REPORT TITLE:
Law Revision Commission


DESCRIPTION:
Creates Hawaii law revision commission to prepare revisions of
the Hawaii Revised Statutes to remove ambiguities,
contradictions, and other imperfections of the law.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2145
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO THE HAWAII LAW REVISION COMMISSION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Purpose.  The purpose of this Act is to create a
 
 2 law revision commission and give it responsibility for a
 
 3 comprehensive substantive review of the Hawaii Revised Statutes
 
 4 and decisional law.  The commission shall study the Hawaii
 
 5 Revised Statutes in order to discover defects, anachronisms,
 
 6 conflicts, ambiguities, and unconstitutional or obsolete
 
 7 provisions.  The commission shall recommend legislation to make
 
 8 needed reforms.
 
 9      SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
10 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
11 follows:
 
12                             "CHAPTER
 
13                  HAWAII LAW REVISION COMMISSION
 
14      §  -1 Creation; membership; compensation and expenses;
 
15 other administrative matters.(a)  There is created in the state
 
16 government the Hawaii law revision commission.  The commission
 
17 shall be attached to the office of the attorney general for
 
18 administrative purposes.  The work of the commission shall be
 
19 advisory to the legislature.
 

 
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 1      (b)  The commission shall consist of nine members, as
 
 2 follows:
 
 3      (1)  Two members appointed by the governor;
 
 4      (2)  One member who shall be a member of the house of
 
 5           representatives appointed by the speaker;
 
 6      (3)  One member who shall be a member of the senate
 
 7           appointed by the president;
 
 8      (4)  The chief justice of the Hawaii supreme court, or a
 
 9           designee;
 
10      (5)  The attorney general, or a designee;
 
11      (6)  The director of the legislative reference bureau, or a
 
12           designee;
 
13      (7)  The President of the Hawaii State Bar Association, or a
 
14           designee; and
 
15      (8)  The dean of the William S. Richardson School of Law, or
 
16           a designee.
 
17      All appointments shall be completed within ninety days of
 
18 the effective date of this Act.
 
19      (c)  The members appointed by the governor shall be selected
 
20 on the basis of their interest, knowledge, and experience in
 
21 statutory law, and shall be appointed for a term of four years
 
22 and shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of
 
23 their successors.
 

 
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 1      (d)  The commission shall annually elect its chairperson
 
 2 from among its members.
 
 3      (e)  The commission shall appoint an executive director, who
 
 4 shall be an attorney and who shall serve at the pleasure of the
 
 5 commission and shall be exempt from chapters 76 and 77.  The
 
 6 salary of the executive director shall be set by the commission.
 
 7 The commission, through its executive director, may employ and
 
 8 fix the compensation, in accordance with law, of any
 
 9 professional, clerical, and other assistants that may be
 
10 necessary without regard to chapters 76 and 77. 
 
11      (f)  The members of the commission shall serve without
 
12 compensation, except that each member shall be allowed actual
 
13 expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties,
 
14 including travel expenses.
 
15      §   -2 Assistance of agencies; bar association; others.
 
16 The material of the supreme court law library shall be made
 
17 available to the commission.  All state agencies, and other
 
18 official state organizations, and all persons connected therewith
 
19 shall give the commission full information, and reasonable
 
20 assistance in any matters of research requiring recourse to them,
 
21 or to data within their knowledge or control.
 
22      The board of directors of the Hawaii State Bar Association
 
23 shall assist the commission in any manner the commission may
 

 
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 1 request within the scope of its powers and duties.
 
 2      §   -3 Duties of commission.  The commission shall:
 
 3      (1)  Prepare and submit to the legislature, one title or
 
 4           portion of one title at a time, a complete compilation,
 
 5           restatement, and revision of the Hawaii Revised
 
 6           Statutes which conforms to the understood policy,
 
 7           intent, and purpose of the legislature, with such
 
 8           amendments and corrections as will remove ambiguities,
 
 9           contradictions, and other imperfections both of
 
10           substance and of form, separately stated, with a view
 
11           to the enactment of each title as positive law;
 
12      (2)  Receive and consider suggestions from judges, justices,
 
13           public officials, lawyers, and the public generally as
 
14           to defects and anachronisms in the law;
 
15      (3)  Recommend, from time to time, such changes in the law
 
16           as it deems necessary to modify or eliminate antiquated
 
17           and inequitable rules of law, and to bring the law of
 
18           this State into harmony with modern conditions; and
 
19      (4)  Recommend the express repeal of all statutes repealed
 
20           by implication, or held unconstitutional by the supreme
 
21           court of the State or the Supreme Court of the United
 
22           States.
 
23      §   -4 Reports.  The commission shall submit its reports,
 

 
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 1 and its recommendations as to revision of the laws, to the
 
 2 governor, the members of the legislature, and the heads of all
 
 3 state departments."
 
 4      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 5 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         , or so much
 
 6 thereof as may be necessary, for fiscal year 2000-2001, for the
 
 7 purposes of this Act to be expended by the office of the attorney
 
 8 general for the Hawaii law revision commission.
 
 9      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
10 
 
11                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________