Law Commission of India: An Executive Body Since 1955, Reconstituted by Order

The Law Commission of India sits, like the Election Commission's own Delimitation Commission and NITI Aayog, in the category the exam most enjoys testing by elimination: it is neither constitutional nor statutory, an executive body reconstituted periodically by a Government order, despite sounding like a permanent official institution.

Origins, and how it actually gets reconstituted

The Commission was originally constituted in 1955 and has been re-constituted from time to time ever since, each time by an executive order of the Government of India through the Ministry of Law and Justice, never by an Act of Parliament or a constitutional provision. The Twenty-second Law Commission, for instance, was governed by an order dated 21 February 2020, and when its members joined office only shortly before its term was due to end, the Union Cabinet approved extending that specific Commission's tenure to 31 August 2024, by a further executive decision, exactly the kind of flexibility only a non-statutory body allows.

Composition

The 22nd Commission's own stated composition, representative of the pattern the Commission generally follows: a full-time Chairperson; four full-time Members (one of whom also serves as Member-Secretary); the Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, as an ex officio Member; the Secretary, Legislative Department, as an ex officio Member; and not more than five part-time Members. The mix of full-time appointees, sitting government law-secretaries, and part-time experts is itself worth noting, since it is unusual among the bodies in this cluster, most of which are either fully appointed or fully ex officio, not a blend of both.

What it actually does

The Commission's terms of reference generally include: identifying laws that are no longer relevant and recommending the repeal of obsolete or unnecessary enactments; suggesting new legislation needed to implement the Directive Principles or to meet the objectives set out in the Preamble; considering and advising the Government, through the Ministry of Law and Justice, on any law or judicial-administration question specifically referred to it; and considering requests to provide legal research assistance to foreign countries referred to it by the Government. Across its successive incarnations since 1955, the Commission has submitted 277 reports as of early 2023, a substantial share of India's actual legislative reform and repeal work over seven decades.

Quick revision points

• Neither constitutional nor statutory: an executive body, same category as NITI Aayog, constituted by government order, not an Act or article.
• Originally constituted in 1955; reconstituted periodically, each time under its own fresh order (the 22nd Commission's terms of reference came from an order dated 21 February 2020).
• Composition: full-time Chairperson + 4 full-time Members (one also Member-Secretary) + 2 ex officio Secretaries (Legal Affairs, Legislative Department) + up to 5 part-time Members.
• Functions: recommend repeal of obsolete laws, suggest new legislation to meet Directive Principle and Preamble objectives, advise government on referred legal questions, assist foreign research requests.
• 277 reports submitted across its history as of 2023.

The exam's real interest is the classification (non-statutory, like NITI Aayog) and the mechanism (reconstituted by order, term extendable by Cabinet decision alone); the specific report count and composition numbers are useful detail once that framing is secure.