Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India.

Its major function is to work for legal reform. It membership primarily comprises legal experts, who are entrusted a mandate by the Government. The Commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The first Law Commission was established during the British regime in 1834 by the Charter Act of 1833. After that three more Commissions were established in pre-independent India. The first Law Commission of independent India was established in 1955 for a three year term. Since then Eighteen more Commissions have been established. The Centre appointed Justice D K Jain as the chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India less than three weeks before his retirement as a Judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Jain, who would take up the assignment after his retirement on January 24, will have a three-year tenure and has been saddled with a wide terms of reference including one to examine existing laws from the gender equality perspective and suggest necessary amendments.The Nineteenth Law Commission was established on 1 September 2009 under the Chairmanship of a justice P.Venkatarama Reddy. Its tenure has been fixed till 31 August 2012. Other than the Chairman, the Eighteenth Law Commission has one Permanent Member, one Member-Secretary and six Part-time Members.

Working of the Law Commission

The Law Commission works in close co-ordination and under the general instruction of Ministry of Law and Justice. It generally acts as the initiation point for law reform in the country. Internally, the Law Commission works in a research-oriented manner. Employing a number of research analysts (and even law students from 2007), the Commission works upon the assigned agenda and primarily comes up with research based reports, often conclusive and recommendatory. The permanent members of the Commission generally are responsible for framing the exact topic and reference to work upon and often takes the services of eminent law experts and jurists who are familiar with the matter under review. These experts may either work part-time with the Commission or may have been requested to contribute to specific reports or issues under review. According to the Commission's website, the Commission's regular staff consists of about a dozen research personnel of different ranks and varied experiences with a small group of secretarial staff looks after the administration side of the Commission's operations and the internal functioning of the Commission can be described as a process with the following stages; Initiation of projects at the Commission's meetings; Discussion of priorities; identification of topics and assignment of preparatory work to Members; Adoption of methodologies for collection of data and research; Outlining of problems and determination of areas for reform;

Consultations with public, professional bodies and academic institutions; Evaluation of responses and preparation of draft of report; Discussion and scrutiny of report, leading to its finalization; and Forwarding of report to the Ministry of Law and Justice. Once the Report is submitted to the Ministry of Law and Justice, the task of the Commission ends unless it is required to rework upon identified areas of provide clarifications by the Government on the report submitted. Upon receipt of the Report, it is the responsible for followup action on the recommendations made by the Commission in the Report. Generally the Ministry of Law and Justice forwards the Report with its remarks to other relevant Ministries in the Government of India and seeks from them their opinion on the relevance of the recommendation and finalizes with them the manner of implemendation of these recommendations. When the proposals are cleared by the various Ministries and approved by theCabinet, the Ministry of Law and Justice goes for drafting of the implementing legislation or follows the draft submitted by the Law Commission (which usually is the case) and presents the same for approval before the Parliament.

Role of Law Commission in Legal Reform in India

Law Commission of India, though an ad hoc body, has been a key instrumentality in the process of law reform in India. Its role has not only been advisory but also critical of the government policies and has been recognized by the Supreme Court of India and also the academia as pioneering and prospective. In a number of decisions the Supreme Court has referred to the work done by the Law Commission and followed its recommendations. The fact that the Chairman of the Law Commission is generally a retired Judge of the Supreme Court has only helped the prominence of the Commission. The Commission reviews judicial administration to ensure that it is responsive so that delays are eliminated, arrears are cleared and disposal of cases is quick and cost-effective without sacrificing the cardinal principle that they are just and fair. The Commission seeks to simplify procedure to curb delays and improve standards of justice. It also strives to promote an accountable and citizen-friendly government which is transparent and ensures the people's right to information. Lalit Sethi, PIB , There is no binding value of the recommendations of the Commission, for "they are recommendations. They may be accepted or rejected. Action on the said recommendations depends on the ministries/departments, which are concerned with the subject matter of the

recommendations." This has resulted in a number of important and critical recommendations not being implemented. However the Commission has continued to work upon its assigned tasks. The power vested in the Commission to suo motu take up matters for discussion and submit recommendations has also worked well to the advantage of the legal system in the country. The history of the Commission is replete with such recommendations which have been made in the wake of the hour and where the law has needed change. Further, the Commission has been often returned to review its earlier reports in the wake of changed scenarios and the aptness of law in such situations. Euthanasia and related issues, in particular, has been one such area where the Commission has been relook the situation at least three times, with the latest being its 196th report on the topic. Besides the Law Ministry, the Commission has also been requested to work upon specific issues and submit its views by the Supreme Court on various occasions. The latest in regard has been the 205th Report of the Commission which has been prepared in view of the Supreme Court's request for assistance in determination of "certain legal issues relating to child marriage, and the different ages at which a person is defined as a child in different laws." The Report stirred a public debate in India for recommending inter alia, a reduction in marriage age of boys to be at par with girls at 18, instead of the long continuing 21 and 18 respectively. With all its past and present works being continuously provided on the internet, the Commission has also provided a firm assistance to legal research in the country. The fact that a number of its reports have been taken receptively by the various Ministries and have been worked upon to change the legal scenario, is itself an indicator sufficient enough of the role of the Commission in furtherance of law reform in India.