English Legal System: Parliamentary Law Making

Question 1

What is Parliament?

Answer 1

Parliament is the law-making body which consists of the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the monarch.

Question 2

What is the House of Commons?

Answer 2

The House of Commons is made up of members of Parliament that are elected by the local people in a general election to represent their individual constituencies.

Question 3

By using Parliamentary acts, what can the commons do?

Answer 3

The commons can defeat any attempt by the Lords to oppose a measure that the commons has past, but the commons has to compromise in order to get legislation through.

Question 4

Where do all finance bills start?

Answer 4

All finance bills start at the house of Commons.

Question 5

What is the House of Lords?

Answer 5

The House of Lords consists of 92 hereditary peers, 700 life peers appointed by the monarch on advice from the government and 26 senior bishops. It is primarily a revising and debating chamber that allows further scrutiny of bills already passed through the commons.

Question 6

What is the royal assent?

Answer 6

The royal assent is when the monarch agrees to make the bill into an act of Parliament.

Question 7

What is a green paper?

Answer 7

A green paper is a consultative document issued by a government department putting forward proposals for reform of the law inviting discussion.

Question 8

What is a white paper?

Answer 8

A white paper is a document issued by the government announcing firm government policy.

Question 9

What is a private member’s bill?

Answer 9

A private member’s bill is when an individual MP introduces a bill to Parliament.

Question 10

How can an MP introduce a bill?

Answer 10

By ballot, where 20 private members are selected to take turns in presenting a bill to Parliament.

By the ten-minute rule in which an MP can make a speech up to ten minutes supporting the new law.

Question 11

What is a public bill?

Answer 11

A public bill involves matters of public policy which will affect the whole country or a large section of it.

Question 12

What is a private bill?

Answer 12

A private bill is bill designed to only affect individual people or corporations and not the whole community.

Question 13

What is the first reading?

Answer 13

The first reading is the first stage of the formal legislative process where the title of the bill is read out to the house. There then is a vote whether the house wants the bill to be given a second reading.

Question 14

What is the second reading?

Answer 14

The second reading is the second stage of the formal legislative process where the minister outlines the bill’s overall purpose and a debate is held on its main principles.

Question 15

What is the committee stage?

Answer 15

The committee stage is the third stage of the formal legislative process where the standing committee provides a detailed examination of each clause of the bill. Amendments may also be proposed to the various clauses.

Question 16

What is the report stage?

Answer 16

The report stage is the fourth stage in the formal legislative process when the committee reports back to the house on any amendments that have been made.

Question 17

What is the third reading?

Answer 17

The third reading is the fifth stage of the formal legislative process when the bill is presented again to the house and a final vote is taken. But a debate can be held if at least 6 MPs request it.

Question 18

What happens after the third reading?

Answer 18

The formal legislative process happens in the opposite house.

Question 19

What is the informal process?

Answer 19

The informal process is an opportunity for interested groups or individuals outside Parliament to make their own views on a bill.

Question 20

What are the advantages of the UK law-making system?

Answer 20

Most of the time it is a democratic process therefore reflecting what the electorate wants.

It is a long process so it allows for scrutiny of bills and detailed examinations.

While a bill is going through Parliament, there is opportunity for the public to lobby and express their views.

Question 21

What are the disadvantages of the UK law-making system?

Answer 21

In emergencies, laws are passed quickly and therefore lack scrutiny and be ill-thought out. This can only be amended through the amending act which must go through all the law making processes.

The process of a bill becoming a statute can take months.

Sometimes Parliamentary law making can be undemocratic because the House of Lords is not an elected body and so the public is not able to have a full influence.

Question 22

What acts started as Private member bills?

Answer 22

British Sign Language Act 2022 by Rosie Cooper was a bill to recognise British sign language as a language of England, Wales and Scotland.

Marriage and Civil Partnership (minimum age) Act 2022 by Pauline Latham was a bill to make provisions about the minimum age for marriage and civil partnership.