Purpose of the Bill:

The Civil Law Reform Bill will bring forward a number of civil law reform measures, including several recommendations of the Law Commission making the law simpler and more up to date.

The main benefits of the bill are:

The Civil Law Reform Bill will provide an opportunity to modernise and simplify the law on a variety of subjects where obtaining Parliamentary time for individual subject Bills may be difficult. 
The civil law affects everyone. Keeping it up to date is essential if the law is to remain fair and people are to understand their rights and responsibilities.

The Bill’s enactment will demonstrate the Government’s support of the Law Commission and the Government’s commitment to law reform.

The main elements of the bill are:

The exact content of the Bill is still to be settled but the Bill is likely to include proposals in the following areas:

• Reform of the law relating to damages – in particular in relation to dependency claims and bereavement damages under the fatal Accidents Act 1976, creating a fairer and more modern system.
  
• Reform of the Limitation Act 1980 – how long a claimant has to take civil legal proceedings, making the law simpler and more consistent.
  
• Reform of the law relating to the rule of forfeiture and the law of succession – amends the law so that the heirs of a murderer, who are now disinherited under the forfeiture rule would be able to inherit.
  
• Reform of the law in relation to Pre-judgment interest – giving the Lord Chancellor to specify rates of interest by order, including power to award compound interest if appropriate.