Damages for Personal Injury
The Law Commission undertook a review of the law of damages, particularly personal injury damages, as part of the 5th and 6th Programmes of Law Reform.
Projects
Data Sharing between Public Bodies
Project status: Complete
Data sharing affects us all. Public bodies report that they cannot always share the data they need to share and, as a result, miss out on opportunities to provide better services to citizens. At the same time, the protection of privacy is fundamental to any data sharing regime. The law surrounding data sharing is complex. … Read more >
Defamation and the Internet
Project status: Complete
A preliminary investigation to clarify the issues relating to defamation on the internet. We were asked to provide preliminary advice to Government on whether the existing law causes difficulties for online publishers, internet service providers, their customers or others, with a view to informing possible further work.
Publication of Local Authority Reports
Project status: Complete
In this project, we considered whether changes were needed in the law relating to inquiries undertaken by local authorities. In February 2000 Sir Ronald Waterhouse published the results of the inquiry he chaired into the abuse of children in council homes in North Wales. He was concerned there might be circumstances where local authorities might feel … Read more >
Double Jeopardy and Prosecution Appeals
Project status: Complete
A project to review the need for reform of two distinct but related rules: the rule against double jeopardy, and the rule that the Crown cannot appeal against an acquittal even if it results from an erroneous ruling by the judge.
Company Security Interests
Project status: Complete
Companies often grant charges and other security interests over their assets to secure loans. This project looked at how such security interests should be registered. It also considered how to resolve conflicts between different secured lenders and between lenders and buyers. The project We presented our final report on this project to Government on 31 … Read more >
Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts
Project status: Complete
The project This project updated and implemented a previous report on unfair terms, but only for contracts between consumers and businesses. In 2005, the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission made recommendations to reform the law of unfair terms. The report and associated consultation paper can be found here. In May 2012, the Department for … Read more >
Consumer Insurance Law: Pre-Contract Disclosure and Misrepresentation
Project status: Complete
The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission recommended the creation of a new consumer statute setting out what a consumer should tell their insurer before taking out insurance. The law under the Marine Insurance Act 1906 requires consumers to volunteer information about everything which a “prudent insurer” would consider relevant. We think this duty … Read more >
Consumer Redress for Misleading and Aggressive Practices
Project status: Complete
The regulations form part of a package of measures to clarify consumer law. These measures will draw on three joint reports by the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission. Read more about our consumer rights work and the legislation. This is a joint project with the Scottish Law Commission. It was formerly referred to as the … Read more >
Consumer Remedies for Faulty Goods
Project status: Complete
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 forms part of a package of measures to clarify consumer law. These measures draw on three joint reports by the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission.Read more about our consumer rights work and the Bill. The problem Currently, UK consumers have a legal “right to reject” faulty goods. This means a … Read more >