Current Projects

The Commission's Programmes of Law Reform are the principal basis on which the Commission carries out its statutory mandate to keep the law under review with a view to its reform. The Commission has, since its inception, had five Programmes of Law Reform, all of which must be approved by both houses of the Oireachtas and the Government.

Projects at the Law Reform Commission

Once we have included an agreed project in a Programme of Law Reform, the project will usually follow three stages. Scoping, to understand the scope and focus of the project. Consultation allows for consulting with relevant stakeholders and interested parties to gain further information, insights and ideas related to the project issues. The final stage is to write and issue the Report with recommendations for law reform related to the issues identified in the previous two stages.

Current Project Directory

During the summer of 2023, more than four years into the Fifth Programme, the Commission, with the consent of the Attorney General, conducted a review of the projects remaining on that Programme and the Fourth Programme.

It concluded, and the Attorney General concurred, that some of these projects had been overtaken by events since the approval of the Fifth Programme. As such, further work on these areas would no longer be a prudent use of the Commission’s resources.

The outstanding projects are:

Compensating Victims of Crime

This project examines proposals for reforming the Irish scheme for compensating victims of violent crime.

Third Party Litigation Funding

This project considers whether the historic offences of maintenance and champerty should be retained or regulated and whether third-party funding should be permitted in Ireland and if so, how it should be regulated.

Reform of Non-Court Adjudicative Bodies and Appeals to Courts

This project examines how Ireland’s non-court adjudicative bodies’ diverse procedures and processes can be streamlined without losing the flexibility each body requires to carry out its unique adjudicative functions and how to simplify onward appeals to courts.

Liability of Unincorporated Associations

The project reviews the civil and criminal liability of unincorporated associations, such as religious orders and sports clubs, following key court decisions.

Aspects of Family Law (the legal recognition for foreign divorces)

This project analyses the legal basis for recognising foreign divorces and related marriage issues, following Supreme Court decisions.

Aspects of Land and Conveyancing Law (adverse possession)

This project revisits the law on adverse possession, which was excluded from the 2009 Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act.

Current Consultations

The Commission is currently consulting on the Reform of Non-Court Adjudicative Bodies and Appeals to Courts. We welcome submissions from all interested parties in this and other aspects of our work.

Go to consultations