Parliamentary Law Making And Law Reform

Question 1

How many stages must a bill go through

Answer 1

8

Question 2

What are the 8 stages a bill must go through

Answer 2

1. The pre legislative stage
2. First reading
3. Second reading
4. Committee stage
5. Report stage
6. Third reading
7. Repeat process
8. Royal assent

Question 3

1. What are the three types of bills

Answer 3

Private bills
Public bills
Private members bill

Question 4

1. Private bills

Answer 4

Affects individuals or small groups not the whole country
E.g. university college act 1996

Question 5

1. Public bills

Answer 5

Affects the whole population
E.g. the human rights act 1998

Question 6

1. Private members bill

Answer 6

Back-bench MPs (not a member of gov) can make suggestions for what laws should go through parliament

Question 7

1. What is the whitehall stage

Answer 7

Green paper - a consultation paper stating the government opinion and suggested new ideas for law where interested parties are invited to make a comment
White paper - a document stating the governments firm proposals. It does not invite comments from interested parties

Question 8

2. First reading

Answer 8

This is where the title of the bill is read out, it is only a formality. There is no discussion but they will set out the date for the second reading

Question 9

3. Second reading

Answer 9

This is where the main debate will happen in one of the houses. The minister in charge of the bill explains the main aims and objectives and will answer the questions of any MPs. At the end of the debate a vote is taken.

Question 10

4. Committee stage

Answer 10

The bill will then be scrutinised by a group of MPs. The majority represent the party in government, the others may be experts or have an interest in the subject. They go through each clause of the bill in close examination and make amendments where necessary

Question 11

5. Report stage

Answer 11

Here the committee report back to the house with their proposals for changes to the bill. Each change will be debated and voted on by the house

Question 12

6. Third reading

Answer 12

This is the final reading of the bill. The bill is put before the house for a final vote. At this stage no changes can be made except for spelling, punctuation and grammar

Question 13

7. Repeat process

Answer 13

The bill will pass through the same stages in the other house and repeat the process. If it started in the HoC it will pass through the Hols who will act as a check on the commons. If the HoLs alter anything it will pass back to the HoCs for them to agree, disagree or propose alternatives this can result in a ping-pong effect

Question 14

8. Royal assent

Answer 14

The monarchs approval of the bill. Under the royal assent act 1967 the monarch will not even have the text of the Bill; only a short title. Once signed by the monarch the bill becomes law

Question 15

What are the 5 influences on parliament to reform the law

Answer 15

1. Political influence
2. Public opinion/ media
3. Pressure groups
4. Lobbyists
5. The law commission

Question 16

1. Political influence

Answer 16

• the gov control the agenda in parliament. Before a law is passed there must be a vote in both houses
• before a general election all political parties produce a manifesto
• the party who gains the most seats in the HoC forms the gov. If the gov has a majority it can get almost any law through
• they will then bring in reforms to meet the aims of their manifesto.

Question 17

1. Example of a political influence on parliament to reform the law

Answer 17

The conservatives 2019 slogan ‘get brexit done’

Question 18

2. Public opinion/media

Answer 18

• If there is strong public opinion about a change to law, the government is likely to follow the demand, particularly if there is a general election up ahead
• the media play a large role in bringing public opinion to the governments attention as they let the government know what public opinions are
• high profile media attention can also add weight to public opinion as more people become aware of it and support that cause

Question 19

2. Example of public opinion: Sarah’s law

Answer 19

Public access to details about the identities of child sex offenders. The pressure from the newspapers led to the child sex offenders disclosure scheme

Question 20

2. Example of public opinion: Dangerous Dogs Act

Answer 20

News reports concerning pit bull terriers attacking children led to the conservative government quickly passing the dangerous dogs act 1991.
XL bullies later added in 2024

Question 21

3. Pressure groups:

Answer 21

• there are groups which have a particular interest and try to bring matters to the attention of the public and government so the law will be changed
• they have a variety of ways to try and change the law such as protests and petitions

Question 22

3. An example of a law which was changed through a pressure group

Answer 22

The passing of the firearms acts 1997 after the Dunblane massacre from the snowdrop campaign

Question 23

3. What are the two types of pressure groups

Answer 23

Sectional pressure groups: represent the interests of a particular section of society such as professions e.g the law society who represent the interests of solicitors

Cause pressure groups: promote a particular cause e.g. sustainability and environmental change

Question 24

4. Lobbyists

Answer 24

• lobbying is where people try to persuade individual MPs to support their cause
• individuals or pressure groups use lobbying
• the usual method is to persuade an MP to ask a question in the house of commons so that the issue gets publicity

Question 25

4. Example of a law passed due to lobbyists

Answer 25

Sydney silverman (a back bench MP) was lobbied and successfully put forward a private members bill to abolish the death penalty

Question 26

5. The law commission

Answer 26

- the law commission is a full-time reform body who work part-time to suggest which laws need reviewing through repeal, consolidation or codification - the law commission is led by judges - the lord chancellor may refer the law commission to areas of law they want them to research and the law commission will then send their response to parliament

Question 27

5. Example of the law commission influencing the law

Answer 27

The criminal attempts act 1981

Question 28

Who the law commission are

Answer 28

Previous law reform bodies were only part-time. It was felt that there was a need for a full-time agency. They were set up by the law commission act 1965 amended by the law commission act 2009.

Question 29

What does s.3 of the law commission act 2009 state

Answer 29

Their objective is ‘to identify areas of the law where reform is necessary, codify the law, repeal obsolete laws, consolidate and modernise the law’

Question 30

Composition of the law commission

Answer 30

- chairman: high court judge or appeal court judge appointed for up to three years - supported by four commissioners who are appointed by the lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice up to 5 years - a chief executive and 20 members of the government legal service support the commissioners

Question 31

What the law commission do:

Answer 31

S.3 of the law commission act 1965 states that their role is to ‘keep the law under review’. This means: - to repeal out of date and unnecessary acts - to consolidate the law - to codify the law where possible

Question 32

Repeal:

Answer 32

The law commission will identify old Acts which are no longer used, so that Parliament can repeal them. The law commission prepares a statute law bill for parliament to pass. By 2015 there had been 19 of these acts and over 3000 out of date acts have been completely repealed

Question 33

Consolidation:

Answer 33

This involves the bringing together of a number of Acts on a single topic into one large act. Consolidation aims to draw all the existing laws into a single act to make the law accessible

Question 34

Codification:

Answer 34

This involves bringing ALL the law on one topic together into one source. This makes the law simpler and accessible E.g. draft criminal code 1985 but this was never looked at by parliament

Question 35

How the law commission suggest reform

Answer 35

1. Refer 2. Research 3. Respond

Question 36

1. Refer

Answer 36

The Lord Chancellor, on behalf of the Government, may refer topics to the commission. Alternatively, the Commission may itself select areas to research.

Question 37

2. Research

Answer 37

At first, the Commission researches the area of law felt in need of reform. A consultation paper is published seeking people’s views. This paper will set out the current state of law and problems associated with it. It will then outline possible areas of reform, often by looking at systems in other countries.

Question 38

3. Respond

Answer 38

After the response to the consultation paper, the Commission will draw up positive plans for reform. This report will often include a draft bill. If the Government accepts the report, it will then have to go through the necessary parliamentary stages before it becomes law

Question 39

Examples of significant laws passed because of the law commission

Answer 39

- criminal attempts act 1981 - coroners and justice act 2009