Who We Are
The New Jersey Law Revision Commission (NJLRC) is an independent Legislative commission responsible for conducting a continuous examination of the New Jersey statutes and the judicial decisions construing the statutes. The Commission is also instructed to carry on a continuous revision of the statutes to maintain them in revised, consolidated and simplified form. The NJLRC is called upon to act in cooperation with the Legislative Counsel in the Office of Legislative Services to effect improvements and modifications to the statutes. (N.J.S. 1:12A-8)
Goal: The clarification and simplification of New Jersey’s law, its better adaptation to present social needs, and the better administration of justice.
In order to do its work, the Commission is directed to receive and consider suggestions and recommendations from the American Law Institute, the Uniform Law Commission, “other learned bodies,” “judges, public officials, bar associations, members of the bar and from the public generally.” (N.J.S. 1:12A-8)
The NJLRC has nine Commissioners, including: the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, representatives of New Jersey’s three law school campuses, and four New Jersey attorneys (two appointed by the President of the Senate and two by the Speaker of the General Assembly).
The NJLRC has four Staff members, including a full-time Executive Director, one full-time Deputy Director, one full-time Counsel, one full-time Executive Assistant and one Legislative Fellow. Law and undergraduate students provide additional legal research and drafting assistance.
What We Do
Over the course of any given year, the Commission will work on between 55 and 70+ projects in different areas of the law. The projects vary in size. Some recommend a change to a single sentence of a statute; others recommend changes to hundreds of pages of statutes.
Once the Commission approves work on a new project, Staff researches the law and reaches out to experts and to those with knowledge of the law and its impacts. The NJLRC may work on a number of successive drafts regarding a particular issue, in an effort to achieve consensus drafting. NJLRC work in an area generally concludes with the release of a Final Report and Recommendation to the Legislature suggesting a change to the body of statutes and the basis for that recommendation.
Our Role in the Legislative Process
The work of the Commission is complementary to that done by the Office of Legislative Services. Pursuant to its statutory mandate, the NJLRC works to bring issues to the attention of the Legislature that might not otherwise receive consideration.
The NJLRC tailors its research and outreach to the specific project or request, dedicating as much time as a given project requires.
As soon as the Commission begins work in an area, Staff identifies those who may wish to be heard on the subject and reaches out to those individuals and groups for comment.
The NJLRC serves the citizens of New Jersey and all branches of the State government by identifying areas of New Jersey law that can be improved by changes to the New Jersey statutes.
Goal: To enhance New Jersey's long tradition of law revision and to support the Legislature in its efforts to improve the law in response to the existing and emerging needs of New Jersey citizens.
In keeping with its statutory mandate, the Commission is available to provide research and drafting assistance to any Legislator. The Commission is pleased to offer as much assistance in an area as is requested, including: preliminary research to develop the contours of a proposed bill; analysis of the approaches taken by other jurisdictions with regard to an issue; review of scholarly articles; identification of legislative trends; and seeking preliminary comments from experts or others knowledgeable about a given area. The resulting information will be provided to the Legislator in whatever format would be most useful.
The NJLRC was deliberately created by the Legislature to operate in a non-partisan manner.
The independence of the Commission reflects the wisdom of the Legislature in creating an entity that focuses exclusively on the goals of improving New Jersey’s law.