Criminal Law Revision Committee
The Criminal Law Revision Committee of England & Wales was a standing committee of legal experts that was called upon by the Home Secretary to advise on legal issues and to report back recommendations for reform. While never formally abolished, it has been dormant since 1986 and superseded by the Law Commission.
Overview
The first committee was set up by Rab Butler in February 1959 ‘to examine such aspects of the criminal law...as the Home Secretary may from time to time refer to the Committee, to consider whether the law requires revision and to make recommendations’. While members worked on a voluntary basis, it subsequently published eighteen reports on numerous contentious legal issues. Although not all of the Committee's reports have been adopted by Parliament, many have had a great influence on UK legislation.List of reports
- First Report: Indecency with Children
- Second Report: Suicide
- Third Report: Criminal Procedure
- Fourth Report: Order of Closing Speeches
- Fifth Report: Criminal Procedure
- Seventh Report: Felonies and Misdemeanours
- Eighth Report: Theft and Related Offences
- Ninth Report: Evidence
- Tenth Report: Secrecy of Jury Room
- Eleventh Report: Evidence
- Twelfth Report: Penalty for Murder
- Thirteenth Report: Section 16 of the Theft Act 1968
- Fourteenth Report: Offences against the Person
- Fifteenth Report: Sexual Offences
- Sixteenth Report: Prostitution in the Street
- Seventeenth Report: Prostitution: Off Street Activities
- Eighteenth Report: Conspiracy to Defraud