About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

25 Liverpool L. Rev. 1 (2004)

handle is hein.journals/lvplr25 and id is 1 raw text is: RAYMOND COCKS* POWER, POLICY AND CO-ORDINATION IN LAW REFORM: A CIVIL SERVANT AND TOWN PLANNING LAW, 1929-1930 ABSTRACT. The process of turning policy into legislation has been the subject of intense debates with some emphasising 'pressure groups', some pointing to Members of Parlia- ment and others stressing the importance of civil servants with their own strong beliefs. This article argues that a particular type of civil service role has not been explored: we need to look at the civil servant who co-ordinates the process of reform. He or she starts with no particular commitment but seeks to provide a framework for legislation which can respond to contrasting and, on some occasions, even mutually inconsistent ideas. Co-ordination is in itself a form of power, and its significance can be seen in the compromises and gaps which are often found in government legislation and which are frequently the product of the co- ordinating role with its search for some minimal level of agreement and 'workable' drafts. The case-study for this analysis of law-making is the strained attempt to reform planning law in the years 1929-1932 in such a way as to make the law an instrument for preserving the countryside and improving housing and city conditions. It was a major attempt at social engineering and highly contentious for contemporaries. It is the essence of this type of law-reform that it simultaneously changes past law and, because it is an administratively co-ordinated compromise, it also produces problems which demand further reform within a few years. KEY WORDS: British Government, civil service, law reform, Parliamentary Counsel, planning law Statutory reform has been explained by reference to forces as contrasting as 'pressure groups', the influence of Royal Commissions, the overriding persuasiveness of certain individuals such as, say, Beveridge in the 1940s, the personal 'agendas' of particular civil servants, or even the creativity of Parliamentary Counsel.1 The purpose of this article is to use a reform of * Professor of Law, Law Department, Keele University, Keele, Staffs, ST5 5BG. I am grateful for the comments of William Cornish, David Vincent and Keith Middlemas on earlier drafts. 1 For an example of the role of pressure group in the creation of an Act see D. Dixon, Class Law: the Street Betting Act of 1906, International Journal of the Sociology of Law 8 (1980), pp. 101-128. For an analysis of the significance of Royal Commissions in the reform of property law see J. Stuart Anderson, Lawyers and the Making of English Land Law: 1832-1940 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), see index at pp. 357-358 for numerous references. For the impact of Beveridge see P. Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-1990 (London, Allen Lane: Penguin Press, 1996), p. 221. For a study of how law can be changed through unexpected initiatives within Parliament see C. Hamilton, Family, d Liverpool Law Review 25: 1-28, 2004. O 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most