Legislationn

• Unwritten constitution


  The legal rules and principles that underpin our legal system are not written down formally
• Principle of UK legal system


  The laws of our country should be made by elected representatives of society
• Main law-making bodies in the UK

  • House of Commons
  • House of Lords
  • Monarch
• House of Commons


  • Made up of MPs (Members of Parliament)
  • MPs are elected by the public every 5 years and represent a constituency
  • The political party with the most elected MPs becomes the majority party
• House of Lords


  • Consists of 692 life peers, 91 hereditary peers and 26 senior Bishops
  • Hereditary peers have inherited their place, but this will no longer pass to family members
  • Life peers are nominated by the Prime Minister and serve for their lifetime
• Judiciary


  Separated from the law-making process by the creation of the UK Supreme Court
• Monarch's role in law-making

  The Monarch's signature (Royal Assent) is needed for a bill to become law
• Bill


  A proposed Act of Parliament or proposed changes to a current Act, that has been drafted and published
• Types of bills


  • Public bill
  • Private bill
  • Private member's bill
• Private member's bill


  • Introduced by individual MPs or Lords, not Government ministers
  • Intended to change or make laws that apply to the general population
  • Very few become Acts of Parliament due to limited time allocated
• Public bill


  • Involves matters of public policy that affect the whole country or a large proportion
• Private bill


  • Designed to pass a law that will only affect individual people or corporations, not the whole of society
• Pre-legislative procedure


  1. Green paper (consultative document)

  2. White paper (formal proposal for new law)
• Formal legislative procedure


  1. Draft bill

  2. First reading

  3. Second reading

  4. Committee stage

  5. Report stage

  6. Third reading

  7. House of Lords

  8. Royal Assent
• Formal procedure in the House of Commons

  1. Name of the bill read out

  2. No formal discussion, just a vote to decide if the bill should progress further
• MP's will vote by shouting Aye or Nay or they could vote by leaving through specific doors
• Second Reading


  1. Main debate on the whole bill takes place

  2. MP's debate the main principles behind the bill rather than the smaller details

  3. MP's voice their issues and concerns, must catch the eye of the speaker to speak

  4. Vote taken at the end to decide if the bill should progress to the next stage
• Committee Stage


  1. Detailed examination of each specific clause of the Bill by a committee of 12-50 MP's

  2. If the Bill involves finance, the whole House of Commons will form the Standing Committee

  3. Standing Committee will review each clause and make amendments where necessary
• Report Stage


  1. Standing Committee reports back to the House of Commons on the amendments that have been made

  2. Amendments debated and voted on by the House of Commons

  3. Further amendments can also be added at this stage
• The Report stage has been described as 'a useful safeguard against a small committee amending a bill against the wishes of the House, and a necessary opportunity of second thought'
• Small changes cannot be made
• Third Reading


  Final vote on the Bill, a formality as the Bill has passed all stages so far
• Other House


  1. If the Bill started in the House of Commons, it will now progress to the House of Lords, or vice versa

  2. The Bill will go through the same five stages as it did in the other House

  3. If the House of Lords decide to make any amendments to the Bill, it will go back to the House of Commons to have these amendments considered

  4. This process of amending and 'ping ponging' the Bill between Houses can take place until both Houses agree on the Bill
• Royal Assent


  The Monarch formally gives approval to the Bill, and it then becomes an Act of Parliament
• Commencement of the Act

  The Act of Parliament will come into force on midnight of that day, or on a specific date
• The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 provide a way of solving disagreement between the Commons and the Lords
• Until the early years of the 20th century, the House of Lords had the power to veto (stop) legislations
• The Parliament Act 1911 removed from the House of Lords the power to veto all, except one to extend the lifetime of a Parliament, and instead the Lords could delay a Bill by up to two years
• The Parliament Act 1949 further reduced the Lords' delaying powers to one year
• The House of Commons can now by-pass the House of Lords when they won't support a bill and send it straight to the Monarchy to receive Royal Assent, e.g., Hunting Act 2004