Law reform or legal reform is the process of examining existing laws , and advocating and implementing change in a legal system , usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency.
41-626: Edwin Wilkins Field (12 October 1804 – 30 July 1871) was a British lawyer and painter who committed much of his life to law reform . Edwin, a descendant of Oliver Cromwell through his grandmother, was the eldest of thirteen children of William Field and Mary Wilkins, of Leam, near Warwick . He was educated at his father's school, and on 19 March 1821 was articled to the firm of Taylor & Roscoe, solicitors, of King's Bench Walk , Temple . For some years after arriving in London he lived in
82-567: A Solicitor attracted much attention. In 1841 two of his suggestions were carried out, by the abolition of the Exchequer of pleas as a court of equity , and the appointment of two additional Vice-Chancellors . The energy with which he continued to press his views had much to do with the passing of the Court of Chancery Act 1842 , by which the Six Clerks and Sworn Clerks were abolished, and
123-537: A Warwickshire artist, William Ryder. Early in his professional life he introduced a drawing class at the Harp Alley school, and taught it once a week. Forced to rusticate at Ventnor by a broken leg, he spent a long vacation in sketching . From this period art was the perpetual joy of his busy life. He taught it to working men, cultivated it in the "conversation society" founded at his residence, Squire's Mount, Hampstead , and pursued it in successive long vacations on
164-589: A further £70,000 and with decoration and furnishing the total cost for the building came to under £1 million. The building was extended to the designs of Sir Henry Tanner to create the West Green building completed in 1912. The Queen's Building followed in 1968 and the Thomas More Courts were completed in January 1990. The building was used as a " Nightingale Court " for criminal trials during
205-649: A law), creation of new law, consolidation (change existing law) and codification . The expression "law reform" is used in a number of senses and some of these are close to being wholly incompatible with each other. In the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 , the expression "reform" includes, in relation to the law or a branch of the law, its development, its codification (including in particular its simplification and modernisation), statute law revision and consolidation of statute law , and kindred words must be construed accordingly. Judicial reform
246-475: A plan for the new Royal Courts of Justice , and declined any remuneration for his services. As a unitarian dissenter , Field was naturally interested in the decisions in the Hewley Fund and other cases, which invalidated the title of unitarians to any trust property created before 1813, the date of their legal toleration. Field suggested the remedy of an act of parliament , and was the mainspring of
287-527: Is abandoned". David Brownlee has claimed that it was influenced by the reformist political movement and the High Victorian architectural movement and has described it as a "regular mongrel affair" while Turnor described it as the "last great secular building of the Gothic Revival". The Government Art Collection contains a painting by Henry Tanworth Wells depicting Queen Victoria opening
328-471: Is necessary now to start unfolding a full-scale legal reform, which has to be completed by the year 2020. The official public presentation and implementation of such legal reform should become the prime responsibility of executive and legislative authorities. The program of legal reform needs to be adopted in the form of a legislative act. In April 2020, the National Center for State Courts and
369-824: Is the complete or partial political reform of a country's judiciary. Judicial reform is often done as a part of wider reform of the country's political system or a legal reform. The President of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation , Valery Zorkin, gives in his article, "Twelve Theses on Legal Reform in Russia", first published in Russian magazine Legislation and Economics , N. 2, 2004 an explained correlation between legal and judicial reform: "Complete legal reform should normally include not only judicial reform, but also reform of various aspects of
410-560: The Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. The design involves a symmetrical main frontage of facing The Strand; the central section, which is stepped back, features an arched doorway leading to the Great Hall; it has a five-part window in a carved surround on the first floor and a gable containing a rose window above. At the top of the gable is a sculpture of Jesus with a flèche behind. There are also statues of Moses , Solomon and Alfred
451-652: The London School of Economics . The nearest London Underground stations are Chancery Lane and Temple . The Central Criminal Court , widely known as the Old Bailey after its street, is about 1 ⁄ 2 mile (0.8 km) to the east—a Crown Court centre with no direct connection with the Royal Courts of Justice. For centuries these courts were located in Westminster Hall ; however, in
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#1732771869362492-666: The Thames , at Mill House, Cleve, near Goring-on-Thames , Oxfordshire. His original sketches fill many folios. He greatly assisted Henry Crabb Robinson in forming the Flaxman Gallery at University College, London . He was a member of the committee of the fine art section of the 1862 International Exhibition . In 1868 he took a leading part in framing the scheme for the Slade School of Art (opened 1871) in connection with University College. Few things gratified him more than
533-748: The Victorian Gothic Revival style built in the 1870s and opened by Queen Victoria in 1882. It is one of the largest courts in Europe . It is a Grade I listed building . It is located on the Strand within the City of Westminster , near the boundary with the City of London ( Temple Bar ). It is surrounded by the four Inns of Court , St Clement Danes church, the Australian High Commission , King's College London and
574-461: The 19th century, justices decided the courts needed a purpose-built structure. Much of the preparatory legal work was completed by Edwin Wilkins Field including promotion of the Courts of Justice Building Act 1865 ( 28 & 29 Vict. c. 48) and the Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act 1865 ( 28 & 29 Vict. c. 49). A statue of Field stands in the building. Parliament paid £1,453,000 for
615-460: The 6-acre (24,000 m ) site upon which 450 houses had to be demolished. The search for a design for the Law Courts was by way of a competition, a then-common approach to selecting a design and an architect. The competition ran from 1866 to 1867 and the twelve architects competing for the contract each submitted designs for the site. In 1868 it was finally decided that George Edmund Street
656-544: The Great , the four statues symbolising the pillars of English legal tradition. There are towers containing lancet windows on either side of the central section with side wings beyond. At the eastern end of the Strand frontage is a tall clock tower topped by a pyramidal roof, finial and flagpole; it contains a clock and five bells (weighing a total of 8¼ tons) by Gillett, Bland & Co. . Internally, courts are arranged off
697-414: The Great Hall which runs north–south; there is a courtyard to the east with offices for courtroom staff arranged round the courtyard. The Great Hall contains a bust of Queen Victoria by the sculptor, Alfred Gilbert . Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described the building as "an object lesson in free composition, with none of the symmetry of the classics, yet not undisciplined where symmetry
738-723: The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System issued a three-year report, "Transforming Our Civil Justice System for the 21st Century: The Road to Civil Justice Reform", which surmised that: Americans deserve a civil legal process that can fairly and promptly resolve disputes for everyone — rich or poor, individuals or businesses, in matters large or small. Yet our civil justice system often fails to meet this standard. Runaway costs, delays, and complexity are undermining public confidence and denying people
779-514: The agitation which secured the passing of the Dissenters' Chapels Act 1844 , making the legal toleration of unitarian opinion retrospective and, in the case of all dissenting trusts not in favour of specific doctrines, legalising the usage of twenty-five years. His co-religionists raised a sum of £530 in acknowledgment of Field's unpaid services. He applied it towards the rebuilding of his father's meeting-house at Kenilworth . A further memorial of
820-832: The annual series of Hibbert Lectures . His third cousin Thomas Field Gibson assisted him with both the Hibbert Trust and University Hall. From 1857 Field exerted himself in procuring a measure for establishing artistic copyright . He worked hard for the Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862 , though it did not do all he desired. In reply to the thanks of the Society of Arts , he wrote that no labour he could ever give would repay his obligations to art and artists. Field's maxim was, Have one horse, and one hobby. The beginning of his love for art he traced to
861-400: The building. However, these disputes were eventually settled and the building took eight years to complete; it was officially opened by Queen Victoria on 4 December 1882. Street died before the building was opened, overcome by the work. The building was paid for by cash accumulated in court from the estates of the intestate to the sum of £700,000. Oak work and fittings in the court cost
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#1732771869362902-401: The courts and their activities. It is well known that Russian courts remain under-funded. However, the cumulative economic costs suffered by both state and private enterprises as the result of under-performance by various judicial institutions, especially by the courts of general jurisdiction and the arbitration courts, is at least twice the order of magnitude as the financial burden carried by
943-419: The executive. The latter undermines the separation of powers, as it creates a critical financial dependence of the judiciary. The proper national wealth distribution including the government spending on the judiciary is subject of the constitutional economics . It is important to distinguish between the two methods of corruption of the judiciary: the state (through budget planning and various privileges), and
984-562: The family of the junior partner , Robert Roscoe, to the influence of whose artistic tastes he attributed much of the pleasures of his later life. Edgar Taylor (died 1839), the senior partner , was also known as a scholar. At Michaelmas term , 1826, Field was admitted attorney and solicitor. He had thoughts of beginning business in Warwick, but remained in London on the advice of James Booth , joining his fellow-clerk, William Sharpe (1804–1870), brother to Daniel and Samuel and nephew to
1025-599: The justice they seek. This has to change. Royal Courts of Justice The Royal Courts of Justice , commonly called the Law Courts , is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales . The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by George Edmund Street , who died before it was completed, it is a large grey stone edifice in
1066-612: The law. Many law reform bodies are statutory corporations set up by governments, although they are usually independent from government control, providing intellectual independence to accurately reflect and report on how the law should progress. Law reform activities can include preparation and presentation of cases in court in order to change the common law ; lobbying of government officials in order to change legislation ; and research or writing that helps to establish an empirical basis for other law reform activities. The four main methods in reforming law are repeal (get rid of
1107-536: The one hand; and sufficiently reasonable legal control over economic processes, on the other hand. Legal reform should be an integral part of any on-going reform process. Legal reform is a tool for implementing necessary reforms, to balance competing interests, create a dynamic and sustainable economy, and build a sustainable civil society . During last decades the judiciary became active in economic issues related with economic rights established by constitution because "economics may provide insight into questions that bear on
1148-566: The passing of the act was the building of University Hall, Gordon Square (opened 16 October 1849), towards which Field himself collected much money. In 1847 he was consulted by Robert Hibbert about a trust which he was proposing to create, with the aim of securing a higher culture in the ministry of his denomination. The provisions of the trust deed (executed 19 July) were mainly due to Field's suggestions. He induced Hibbert to modify his original plan in favour of what has become practically an endowment for research, and which produced, since 1878,
1189-602: The path was opened for further improvements in the efficiency and economy of chancery proceedings. In 1844 Field was in communication with the Board of Trade on the subject of a winding-up act for joint-stock companies . The Joint Stock Companies Act 1848 substantially embodied the proposals contained in a draft bill laid before the legal adviser of the Board of Trade on 27 April 1846, by Field and his friend Rigge, who had formerly been in his office. As early as 1846 Field took up
1230-583: The poet Samuel Rogers , to form the firm of Sharpe & Field, in Bread Street , Cheapside in 1827. Henry Ellwood was their first clerk. In 1835 Taylor, who was then alone, took Sharpe and Field into partnership with him. The office of the firm was long in Bedford Row, London , afterwards in Lincoln's Inn Fields . In 1840 Field came forward as an advocate of chancery reform . His Observations of
1271-689: The private. In modern Russia, aspects and directions of development of judicial reform were formulated in the Judicial Reform Concept, enacted by the Russian Parliament on October 24, 1991. This document still remains legally valid and applicable. Valery Zorkin stressed that "the separation of powers principle, also proclaimed in the Constitution of the Russian Federation , requires observance of judicial independence . And such independence requires proper funding of
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1312-424: The proper legal interpretation". Since many a country with a transitional political and economic system continues treating its constitution as an abstract legal document disengaged from the economic policy of the state, practice of judicial review of economic acts of executive and legislative branches became to grow. The budget of the judiciary in many transitional and developing countries is completely controlled by
1353-557: The question of reform in the system of legal remuneration , advocating an ad valorem system, with the option of special contract. He had the support of Lord Langdale , then Master of the Rolls , and pressed the matter on various legal societies, giving evidence on the subject in July 1851 before a committee of the House of Lords . Lord Westbury 's bill of 1865, on which Field was consulted,
1394-404: The state and society in financing such judicial institutions. The elimination of under-funding of the courts would definitely improve the efficiency of their work and be worthwhile. Taking into account the specifics of historical developments in Russia, one may assert that without undertaking a large-scale legal reform it would be extremely difficult to succeed concurrently with judicial reform. It
1435-571: The structural system and content of legislation, legal education, legal awareness by the population, and also the corporate consciousness of the whole legal community. Judicial reform usually aims to improve such things as law courts, procuracies, advocacy (bar), inquest, executory processes, and record keeping." . Legal reform can be the driver for all other reforms, including reform of the economy. A true market economy cannot be created without ensuring both full guarantees of private property and transparent predictability for entrepreneurial activity, on
1476-494: The token of regard presented to him in 1863 by his artist friends of the Old Water-colour Society , in the shape of a portfolio of their original drawings. Writing in 1888, Gordon observed, "Field's character impressed even casual acquaintances, and accounted for the warmth and range of his friendships. All his ideals were high; and his pace and force were tremendous. His convictions were strong; equally strong
1517-462: The western end of which Edwin's nephew, the architect Horace Field , altered to create his own house, Chestnut Lodge . Edwin Wilkins Field drowned in the River Thames at Cleve on 30 July 1871 when his boat Yankee capsized while in company with Henry Ellwood, his old clerk. Both men were good swimmers, but their strength had been exhausted in supporting another clerk, who could not swim, and
1558-530: Was his love of independence in others. ‘Do you believe that heresy is the salt of the earth?’ was a characteristic question of his. A certain bluffness of manner expressed the rapidity of his mind, without veiling his robust goodness of heart." He was twice married: The Fields lived in Squire's Mount , Hampstead , a Grade II* listed building later bequeathed by Edwin's daughters to the National Trust ,
1599-508: Was not passed but the act of 1870 gave effect to his views so far as regards the option of contract. In 1861 he was appointed on a royal commission to report on the Accountant General 's department of the Court of Chancery . The Courts of Justice Building Act 1865 and Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act 1865 were largely promoted by his exertions. He was secretary to the royal commission appointed in that year to prepare
1640-760: Was saved. On 4 August he was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery , in a family vault next to that of his friend Henry Crabb Robinson and just to the right of the grave of George Eliot . A statue of Field stands in the Royal Courts of Justice. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : " Field, Edwin Wilkins ". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Law reform Intimately related are law reform bodies or law commissions , which are organizations set up to facilitate law reform. Law reform bodies carry out research and recommend ways to simplify and modernize
1681-412: Was the winner. Building was started in 1873 by Messrs Bull & Sons of Southampton. Its masons led a serious strike at an early stage which threatened to extend to the other trades and caused a temporary stoppage of the works. In consequence, foreign workmen were brought in – mostly Germans. This aroused bitter hostility on the part of the men on strike, and the newcomers had to be housed and fed within