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CONCEPT – LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA
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- Introduction : Law Commission of India is an executive body. It is established through an order of the Government of India. Its core function is to reform laws, comprises of legal experts assigned by the government to take good care of the laws, and create maximum peace, security and justice in the society. It also acts as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The tenure of each Law Commission is five years.
- Current Law Commission of India, 2018 (21st Law Commission) :
- Formation - 10.03.2016
- Type - Agency of Government of India
- Legal status - Ad-hoc and term based
- Purpose - Legal reforms in India
- Location - New Delhi
- Chairman - Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan
- Full- time member - Justice Ravi R. Tripathy and S. Siva Kumar
- Part-time members - Satya Pal Jain, Bimal N. Patel and Abhay Bharadwaj
- How does the commission function : The commission consists of many staff among whom around twelve staffs are researchers at a different rank with a different experience. A smaller section of the group looks after the administration of the Commission’s operation. The commission meetings take place frequently and that is where the projects are initiated. Different issues are discussed, among which few important topics are chosen to work on. The required work which is to be done is identified and assigned to each member and the sources of data are also identified. Basically, an outline is formed for the research work regarding how to work and proceed. The commission meeting not only help in identification and working on the issue for research but also gives a unanimous decision of all the members and makes the work process easy.
- Once the paper is ready it is circulated among all the required and interested group of people to get their views and comments on the paper along with the paper a questionnaire is also circulated to survey the reaction of the people on the same issue. The Law Commission always try to reach a wider section of people including professionals, academic institutes, and others for consultation while preparing the proposal for law reform. Workshop and seminars are also conducted to collect the critic comments and opinions regarding the planned reform.
- Once all the data are collected Commission’s staff evaluates and organises the data in a chronological way for a proper introduction in the report which is prepared by either the Member Secretary or any Member or the Chairman of the Commission. After this, the proposed report is put forward in the Commission’s meeting and observed closely. Once the report and its summary are finalised, the Commission may proceed to prepare a draft regarding amendment or a new bill which may be attached to the report and the final report is forwarded to the Government.
- The success rate of the commission always depends on their data collection, public view, and criticism. That is why the Commission always looks up to a wider section where the media plays a very important role in this. The Commission also welcomes the inputs and opinions from public or any person which is sent to the Member-Secretary.
- Follow up : The Ministry of Law reviews the Law Commission report with the consultation of the concerned Administrative Ministries then submit it in the Parliament time to time. The reports are referred in courts, education or academics, public discussions and the Government departments act upon it according to the Government recommendation.
- Development of Law Commission of India : Reforming laws is a continuous process its been in practice for long decades. In ancient times the custom and practices were the only laws prevailing in the society, gradually the codification of laws started and then the sanctions against the law. Earlier there was no uniformity in law, nor there was any check on the fairness of the decision passed. Therefore the law commission was set up with a motive to serve maximum justice to people and deliver fair and just decisions and bring more awareness about the laws. The Law Commission was constituted in the third decade of the nineteenth century by the Government to codify the branches of law and empowered it to recommend legislative reforms.
- Pre-independence : The First Law commission pre-independence was set up in 1834 under the Charter Act, 1833. The chairman of the commission was Lord Macaulay, within a period of fifty years the Indian Statute Book was enriched with a vast variety of legislation which then prevailed in English law but according to India’s condition.
- Post-independence : Post-independence, the Indian Constitution gave a new direction to law reform towards the need for a democratic legal order with its Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy in the society. According to Article 372, the pre-constitutional laws were to be followed until and unless they are repealed or amended. Though the parliament and others were already demanding Central Law Commission to revise and change the existing laws as per the changing society and the need of the country. The Government of India was in favour of the idea of setting up of such commission and it established the First Law Commission of India post independence in 1995, the Attorney-General of India then Mr. M.C.Setalvad became the Chairman of that Commission. Since then there have been total twenty-one Law Commissions in India post independence, each with a term of three years with different terms of reference.
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