MAKING BETTER LAW

[Alison J Stevens]

Making Better Law: Reform of the legislative process from policy to Act.

Making Better Law: Reform of the legislative process from policy to Act  (by Ruth Fox and Matt Korris) is the most recent publication from the Hansard Society. Making Better Law (ISBN: 978 0900432 78 1) costs £15 (plus £3.50 p&p)

Laws are the essential threads that bind together our society, providing the framework within which our democratic system operates and mediating relations between us as citizens.  Yet, whether the audience is parliamentarians who make the law, judges who have to apply it, or the public who must comply with it, it is not difficult to find vocal critics of the quality of legislation and of the process by which our laws are made today.

Making Better Law examines this legislative process, from policy to Act, analysing the political, procedural and cultural factors that together help determine the quality of the UK statute book.  It diagnoses the causes and consequences of deficient law, charts how the culture and management of the law-making process by Government and Parliament could be enhanced, and explores how the consultation, drafting and scrutiny process could be improved, and greater expertise deployed, particularly in technically complex areas of legislation. 

The recommendations provide an essential road-map for comprehensive reform of the legislative process if Government and Parliament are to improve the quality of law-making in the future.