Third Programme of Law Reform 2008-2014

third programme of law reform 2008-2014Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform,and other Departments of Government. The development of effective relationshipsis of key importance to the Commission’s work, consistent with the commitment toensure that its independence and impartiality is retained.The Implementation of RecommendationsAs the Commission is independent from the Government it is natural that, fromtime to time, the Government does not agree with some recommendations of theCommission and will take a different course of reform, or decide not to implementsome recommendations. In general terms, under the First and Second Programmes,about 70% of the Commission’s recommendations have been or are in the process ofbeing implemented. 13The Commission is firmly of the view that its recommendations should be rooted inrigorous analysis but should also be tested against the question: “will they work inpractice?” We believe that this approach will ensure that our work remains relevantto society - and to public representatives in Government and the Oireachtas. TheCommission is also committed to ensuring that implementation of its recommendationsis facilitated through the continued publication of draft legislation in Reports publishedunder the Third Programme.While the Commission recognises the need to be implementation minded, it is alsocommitted not to become implementation obsessed. The Commission will continueto focus on a number of other indicators of “success.” 14 For example the Commissionplaces value on:• Raising community awareness of a particular issue• Instigation of debate on an area of law• Encouraging alternative reform mechanisms which do not involve legislativechange, consistent with the Government’s White Paper Regulating Better(2004). 1513See Appendix 3 for the Table of Implementation of Commission Reports to 2007.14For a fuller discussion of other measures of success see Opeskin and Weisbrot (eds) “Measuring Success”in The Promise of Law Reform (Federation Press 2005), at 202.15Available at www.betterregulation.ie.21