The Parliamentary select committee for statutes revision

This is a study of the activities of the Parliamentary select committee for Statutes Revision, focussing on the decade 1962-1972 and particularly on the years 1967-1972. The committee's handling of the legislation which came before it is analysed, using the concept of a parliamentary committee as part of a legislative sub-system within the overall legislative system. The role of the committee in relation to the issues and groups which come before it is examined; the relation of this to the other stages of the Parliamentary process, and the importance of the select committee in the interactions between interest groups and Government. Underlying the study is a view of the committee as a channel of communications between the Government and the governed, with the latter being represented in our system by a multitude of interest groups. The study focusses on one specific committee for a short period of time in order to probe to sufficient depth, and thus risks the weakness of being simply a case-study, telling us little about select committees in general. To some extent this is true, and the author makes no claim to have studied the topic in general, save to say that certain features of Statutes Revision emerge as being peculiar to it but others seem to reflect more widely upon the parliamentary process. The impression, confirmed by Parliamentarians, is of this committee as one of the more active and effective, and also as one of the most bipartisan. The chapters dealing with licensing and law reform illustrate in so.me detail the reasons why these subjects have their own voting patterns and areas of conflict which contribute towards the character of the committee. The chapter dealing with delegated legislation stands on its own as an enquiry into a very important area of government which has been tacked on to the functions of this committee and then very largely ignored. The conclusion summarises this picture of Statutes Revision as effective in its area of action and suggests ways of increasing the independence and initiative of the committee to enable it to operate even more effectively within the limitations imposed by Cabinet government