Parliamentary law making

    Cards (21)

    • Laws made by parliament are called acts of parliament. They are also referred to as legislation and statutes. In order to make an Act, a bill must be introduced to parliament, debated and approved by both houses of parliament- the house of lords and the house of commons. It must then recieve royal assent from the Monarch.
    • There are public bills, private bills, private members bills and hybrid bills.
    • An example of a public bill is the Equality Act 2010 and Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill
    • Public Bills change the law as it applies to the general population and are the most common type of Bill introduced in Parliament. Government ministers propose the majority of Public Bills.  They affect the whole country or a large part of it.
    • An example of Private bills is British Railways Act 1969 and University College London Act 1996
    • Private Bills are designed to pass a law that will affect only individual people or corporations.
    • An example of private members bills is Joan Ruddock, MP for Lewisham and Deptford who put forward the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003
    • Private members bills are bills sponsored by individual MPs.  There will be a ballot to select who can present their bill to Parliament.
    • An example of hybrid bills is the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill 2017-19
    • Hybrid bills mix the characteristics of public and private bills. The changes to the law proposed by a hybrid bill would affect the general public but would also have a more significant impact on specific individuals or groups
    • The pre legislative process of law making involves green paper and white paper
    • The government introduces green papers if it is unsure about the details of the law it wishes to put forward. This is a document of consultation - interested parties are invited to send comments so a full consideration of all views can be made
    • Following green paper proposals, the government can publish white pages with firm proposals for the new law, taking into account any ammendments suggested. The government can also just issue a white paper if it has firm views on a topic.
    • There are multiple stages of the legislative process that law proposals must go through before becoming law. This includes the first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading (where these stages are repeated) and royal assent
    • The first reading is a formal procedure where the name and main aims of the bill are addressed. Usually no discussion and no vote takes place
    • The second reading is the main debate, where MP's debate the principles behind the bill. This focuses on the main principles rather than the smaller details. MPs wishing to speak much catch the eye of the speaker (who controls the debate) to be called upon. Nobody may speak without being called upon. At the end there is a vote, and there must be a majority in favour for the bill to pass.
    • The committee stage is where the elected 'standing committee' will check the clauses throughly and propose ammendments which will be voted on. The committee is made up of MPs with a special interest in or knowledge in the subject. The whole house is in the committee for finance
    • The report stage is when the standing committee reports back to the House of Commons with its proposed changes. These are debated by the whole house and then voted on. If passed, the bill goes to the Lords
    • The third reading is the final vote on the bill. It is a formality since a bill that has passed this far is unlikely to fail. A bill will then be passed to the house of lords who will follow a similar process of debate and consideration. If it passes then it will be put forward for royal assent.
    • If the bill is passed to the house of lords and there are no ammendments, it is put forward for royal assent
    • Royal assent is where the monarch formally gives approval to the bill
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