Law Commission of India

The Law Commission of India goes back a long way and has a very distinguished history. The first Law Commission, set up in 1834 under none other than Thomas Macaulay, recommended among others things codification of the Indian Penal Code. But in independent India the Law Commission hasn't had such a great time. This might change if the latest proposal by the law ministry is implemented. The ministry has recommended providing greater autonomy to the panel by giving it statutory status. A Bill is likely to be moved in Parliament soon. This would go some way in making the panel, which currently gets reconstituted every three years, more effective. Like the law panels of England and Canada, the Indian Law Commission will have greater independence and continuity.

However, statutory powers won't change things completely by themselves. The Law Commission will still submit reports which will be tabled in Parliament. It will then be up to the government to accept the panel's advice and act on it. The law panel, first set up in 1955 and headed by eminent jurists, has made several good recommendations in the 234 reports it has submitted so far. But unfortunately these have been ignored in many instances. For example, the Law Commission had in 2000 recommended a provision recognising and punishing child abuse with a longer prison term. But there was no movement until the high-profile case involving former Haryana inspector-general of police S P S Rathore. The terms of reference of the current Law Commission, the 19th in independent India, include review and repeal of obsolete laws. We can only hope more teeth to the panel will make the government heed its recommendations and speed up the process of reform of law.