Law+Reform

=WHAT IS LAW REFORM?= =Law reform is the process that changes our existing laws with the aim of improving justice and efficiency. It is important because the law must meet the needs of society which are constantly changing.=

Why do we need law reform?
Think about these laws that used to apply in Australia. Why did they require changing?


 * A husband could not be charged with raping is own wife
 * Women who were found to be in a public bar could be arrested for vagrancy or public indecency
 * Aboriginal people were not counted in the Australian census
 * Asylum seeker children used to be held in detention centres until their claims were processed
 * If a person had been tried and found not guilty of an offence, they could not be tried again, even if very compelling new evidence was revealled by using new technology or science
 * Women and Aboriginal people were not allowed to vote
 * Women were not allowed to serve on juries

You can see that in order for laws to reflect societies current attitudes, values and morals, they need to be able to respond to change. This wiki will explore how and why this law reform occurs.

Reasons for law reform: What are the conditions that give rise to the need for law reform?
Group work task: In groups use the material in your **text book**, as well as the ** ﻿ ****additional reading** (MonteNet document: Conditions that create law reform - examples) ﻿ to create a wiki page for each condition that gives rise to law reform.

2. What is an example of where this has happened?

 * Failure of existing laws: when current laws are failing to achieve their aims
 * International laws and conventions: Australia signing new treaty obligations
 * New concepts of justice: social changes in understanding what 'justice' really is
 * Changing social values and composition of society: laws needing to reflect our social make-up
 * New Technology: use of technology in both committing and investigating crime