Projects

Search Warrants

Project status: Complete

View the full report. View the summary of the report. View a Welsh version of the summary of the report. The problem A search warrant is a written authorisation that allows an investigator to enter premises to search for material or individuals. Search warrants are usually issued by a court following an application by a … Read more >

Sentencing code

Project status: Complete

View the full report View the summary of the full report  View the executive summary of the full report View the Welsh summary of the report The problem The law on sentencing affects all criminal cases, and is applied in hundreds of thousands of trials and thousands of appeals each year. It is important to … Read more >

Shareholder Remedies

Project status: Complete

This project reviewed the remedies available to minority shareholders who are dissatisfied with the manner in which the company of which they are a member is run.  

Sharing Homes

Project status: Complete

This discussion paper examines the property rights of those who share homes. It covers a broad range of people – not only “couples”, married or unmarried, but also friends, relatives and others who may be living together for reasons of companionship or care and support.

Simplification of the Criminal Law

Project status: Pre-project

In the 10th Programme, the Commission embarked on a programme of simplification of the criminal law, criminal evidence and procedure. Simplification involves: giving the law a clearer structure; using more modern terminology; making the law in a given area more consistent with other closely allied areas of law; making the law readily comprehensible to non lawyers … Read more >

Simplification of the Criminal Law: Kidnapping and Related Offences

Project status: Complete

Download the report Download the summary The problem Kidnapping is an offence created by judges in the seventeenth century. There are generally 600 to 750 cases per year in which a person charged with kidnapping is brought before the courts. Many involve parents and children. The current definition is that kidnapping is an attack on … Read more >

Simplification of the Criminal Law: Public Nuisance and Outraging Public Decency

Project status: Complete

Download the report Download the consultation The problem Public nuisance is a common law offence involving environmental danger or loss of amenity or offensive public behaviour. The related common law offence of outraging public decency involves indecent actions or displays that may cause offence to members of the public. These two common law offences were … Read more >

Simplifying the Immigration Rules

Project status: Complete

Download our report on Simplifying the Immigration Rules here. Download the summary of the report here. Download the Welsh summary of the report here. Download a quick read illustrated summary of the report here. The problem Hundreds of thousands of decisions are made annually under the Immigration Rules. Decisions which can be life changing for … Read more >

Smart contracts

Project status: Complete

Download the paper on smart legal contracts here Download the summary of the paper on smart legal contracts here The issue Emerging technologies, such as distributed ledgers, are increasingly used to create “smart contracts”: computer programs which run automatically, in whole or in part, without the need for human intervention. Smart contracts can perform transactions … Read more >