The Odisha government is setting up a law commission to receive advice in carrying out legal reforms and drafting of new laws.

“We are in the process of constituting a law commission to aid and advice (the government) in the matters of legal reform and qualitative legislation relevant to the present day society,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here on Sunday at the first state committee meeting of the newly formed legal cell of his party Biju Janta Dal (BJD).

The legal cell would further the process of providing socio-economic and political justice to the people and of spreading legal awareness, he hoped.

The process was on to fill up the gaps in legal infrastructure, especially in remote areas of the state to facilitate access to justice and to quicken the delivery of justice, Patnaik said.

“We have had a new building for Orissa High Court a year back and there is proposal for its extension.”

He said 17 district courts and court buildings have been constructed on priority within a short span of time.

The law commission would help the government in plugging loopholes in existing laws, identifying laws that have outlived their utility, and drafting new laws for effective governance,” said an official of the law department.

It would also suggest ways for settlement of inter-state disputes.