Commentary on Sections Part 4: General Section 18: Review of operation of Act
Section 18 places a statutory obligation on the Department to report to the Assembly on the operation of the Act.  This creates a formal mechanism by which the Department may be held to account for the way in which the Act’s provisions have been implemented or, in the case of those not yet in force by the latest date for the report (end of 2014), for the preparations for implementation.  Subsection (2) allows the Department to make further such reports and subsection (3) provides that any report must be laid before the Assembly.