Vol. 483 No. 6
38 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the consideration, if any, he will give to allow the Law Reform Commission to draft legislation capable of being submitted to Dáil Éireann thus short circuiting the otherwise lengthy legislative process that often seems to accompany proposals emanating from the commission. [21206/97]
The Deputy will appreciate that the functions of the Law Reform Commission are as contained in the Law Reform Commission Act, 1975. Those functions are to keep the law under review and to formulate proposals for reform.
The proposals must, under the Act, be submitted to the Taoiseach or to the Attorney General in cases where the Attorney has requested the commission to examine and research a particular area. The Act does not provide a system under which the commission is required or allowed to produce legislation for direct submission to the Dáil. The Deputy will appreciate that the Constitution entrusts to this House and the Seanad the power and duty of considering and passing Bills and that every Bill that comes before the House must be initiated in the way that is provided under Standing Orders. Obviously changes in such arrangements would not be a matter for me as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
If the suggestion were to be made that a Minister would sponsor legislation directly produced by the Law Reform Commission then it is difficult to see how in reality this would lead to any savings in time. When the Law Reform Commission produce proposals for legislative reform these have to be examined in detail by the relevant Minister from the point of view of policy and a Minister will have to consult the Attorney General, his colleagues in Government and often outside interests before finalising proposals. The key point to note in this regard is that the function of the Law Reform Commission is to advise on proposals for law reform: it is the function of this House to legislate, most commonly on the basis of proposals put before it by the Government of the day.
There is inevitably a lapse of time between the production of a Law Reform Commission report and the Government being in a position to bring forward legislative proposals. Aside from the process of examination and consultation which I have already mentioned, the reality is that the Government has to prioritise its legislative proposals and in those circumstances it is not always possible to begin work on Law Reform Commission reports immediately on their publication.
In all the circumstances I am not convinced that changes from the present practice along the lines that would seem to be suggested in the question are feasible or would prove beneficial.
