Parliamentary Law Making (Mini Topic) Flashcards
(24 cards)
What is a key principle in a democracy?
That law should be made by elected representatives of society
What is the House of Commons?
Members elected at a general election – every constituency is represented by an MP – the political party with the most members in HoC forms a government
What is the role of the HoC in law-making?
Most bills start here – debate and vote, if they vote against it, that is the end of the bill – Government have a majority in HoC, so if government supports a bill it is likely it will become law
What is the House of Lords?
A non-elected body made up mainly of life peers – also hereditary peers and senior bishops of the Church of England
What is the role of the HoL in law-making?
Less powerful than HoC because it is unelected – main function is to check on HoC – can vote against a bill to alert HoC to an issue so bill can be ended or amended – power limited by Parliaments Act 1911/1949 which allows a bill to become law even if the Lords reject it if the Commons reintroduce it the next year and it passes all stages in the HoC
What is the role of THE CROWN in law-making?
Currently King Charles – gives the bill Royal Assent which is largely a formality
What are the two types of bills?
Public bill - introduced by government and involves matters of public policy
Private members bill - introduced by individual MP
Who defined parliamentary supremacy and when?
Dicey, nineteenth century
What three points define parliamentary supremacy?
- Parliament can legislate on any subject
- No parliament can be bound by a previous, Parliament can’t pass an Act that’ll bind a future Parliament
- No other body has the right to override an Act of parliament
What are the limitations on parliamentary supremacy?
HRA 1998 = all Acts of Parliament must be compatible with the HRA, courts can declare an act incompatible under Article 4
Devolution = Scotland and Wales have devolved powers so have authority to make some laws, so ParSup lost in these areas
EU Membership = UK became part of EU in 1973, limited ParSup in certain areas of law, EU law priority over UK law, but we voted to leave the EU in 2016, and this process was finalised in 2020
Green paper v White paper
idea for new law/consultation document v firm proposal of new law
First legislative stage
First reading
What happens in the first reading?
Gov minister gives info about bill, giving name and main aims, no discussion take place and MPs vote by shouting either in favour or against continuing with the bill
Second legislative stage
Second reading
What happens in the second reading?
main debate about main principles but no detail, another vote, must be majority in favour to move onto next stage
Third legislative stage
Committee stage
What happens in the committee stage?
detailed examination of bill by 16-50 MPs drawn from all main political parties, every line of the bill rigorously analysed, amendments can be made
Fourth legislative stage
Report stage
What happens in the report stage?
committee reports back amendments to the House, debate and approve/reject, if there were no amendments at the committee stage, there will be no report stage
Fifth legislative stage
Third reading
What happens in the third reading?
the final vote on the bill, just a formality as unlikely to fail at this stage, MPs vote to approve or reject bill, then passes to HoL
Sixth legislative stage
Repeat first 5 stages in HoL
Seventh legislative stage
Royal assent
What is royal assent?
final stage, monarch formally gives approval to bill and it becomes an Act of Parliament, and the Act will become an Act at midnight or on it’s official commencement date
