Term of Law Commission extended till August 2024

While clearing the constitution of the 22nd Commission, a release by the Cabinet had said that the Commission, among other things, shall “identify laws which are no longer needed or relevant and can be immediately repealed; examine the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and suggest ways of improvement and reform and also suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble of the Constitution”; and “revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities”.

Apart from Justice Awasthi, the Commission also consists of former Kerala High Court judge, Justice K T Sankaran; M Karunanithi; and law professors Anand Paliwal, D P Verma, and Raka Arya.

The Commission is currently looking into several significant issues, including implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju had said that the government had asked the 21st Law Commission to look into the feasibility of UCC and that task is now before the present panel. The Commission is also looking into the issue of holding simultaneous elections.