Move to free Law Commission from govt shackles

The government proposes to free the Law Commission of India from its control, on the lines of Britain and Canada, to make it more effective.

The government proposes to free the Law Commission of India from its control, on the lines of Britain and Canada, to make it more effective.

HT Image

The law ministry has decided to provide autonomy to the expert body, which advises the government on complex legal issues, by moving a bill in Parliament soon.

The draft note prepared for the cabinet seeks to provide statutory powers to the commission, similar to other such bodies like the National Commission for Women.

"This will help the Law Commission to be financially independent, it will have its own budget and its annual report will be tabled in Parliament," said a ministry official.

The move is also aimed at bringing continuity in the functioning of the commission, said the official.

Currently, the Union cabinet, on the advice of the law ministry, reconstitutes the commission every three years. After it is reconstituted, a new chairman and members are selected to run the panel.

By making fresh changes, the Law Commission would become an independent body with a much larger staff. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice had first made this recommendation in 2008.

"This will help it bring out more reports without compromising on quality as three years is a limited time," Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily said.

The first such commission was established during the British rule in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay, which recommended codification of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and a few other matters.

The first Law Commission of independent India was set-up in 1955 with the then Attorney-General of India, the late MC Setalvad, as its chairman.