Law Reform Commission

The Law Reform Commission has identified two "constitutionally permissible" models for capping personal injuries pay-outs in Ireland. In a new report, the law reform body said two of the four models it first detailed in an issues paper last December could be introduced.

Amended legislation needs to be made more easily available online, according to a report by the Law Reform Commission. The report on Accessibility of Legislation in the Digital Age, which was published today, has set out a number of recommendations as to how legislation can be made availab

The Law Reform Commission has published a new discussion paper on Ireland's domestic implementation of international obligations. The paper does not include recommendations and instead aims to assist policymakers, the Oireachtas, statutory bodies, NGOs and academics to understand the development of

A sharp decline in the use of suspended sentences in Ireland may be down to sentencing courts failing to correctly apply two key principles, the Law Reform Commission has suggested. The law reform body's new report on suspended sentences recommends that the newly-established Sentencing Guidelines an

A new Law Reform Commission report on suspended sentences is due to be published on Monday, the law reform body has said. The report comes three years after the commission invited submissions on an issues paper concerning both the principles that apply to imposing suspended sentences and the procedu

Law reform can help Ireland respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the Law Reform Commission has said. In a paper presented to a recent joint conference of four neighbouring law reform bodies, the commission said the implementation of various recommendations made over the past decade could help Ireland dea

Proposals for a statutory cap on personal injuries payouts have been rejected by the solicitor and barrister professions. The Law Reform Commission last year set out four models for capping personal injury awards.

Alma Clissmann of the Law Reform Commission sets out the body's recent work to maintain an online list of in-force legislation. The Law Reform Commission’s online Classified List of In-Force Legislation went live in January this year and is available on the Commission’s website here.

Fiona Carroll of the Law Reform Commission explains the body's work to repeal obsolete pre-1922 legislation. When the State was founded, it inherited tens of thousands of pre-1922 legislation, both Acts and Statutory Instruments. Much of this law was obsolete but remained officially in force, and th

The Law Reform Commission has announced the appointment of former prosecutor Rebecca Coen as its new director of research. Ms Coen, a graduate of University College Cork who was called to the Bar in 2005, has worked in a number of prosecutorial positions since 2008.

Four models for capping personal injury awards have been set out by the Law Reform Commission in an issues paper published today. The Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) and the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) previously recommended that the law reform body should examine whether a statutory c

The law on rape should be reformed to provide for a primarily objective test on whether an accused believed the woman was consenting to sex, rather than the current primarily subjective test, the Law Reform Commission has said. The commission's Report on Knowledge and Belief Concerning Consent in Ra

Sexual offence laws in Ireland have not "kept pace with developments in online technology and the almost universal use of internet-enabled devices", a legal expert on rape and sexual assault has said. Caroline Counihan BL, legal director at Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI), gave evidence to the Oi

Ireland's defamation laws should be reformed to protect court reporters, including amateur bloggers, from being sued for simple oversights and omissions, the Law Reform Commission has recommended. Attorney General Séamus Woulfe SC will today launch the Commission's new Report on Privilege for

The Law Reform Commission will launch its fifth programme of law reform this evening following extensive public consultation over the past two years. Attorney General Séamus Woulfe SC will launch the programme, which contains 15 projects across six general subject headings, in the commission'