July 15, 2021 - At its recent 2021 Annual Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, the Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) authorized the appointment of four new drafting committees and two new study committees.
The new drafting committees are:
Drafting Committee on Mortgage Modifications. This committee will draft uniform or model state legislation on mortgage modifications. Topics to be addressed include the extent to which the modification of some of the terms of a mortgage loan may not require the execution and recordation of an instrument modifying the currently recorded mortgage document, as well as the extent to which the mortgage retains its priority to secure repayment of the debt as modified.
Drafting Committee to Revise the Uniform Determination of Death Act. The committee will update the Uniform Determination of Death Act, promulgated in 1980 and enacted in 44 states. Issues to be considered include the medical criteria for determining death, the distinction between irreversible versus permanent cessation of brain functions, the relevant regions of the brain, and several other issues identified by the study committee that recommended this project.
Drafting Committee on Public Health Emergency Authorities. The committee will draft model state legislation focused on the allocation of authority between state executive branch officials and the legislature (including with respect to preemption of local governments), and processes for the use of such authorities, in responding to public health emergencies including epidemics and pandemics. The committee will provide options to accommodate variations in state constitutions and legal traditions relating to local authority.
Drafting Committee on Restrictive Covenants in Deeds. This committee will draft uniform or model state legislation enabling an owner of land for which a discriminatory restrictive covenant appears in the chain of title to have that covenant released or expunged from the records. The committee is charged with establishing a general policy approach, subject to review of the Executive Committee, before it begins to draft.
The new study committees are:
Study Committee on Redaction of Personal Information from Public Records. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model law concerning the redaction of personal information, particularly with respect to judges and other public officials, from real property records and other official public records in order to address safety concerns.
Study Committee on U.N. Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation. The primary focus of this study committee will be on the potential impact of the U.N. Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (also known as the Singapore Convention) on existing state law, including how ratification would affect the Uniform Mediation Act and state contract law. If the study committee should conclude that ratification by the U.S. is desirable, it should consider appropriate methods of implementation. This committee is expected to produce recommendations regarding the Convention rather than a recommendation regarding establishment of a drafting committee.
Further information on the new drafting and study committees, as well as information on the Uniform Law Commission, can be found at the ULC's website at www.uniformlaws.org.
Drafting committees, composed of commissioners, with participation from observers, advisors and reporter-drafters, meet throughout the year. Tentative drafts are not submitted to the entire Commission until they have received extensive committee consideration.
Proposed acts are subjected to rigorous examination and debate before they become eligible for designation as ULC products. The final decision on whether an act is ready for promulgation to the states is made near the close of an annual meeting, on a vote by states basis, with an affirmative vote of twenty or more states necessary for final approval.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 130th year, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
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Uniform Law Commission / 111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL 60602 / 312-450-6600 /www.uniformlaws.org
Contact: Katie Robinson, ULC Communications Officer, krobinson@...
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Katie Robinson
Legislative Program Director
Chicago IL
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