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Law Reform. Main aim of law. To protect society and keep it functioning. Laws outline acceptable behaviour and prevent conflict within society. To be effective, laws need to be known by the community, easily understood and able to be changed.
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Main aim of law • To protect society and keep it functioning. • Laws outline acceptable behaviour and prevent conflict within society. • To be effective, laws need to be known by the community, easily understood and able to be changed. • Laws also need to be acceptable to the individual members of society and society as a whole, and enforceable.
#1: Changing values in society • When values and attitudes change to such an extent that a law is no longer acceptable to the majority of people in society, the law needs to change. • If a law is not accepted by the community it could lead to more and more people being willing to disobey it. • Example: same sex marriage
#2: Changes in society • Buying habits have changed in the last 100 years. There has been an increase in the use of packaging. Packaging has made it impossible to inspect the product before buying. • Under the Fair Trading Act 1999, the law has changed to protect the consumer and make sellers and manufacturers ensure their products are safe. • Alcohol abuse and binge drinking was increasing. Excise Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No 1) Act 2009 was passed to increase taxes on ready-to-drink alcoholic drinks by around 70% . This legislation was introduced in the hope it will discourage young people from drinking.
#3: Advances in technology • Technology is constantly improving and opening up new frontiers. As it improves, new situations need to be covered by the law to reduce the opportunity for individuals and groups to be exploited or harmed. • Example: identity theft – in Victoria the Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009 (Vic) has been passed to try to overcome this problem. • Example: DNA
#4: Protection of the community • One of the major rules of the law is to protect individuals from harm (physical harm or unfair practices). As new situations arise, new laws are required. • Example: mobile phones while driving and hooning laws
#5: Protection of rights • When the protection of individual’s rights are infringed, and injustices are unable to be resolved through the law, the law needs to change to deal with these injustices. • Example: equal opportunity and anti-discrimination (discrimination on the grounds of age, impairment, pregnancy, race.
#6: Access to the law • To take a matter to court is expensive and intimidating. • To assist people in their efforts to seek a just resolution to disputes that arise, the law has been changed to provide alternative avenues of dispute resolution. • Example : tribunals, mediation • There have been changes to the law to provide more effective access to the law. Example: Drug Courts and Neighbourhood Justice Centres in Victoria.
#7: Generating changing values in society • Change law to encourage change in society’s values. • Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) provides legislative protection for an extensive number of human rights and setting out the responsibilities of government, organisation and citizens in the community. • Equal Opportunity Amendment (Family Responsibilities) Act 2008 (Vic) has provided change in values in relation to discrimination against a person on the grounds of the person being a parent or carer by making it unlawful to discriminate on these grounds.
Groups that initiate law reform • Formal groups: formal pressures for change in the law come from within the formal structures of the law-making process. • Informal groups: informal pressures come from individuals or groups who are not connected with the law-making process and cannot be instrumental in changing the law, but can try to influence the law-makers to change the law.
Informal groups:Pressure groups • Groups of people who join together because they have a particular common interest in trying to influence the government to change the law. • Example: Dying with Dignity Tasmania
Informal groups: pressure groups • Example: Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group
Informal groups:political parties • Each political party has a set of policies relating to how the country or state should be run. At the time of an election, the parties put these policies forward in the hope that the majority of people will vote for them. • When a party is elected, the new government will usually try to implement promises made during the election. • For example: former Rudd Government campaigned against workplace relations laws in the 2007 election. When they got into power, they changed the law to abolish Australian workplace agreement.
Methods: Petitions • A formal, written request to the government for action in relation to a particular law that is considered out-dated or unjust. It usually has a collection of signatures on it, which have been gathered by supporters. • A standing committee on petitions has been established to ensure all petitions presented to the House of Representatives are considered. • Epetition – a petition signed online (only in Qld and NSW)
Methods: Demonstrations • Demonstrations are held to alert the government to the need for a change in the law. • For these to be successful, a large group of people must show their support for the change in the law and attend the demonstrations.
Methods: media • Media coverage is required to gain community support and assist in alerting the law-makers to the need for a change in the law. • Newspaper – inform the public of both sides to a debate • Letters and emails to the editor • Radio – talkback shows that allow individuals to communicate their opinions about defects in the law and the need for change. • Television – television programs investigate problems in the community.
Formal groups: Law reform bodies • Tasmanian Law Reform Institute
Formal groups: law reform bodies • Australian Law Reform Commission
Formal groups: royal commissions • A Royal Commission is a body set up by the government (Commonwealth or State) to gather information about the operation of existing laws or to investigate any social, educational, or other matter. The commission has prescribed terms of reference and reports to the government on how any change might be achieved. • Example:
Formal groups • Difference between Royal Commissions and Commission of Inquiry: • Special Commissions of Inquiry are intended to operate separately from Royal Commissions. Although both types of Commission share many similarities, there are two main differences. First, it is the statutory duty of a Special Commission of Inquiry • “to make a report or reports to the Governor as to whether there is or was any evidence or sufficient evidence warranting the prosecution of a specified person for a specified offence.”51 • In other words, Special Commissions of Inquiry are restricted to inquiring into possible offences which may justify prosecution No such limitation is evident in the Royal Commissions Act 1923 and Royal Commissions can be employed for a wide range of purposes, including making recommendations to government on matters of Policy.52 • The second main difference is that a Special Commission of Inquiry shall, in the course of a public hearing, only receive evidence that, in the opinion of the Commissioner, would be likely to be admitted into evidence in relevant criminal proceedings.53 However, in the case of a Royal Commission: • “There is no rule of law which obliges a Commission... to observe the rules of evidence applicable in courts of law and it is common for an inquiry to refer to the fact that the rules of evidence are not applicable to it.”
Formal groups: parliamentary committees • Parliamentary Committees inquire into a particular matter and cease to exist upon the presentation of a report.
textbook • Read page 39 to 55
