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GAZETTE
JULY/
A
UGUST
1987
Law Reform
Commission
The following are slightly shortened versions of the Address by the
Taoiseach, Mr. Charles J. Haughey, T.D., at a Press Reception on
Thursday, 23rd April, 1987, at 4.00p.m. to mark the appointment of
the new members of The Law Reform Commission, and of the Reply
by Mr. Justice Ronan Keane, President of the Commission.
The Taoiseach's Address
I am pleased to have the oppor-
t un i ty to we l come the new
members of the Law Reform Com-
mission and to congratulate them
on their appointment. They have
a d i f f i cu lt and complex task
ahead of them and I would like to
assure them of my own support
and that of my Government in
their work, which we see as being
of
major
impo r t ance
and
significance.
Over twenty-five years ago, as
Minister for Justice at the time, I
published a White Paper on law
reform. This arose from my belief
that an important function of
Government is to ensure that the
law is just and equitable, that it re-
flects our traditions and is updated
to correspond to social and
economic change. To this end it
was essential that the different
branches of the law be examined
at regular intervals, reviewed and
reformed. This belief is even
stronger today.
It is a feature of a complex
modern society that the volume of
laws enacted continues to rise in-
exorably. Governments tend to be
preoccupied with pressing day to
day policy and administrative
issues and the bulk of legislation
placed on the statute books re-
flects this. It is difficult for a
Government to find the time or the
resources to stand back, as it were,
and take a detailed and detached
look at the impact of this rapidly
growing body of law on our legal
and social structures.
The Law Reform Commission,
having an independent standing, is
a very suitable body to promote a
sys t ema t ic
and
sustained
programme of law reform. The
Commission can also present a
clear view on controversial issues
in a way which a body subject to
political direction or pressure as to
the content of its reports would
find difficult.
It is essential that a spirit of co-
operation exist be tween the
Government, who must be able
to influence the direction of the
Commi ss i on 's ac t i v i t i es and
priorities, and the Commission
itself, wh i ch will have the
responsibility of bringing forward
proposals for specific reform
measures. I believe that we
can
achieve
this
w i t hout
compromising, in any way, the
independence of the Commission
in the contents of its reports.
A major challenge facing the
Commission is the pressure for
results. I know that complex legal
issues call for mature and
considered examination. Never-
theless, I would like to see what
might be done to expedite
particular reforms by revising the
procedures under which the Com-
mission operates. It might for
instance be appropriate to be
selective and concentrate on a
smaller range of issues to facilitate
early publication of recommen-
dations in particular areas or
assign priorities as between these
areas.
I know that the President and
members of the Commission will
be giving serious consideration to
their programme and procedures
and related matters in the months
ahead and I would like to wish
t hem every success in their
endeavours.
Mr . Jus t i ce Ronan Keane's
reply:
When the new Commissioners
were appointed, they were asked
by the then Attorney General to
review as a matter of urgency
certain areas of law. These
were:
(1)
The reform of conveyancing
law and practice in areas
where this would lead to
savings for house purchasers.
(2)
Sexual offences generally,
including the law relating to
rape and child sexual abuse.
(3)
The law relating to Sheriffs,
the collection of taxes and
debt collection.
(4)
A number of issues relating
to compensation in personal
injury cases.
(5)
Various criminal law matters,
including sentencing policy,
indexation of fines, con-
fiscating the proceeds of
crime and updating a number
of offences which are still
governed by 19th century
legislation.
There is unlikely to be any
controversy as to the pressing
need for reforms in all these areas,
although there will naturally be dif-
ferent views as to how they should
be tackled. They raise problems
which affect people acutely in their
daily lives and they are areas in
which the law is universally regard-
ed as being in many serious
respects out of date, inefficient and
even unjust. The Commission
believe that the choice of specific
areas where the need for reform is
urgent and widely accepted signals
a new and important departure in
the approach to law reform in
general and the work of this Com-
mission in particular.
Thus, the newspapers, radio and
television give daily and horrific
testimony to the scale of the pro-
blem of sexual offences in our
society. The individual Commis-
sioners who have already under-
taken work in this area are in no
doubt as to the gravity of the pro-
blems of child sexual abuse. Again,
in the criminal law area, one does
not have to be a Judge, Lawyer or
Social Worker to know the scale of
the problem: it affects society to an
extent unthinkable t wen ty or
thirty years ago. As for the pro-
blems of conveyancing, a growing
number of people who buy their
own homes encounter delays,
frustration and expense which they
find inexplicable and at times
traumatic. In the area of debt col-
lection, too, delays and frustration
appear to be almost endemic in the
system and nowhere is this more
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