In 1923, the New York State Legislature created the Commission to Investigate Defects in the Law and Its Administration through Chapter 575 of 1923. The Commission issued a report in 1924 calling for a permanent Law Revision Commission. The Law Revision Commission created Legislative Law Section 4-A and was established by Chapter 597 of 1934.
The purpose of the Law Revision Commission, at the urging of Governor Herbert Lehman, was:
“To examine the-common law and statutes of the state and current judicial decisions for the purpose of discovering defects and anachronisms in the law and recommending needed reforms. 2. To receive and consider- proposed changes in the law recommended by the American Law Institute, the commissioners for the promotion of uniformity of legislation in the United States, any bar association or other learned bodies. 3. To receive and consider suggestions from judges, justices, public officials, lawyers and the public generally as to defects and anachronisms in the law. 4. To recommend, from time to time, such changes in the law as it deems necessary to modify or eliminate antiquated and inequitable rules of law, and to bring the law of this state, civil and criminal, into harmony with modern conditions. 5. To report its proceedings annually to the legislature on or before February first, and, if it deems advisable, to accompany its report with proposed bills to carry out any of its recommendations.”
Areas of law that have been substantially affected by the Law Revision Commission include, but not limited to, the Penal Law, Insurance Law, and Uniform Commercial Code. According to the Law Revision Commission’s website, the commission is the “the oldest continuous agency in the common-law world devoted to law reform through legislation.” The commission, technically still established, has been inactive since 2016.
Resources
Chapter 597 1934 (Available via HeinOnline)
Chapter 575 1923 (Available via HeinOnline)
Legislative Library Catalog Record
1924 Leg Doc 70 (Starts on Page 441)
Reports Digitized Through the New York State Library
Legislative Documents on Hathitrust