Law Reform

 

 

 

 

Sound legal frameworks are prerequisites for economic growth and social development. The process through which laws and regulations are conceptualized, drafted, enacted, publicized and enforced is the foundation of a society governed by the rule of law. Legal reform is an ongoing and incremental process that involves the executive and legislative branches, law reform commissions, non-governmental organizations, and the public. For most countries, legal reform addresses new international standards, responds to social and economic issues, expands access to justice or improves court operations. Effective and coherent legal reform requires a comprehensive and sustainable approach that avoids importing "models" inconsistent with national legal and socioeconomic norms. Effective legal reform also promotes opportunity, security, and empowerment for the world's poor.

Although legal reform efforts often involve institutional restructuring, rewriting old laws and drafting new ones remains a necessary component of most legal reform projects. Moreover, many development projects that do not constitute legal reform per se, such as administrative reforms, infrastructure projects, environmental initiatives, nonetheless require changes in the substantive law. Yet even in stable, democratic countries, creating sound laws and regulations is a challenge. In developing and transitioning countries, political interference, a lack of experience and resources, and the constraints imposed by weak enforcement agencies often make the job of law drafting even harder.

Reformers sometimes also fall into the trap of believing that new laws can solve problems simply by virtue of the fact that the laws exist. Yet laws and regulations that are overly complex or that fail to take into account weaknesses in the agencies that will enforce them or the greater social context can create more problems than they solve. Governments struggling to create a minimal political consensus may find that their laws, often filled with last minute additions and deletions, conflict with one another or fail to serve the purposes intended. A tendency to over-regulate can lead to regulations that are ignored, harming the reputation of the legal system as a whole.

This page comprises four main topics related to law reform.

  Law making

Code Reform and Law Review
Legislatures/Law Making Bodies
Law Commissions
Drafting Techniques
Legal Transplants and Legal Culture
Pre-Enactment Analyses

   Legal Framework for the Justice Sector

International Standards
Constitutional Standards
Relevant Standards defined by Laws and Regulations

   Sector Specific Laws    

Bankruptcy Law
Banking Law
Tax Law
Property Rights
Corporate Governance
Financial Sector Laws

     Law and Gender