2020 – Posted in: RSTV – Tags: commission, law, Law Commission of India, Ministry of Law and Justice

LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA

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The Law Commission of India is neither a constitutional nor a statutory body, it is an executive body created by order of the Indian government. Its main function is to work on legal reforms.

The Commission is established for a fixed term and operates as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice. Your membership is mainly composed of legal experts. The first Law Commission in India was formed in 1955 with its then Attorney General of India, President C. Setalvad.

Currently, there is no legal committee, since the mandate of the last committee, that is to say that the 21st committee was exceeded in August 2018. The legal ministry has started the process of forming a new legal committee. The Commission reports to the government on various legal issues. Reports do not bind the government, which can reject or accept them.

History of the Law Commission

Law commissions in India originated before independence. The first Law Commission was formed in 1834 following the Charter of 1833 under the chairmanship of TB Macaulay.
The recommendations of the first commission resulted in the codification of the penal code and the code of criminal procedure.
Three other legal commissions were established before independence by the British government. The four pre-independent law commissions have contributed enormously to the law books.
After independence, the first Law Commission was established in 1955 as a continuation of the tradition of introducing law reforms in the country through law commissions.
He has submitted 14 reports to the government.

Post-Independence Developments

After independence, the Constitution stipulated the continuation of laws prior to the Constitution under article 372 until they were amended or repealed.
Parliament and abroad have been asked to establish a central law commission to recommend the revision and updating of inherited laws to meet the changing needs of the country.
The Government of India established the first independent India Legal Commission in 1955 under the chairmanship of the then Attorney General of India, Mr. M. Setalvad.
Since then, 21 additional legal commissions have been appointed, each for a three-year term.

Functions of the Law Commission

The main function of the Law Commission is to conduct judicial inquiries and revise existing laws with the aim of introducing reforms. Some of the other functions of the Law Commission are as follows:

Repeal or revise obsolete laws.
Identify laws that are no longer relevant and can be repealed immediately.
Identify laws that are out of step with the current climate of economic liberalization and that require change.
Identify laws that require change and make recommendations on changes.
Taking into account the suggestions made by other ministries / departments regarding the revision or modification of laws.
Propose measures for the rapid redress of citizens’ complaints in the legal field.
Revision / repeal of obsolete laws: identification of laws that are no longer relevant and which recommend the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary texts.
Law and poverty: examines laws that affect the poor and performs audits after socio-economic legislation.
Suggest the enactment of new legislation if necessary to implement the principles of the directive and achieve the objectives set out in the preamble to the Constitution.
Judicial administration: review and communicate to the government your views on any matter related to the law and judicial administration that the government can send you specifically through the Ministry of Justice and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs).
Investigation: Taking into account requests for investigations in any foreign country that the government may send through the Ministry of Justice and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs).

Law Commission Reports

To date, the Law Commission of India has submitted 277 reports on various topics, some of which are recent:

Report No. 277 – Unlawful prosecutions (miscarriage of justice): remedies
Report No. 276 – Legal framework: games of chance and sports betting, including cricket in India
Report No. 275 – Legal framework: BCCI concerning the right to information law, 2005
Report No. 274 – Revision of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971
Report No. 273 – Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture
Report No. 272 - Assessment of the legal frameworks of the courts in India
Report 271 – Human DNA profiles
Report 270 – Compulsory registration of marriages

21st Indian Law Commission

The 21st Law Commission of India was the last to be formed. His term was from 2015 to 2018. The president was former judge of the Supreme Court Balbir Singh Chauhan. He has submitted 15 reports to the government. The last report was report no. 277 entitled “Proceedings for negligence (miscarriage of justice): remedies”.

Some of the reports presented by the commission covered various other subjects, such as the profile of human DNA, hate speech, review of contempt of court, compulsory registration of marriages, BCCI, etc.

22nd Indian Law Commission

The Union Cabinet has approved the constitution of the 22nd Law Commission of India for a period of three years. The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government of India from time to time.

It will consist of:

a full-time president;
four full-time members (including secretary-member)
Secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs as an ex-officio member;
Secretary of the Legislative Department as an ex-officio member; and
no more than five part-time members.

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