the  academic  writing  on  the  subject  and  the  community responses to it are all valuable and important to record. Sir Geoffrey Palmer (the ‘father’ of our Law Commission) was asked at the beginning of   2000   to   review   the   operation   of   the   New   Zealand   Law   Commission⁴⁸.      Not unsurprisingly  he  was  sympathetic  to  our  activities  and  continuation,  but  one  of  the important outcomes was that the Government has now committed itself to responding to Law Commission reports within six months.    The responses to date have been patchy.  For example, a large part of our work for the last   3   years   was   concerned   with   a   review   of   the   entire   Courts   system.   Some recommendations were threatening and challenging, particularly to some Judges and the legal profession.  Because the Government is currently involved in a Baseline Review of the Ministry of Justice,⁴⁹ it was able to finesse much of the report by indicating that the outcome of the Baseline Review would have to occur first⁵⁰.  Although we see that as  unsatisfactory,  because  our  report  deals  with  mission  and  vision  while  the  Baseline Review   is   more   focussed   at   an   operational   level,   the   response   requirement   was important. Government   has   a   responsibility,   not   least   because   the  Parliament  has  funded  our operation,  to  assess  what  we  are  doing  and  indicate  whether  they  accept  or  reject  the recommendations for reform that are made.                                                     48   Sir  Geoffrey  Palmer,   Evaluation  of  the  Law  Commission  :  Report  for  the  Associate  Minister  of Justice and Attorney-General Hon. Margaret Wilson (Chen & Palmer, Wellington, 2000) 49   A stock take of the Ministry including its strengths and weaknesses and the resource implications for the future. 50   Ministry of Justice  Government Response to the Law Commission Report on Delivering Justice for All < http://www.justice.govt.nz > (last accessed 28 January 2005)