parliamentary law making Flashcards
(23 cards)
What does Parliament consist of?
House of Commons
House of Lords
Monarchy
who sits in the house of commons and how many?
how are they chosen?
Members of Parliament who represent a political party and are elected by the public. 650 members.
who sits in the House of Lords and how many?
how are they chosen?
unelected members of approx. 800
elected through hierarchy or appointed life peers.
who is the government?
the party that won the general election
identify all the types of bill and explain each
Private Bill- become laws which only apply to particular individuals or businesses
Private Members’ Bill- introduced by individual MPs
Government Bill- introduced by the government to carry out their manifestos
Public Bill- become laws which apply to the whole country
explain the pre-legislative stage
green paper and white paper of proposals are introduced. allows consultation to interested parties before the bill can be drafted.
how are white papers and green papers different?
White paper takes into account the views and opinions received from the interested parties to publish the firm proposal
green paper is just an initial proposal that raises attention of the interested parties- consultation paper
what is a bill
Proposed law introduced into Parliament
what’s the way of remembering the legislative process!
Green
White
Fat
Snails
Can’t
Reach
The
Hand
Rails
list the stages of the legislative process
Green Paper
White Paper (Draft Bill)
First Reading
Second Reading
Committee Stage
Report Stage
Third Reading
House of Lords
Royal Assent
Describe the First reading
Title of the new bill and date of second reading is read out by the appropriate MP.
No discussion.
Describe the Second Reading
Main debate on the main principles of the bill. opinions can be expressed and afterwards there is a vote, either verbal or formal.
what’s the difference between a ‘verbal’ and a ‘formal’ vote
verbal- members indicate their support or opposition by saying “content” or “not content”
formal- members physically divide into two groups, those in favour and those not in favour.
Describe the Committee stage
How are the Standing Committee chosen?
Group of MPs suggest amendments to the currently examined bill.
Standing Committee consists of 12-50 MPs. chosen through special interest or knowledge of the bill at hand or for finance bills the whole house sits in committee
describe the report stage
Amendments are written up into a report and given to MPs
Describe the Third Reading
Final vote on the bill and majority must pass to progress
What is the “Ping-Pong” stage
If lords continues to reject the bill and the bill keeps going under the legislative process
what are the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949?
Give an example of law that has been passed in this way (without consent of HoL)
these acts allow a bill to become law even if the House of Lords rejects it, provided that it passed the stages under the House of Commons again.
Hunting Act 2004
What is the Royal Assent? How much of the Bill will the monarch actually see?
Monarch provides formal consent under Royal Assent Act 1967, merely symbolic.
Only a short title is shown
advantages of the PLM process
consultation and scrutiny
demoncratic
full reform
broad policy
disadvantages of the PLM process
long process
undemocratic
complexity
lack of time
elaborate on the advantages of PLM
consultation and scrutiny- before a bill is presented to Parliament, a green paper is published for take into account objections and suggestions on this new proposal before being a firm proposal, known as the white paper. this allows accurate scrutiny and the thorough reading ensures its efficiency of a bill.
democratic- Parliamentary law is made by elected representatives. this means that it’s democratic, meaning the public elect the government every 5 years in a general election. the public can vote out the government if they haven’t performed as expected.
broad policy- acts can set out broad polices and give powers to others to make details rules through delegated legislation. Advantageous as general structure in the act allows more details surrounding rules in the act.
full reform- acts can reform whole areas of law in one act which makes it simple to find. Fraud Act 2006 created a simpler structure of offences. contrast with precedent where only they small areas of law can be changed on each occasion
elaborate on the disadvantages of the PLM process
long process- the process of the PLM consists of many readings and debates, that waste time or take up too much time. all together this can take up to months. furthermore, there is no guarantee that this bill will end up as clear or as comprehensive as it might’ve been before.
undemocratic- House of Lords, Role of the Crown aren’t elected by the general public and therefore do not take accountability for any poor acts passed.
complexity- acts are very long and complex making it hard to understand. lost of supreme court cases have to rely on SI. rules on a subject can be hard to find and it’s not always possible to include very detailed rules in an act. therefore DL is needed.
lack of time- Parliament doesn’t often have time or political will to consider all bills and reforms proposed. OAPA 1861 is over 150 years old yet still referred to today. needs reform.
