Parliamentary law making

• Parliament: House of commons

  • general election every 5 years
  • MPs
• Parliament: House of Lords

  • non elected body
  • 12 most senior judges used to sit here but no longer do
  • contains life peers, judges and bishops before 1999
• Green and White papers:

  • green paper may be issued by the minister with a responsibility for that matter and this is a document on a topic in which the governments view is to put forward with proposals for law reform. Interested parties are invited to send comments so changes can be made to proposals.
  • From this a white paper might be published with its firm proposals for new law.
• Introducing an Act of parliament:

  • drafted by lawyers in Civil Service known as the treasury
  • when the act has been drafted it is published as a bill and only becomes an act of parliament if it completes all necessary stages and receives Royal Assent.
• Private members bills:

  can be an individual member of parliament which introduces a bill, known as backbenches.

  example is Abortion Act 1967.

  2 ways a private MP can introduce a bill;

  • by ballot
  • ten minute rule
• • government bill- introduced by government
  • private members bill- by a private MP
  • public bill- involves matters of public policy and affects general public
  • private bill- affects a particular organisation, person or place
  • hybrid bill- introduced by government but affects an organisation person or place.
• Role of house of commons:

  • most bills introduced here first, if they vote against bill is the end of the bill
  • debates on issues of policy behind the law.
• Role of house of lords:

  • acts as a check for the house of commons
  • alert house of commons of problems to be amended
• Parliamentary process;

  • bill is drafted
  • first reading in house of commons
  • second reading in house of commons
  • committee stage- detailed examination of each clause of Bill is undertaken by a committee.
  • report stage- where committee report back to House on those amendments
  • third reading in house of commons- final vote
  • same procedures in house of lords
  • royal assent- where monarch formally gives approval to the bill
• Commencement of an Act of Parliament:

  comes into force on midnight of that day unless another date is set.
• advantages of law making in parliament:

  • made by our elected representatives
  • can reform whole areas of law in one act
  • can set broad policies and give power to others to make detailed regulations
  • there will have been consultation to the proposed changes to the law before bill is presented allowing government to take into consideration objections
  • certain as it cannot be challenged under doctrine of parliamentary supremacy
• disadvantages of parliamentary law making:

  • parliament doesnt have time to deal with all proposed reforms
  • process takes several months
  • allows little time for private members bills
  • acts are long and complex and hard to understand
• Influences on law making - political:

  • each party has its own policies and drafts a manifesto before general election
  • these will be a major influence on laws they introduce
• influences- public opinion:

  • strong public opinion can lead to a change in the law
  • media play important role in highlighting issues of social concern
• influences - pressure groups:

  • groups with particular interests and bring issues to the attention of the general public and government
• influences - law commission:

  • independent body to review the law and propose reform
• Doctrine of parliamentary supremacy:

  Dicey made 3 main points;

  • parliament can legislate on any subject matter
  • no parliament can be bound by any previous Parliament
  • no other body has the right to override or set aside Act of Parliament