Hale Commission

The Hale Commission was established by the Commonwealth of England on 30 January 1652 and led by Sir Matthew Hale to investigate law reform. Consisting of eight lawyers and thirteen laymen, the Commission met approximately three times a week and proposed changes as radical (at the time) as reducing the use of the death penalty, allowing witnesses, legal aid and lawyers for defendants in criminal cases and creating County Courts and a Court of Appeal for criminal cases. Though the Commission was unsuccessful at passing any of its measures under the Rump Parliament, two of its measures were put into law by the subsequent Barebone's Parliament, and, by the middle of the 20th century, most of the others were as well. Debate has occurred over the effectiveness and strife within the Commission between its more moderate and radical members; the general conclusion is that with the sheer volume of work produced and the vast proportion of moderate to radical members, it is unlikely such strife existed.

The loss of Charles I of England in the English Civil War led to the establishment of the Commonwealth of England on 19 May 1649. During the rule of both the Commonwealth and the succeeding Protectorate, there was considerable desire for law reform. Many judges and lawyers were corrupt, and criminal law followed no real reason or philosophy. Any felony was punishable by death, proceedings were in a form of Norman French, and judges regularly imprisoned jurors for reaching a verdict they disagreed with. Cromwell and the Rump Parliament aimed to establish a "new society", which included reforming the law; to that end, on 30 January 1652 Sir Matthew Hale was appointed chairman of a commission to investigate law reform, which soon became known as the Hale Commission. The Commission's official remit was defined by the Commons; "taking into consideration what inconveniences there are in the law; and how the mischiefs which grow from delays, the chargeableness and irregularities in the proceedings in the law may be prevented, and the speediest way to reform the same, and to present their opinions to such committee as the Parliament shall appoint".

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