Law reform resources
Writing a law reform submission
Law reform submissions are contributions made to a public inquiry conducted by a law reform commission, parliamentary committee or government or independent agency. An inquiry usually has 'Terms of Reference' which will outline what the inquiry is about; law reform submissions must address those terms of reference.
Each of these law reform agencies has published guidelines on how to make a law reform submission:
- Australian Law Reform Commission
- Parliamentary Senate Committees
- Parliamentary House of Representatives Committees
- NSW Law Reform Commission
Law reform journals
Conference papers
'Access to Justice: Rhetoric or Reality', Justice Roslyn Atkinson, Law Reform and Accessibility, 2004 Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference, Wellington, New Zealand.
Law reform books
The following books on law reform are available from the ANU Library:
Law, Law Reform & the Family
Stephen Cretney, Clarendon Press, 1998
This collection of essays examines the process and problems of law reform with special reference to the development of family law. The author, Stephen Cretney, one of the UK's most distinguished lawyers, demonstrates the different pressures and influences that affect the development of the law, including the views of judges, the advice of civil servants and the requirements of Parliamentary drafting to an extent which has not previously been appreciated.
Law in Context
Stephen Bottomley & Simon Bronitt, Federation Press, 2006
Law in Context critically examines the foundations of the Australian legal system and the various contexts within which the law operates and develops. It introduces students to a wide variety of perspectives, drawing on theory, politics, sociology and economics. Topics traverse structural issues relating to access to justice, adversarialism, and discrimination. The book also explores emerging themes related to regulation, the globalisation of law and terrorism.
Law Reform: The New Pattern
Lord Scarman, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968
Law Reform Commissions in the United Kingdom, Australia & Canada
William H. Hurlburt, Q.C., Juriliber, 1986
This book provides an informed analysis of the role of the Law Reform Commissions and the manner in which they are likely to affect the law. It analyzes their functions, their legitimacy and their advantages and limitations as law reform machinery.
Law Reform in Developing and Transitional States
Edited by Tom Lindsay, Routledge, 2006
Law reform in developing countries has become an increasingly topical subject in recent years. A critical issue is why so many law reform projects in developing economies are regarded by their sponsors and recipients as unsuccessful. This informative book examines examples of law reform projects in post-socialist and post-authoritarian states in Asia, identifies common problems and proposes analytical frameworks for understanding the problems identified. Though parallels between Asian models and those in developing states elsewhere in the world are strong, the book has been developed to avoid suggestion that the issues covered are somehow peculiarly 'Asian'- indeed, it is shown that cultural relativist approaches to Asia are unsustainable. This is an invaluable reference for those involved in the areas of development economics, Asian studies and comparative politics.
Making Development Work: Legislative Reform for Institutional Transformation and Good Governance
Edited by Ann Seidman, Robert B. Seidman, and Thomas W. Wälde, Kluwer Law International, 1999
Brings together the views of a number of commentators, each drawing on extensive experience as consultants in developing or transitional countries. The authors sometimes reach quite different conclusions about how law-makers might best go about building a national legal framework, as well as the necessary institutional structures of good governance which can serve as a foundation for their country's social and economic development.
They differ on the extent to which each country's unique circumstances should be taken into account in drafting reform legislation, whether importing successful legislation from other countries is appropriate, and the role of legislative theory in formulating new laws.
Politics of Law Reform
Stan Ross, Penguin 1982
The Legal Theory of Law Reform
Geoffrey Sawer, University of Toronto Law Journal, 1970
The Politics of Law Reform
David Brown, The Criminal Injustice System Volume 2
Edited by George Zdenkowski, Chris Ronalds and Mark Richardson, Pluto Press, 1987, pp 255-260; 279-281
The Promise of Law Reform
Brian Opeskin & David Weisbrot, Federation Press, 2005
Collection of 30 essays covering the broad themes of the history, purpose and function of law reform; institutional design of law reform agencies; methodology and operations; how successful law reform should be assessed and judged; cooperation and mutual assistance; other law reform initiatives; and law reform in action.
Thinking About Law: Perspectives on the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Law
Rosemary Hunter, Richard Johnstone & Richard Ingleby
Twenty Years On: Histories of Homosexual Law Reform in New Zealand
Ed. Alison Laurie & Linda Evans, LAGANZ, 2009
This book is the first detailed academic study of the struggle for Homosexual Law Reform (HLR) in New Zealand written from a gay perspective. Largely collected from papers held at the 'Twenty Years On Conference' in Wellington in 2006, the papers form an important cross-section of perspectives and interpretations of this time in gay history and just what it meant then, and today.
