CIOT Welcomes Law Commission Legislative Review Proposal

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

09 November 2006

The UK Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has welcomed the Law Commission’s suggestions for the development of a formal system of reviewing laws after they have been brought into force.

In a recent statement, the Law Commission announced that:

"As the body charged with keeping all the law under review we are concerned both at the volume of legislation that is passed by Parliament and whether it accurately gives effect to the underlying policy aims. We are also concerned if new law has unintended consequences which make the law less certain and more complex."

"There are many issues that arise when one considers post-legislative scrutiny. The key questions include the purpose of post-legislative scrutiny, which legislation should be subject to such scrutiny, what form the scrutiny should take and by whom should it be undertaken, and perhaps most importantly, who should be responsible for making decisions about all of these issues."

"On 25 October 2006 we published our proposals to Parliament for introducing a more formal system for reviewing laws after they have been brought into effect and encouraging better regulation."

Speaking with regard to the Law Commission proposal to have legislation scrutinised by a joint Parliamentary committee, John Cullinane, CIOT President, observed that:

“It is abundantly clear that there is a need for a Tax Law Commission. That body would be modelled on the Law Commission with a brief to keep all tax laws under review, and to recommend reform where it is needed.”

He added:

“If tax law were assessed on a regular basis, this would undoubtedly improve the way in which tax is administered. This is why I have argued that the rule of law must be returned to the tax system and recently asked for a Taxpayers’ Charter to be in next year’s Budget."

"As the leading UK professional body for taxation, the CIOT believes that the rights and responsibilities of the citizen and tax administrator should be clearly set down in order to achieve an appropriate balance between the parties, in a system that has become rich in complexity and poor in explanation.”

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