Law making Flashcards
what is a Bill
all Acts of Parliament are a Bill to begin with which is a draft law or proposal for a change in the law and there are three types:
public bill
private members bill
private bill
explain the three types of bills
public bill - involves matters of public policy that will affect the whole country - Juries Act 1974
private members bill - bills sponsored by individual MPs that tend to cover issues individual MPs are interested in - Abortion Act 1967
private bills - law designed to affect only individual people or corporations- University College London Act 1996
what is law making
Acts of Parliament mostly comes from the UK Parliament which has three institutions:
HoC - composed of elected officials (MP) who must have won an election in the constituency they represent
HoL - composed of peers who are NOT elected
Monarch - head of state who has to approve all laws passed by Parliament.
all three parts must approve Acts of Parliament before it can become law
what is the legislative process
the specific process it has to go through to become law
Green Paper - White Paper -
HoC - 1st R, 2nd R, Committee Stage, Report Stage, 3rd R - transfer of houses - HoL, 1, 2, C, R, 3 - considerations of amendments (Ping Pong Effect) - Royal Assent
explain all the stages of the legislative process
Green P - an intention to change the law that is published to the public & interested parties for comments and suggested proposals
White P - P then publishes a W.P with the proposals on the format the new law will take including changes in response to the opinions of the public and interested parties
1st - acts as a notification of the proposed measure
2nd - First opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the Bill and (HoC) vote of weather the legislation should proceed
Committee - detailed examination done in smaller groups where every clause is agreed, changed or removed
Report - Any proposed amendments are debated and voted upon
3rd - Final Chance for HoC to debate the contents of the Bill, a vote to accept/ reject the legislation is done as it stands
(PingPong)
Royal Assent- the King must give his consent to all legislation before it can become law
the Bill is now an AoP and becomes law on a specific date - Commencement
what is the ping pong effect
if the HoL alters anything after their stages the Bill returns to the HoC for consideration
what is the UK Constitution
3 key principles to underpin the UK constitution because we don’t have a written constitution:
1. Parliament sovereignty
2. Rule of law
3. Separation of powers
what is Parliament Sovereignty
the principle of absolute and unlimited power where Dicey provided a 3 point theory to explain the concept of PS
1. Parliament is sovereign and can make/unmake any laws on any subject without legal constraint as it is the highest source of English law because it is democratically elected
2. No parliament can bind another as an AoP passed by previous Ps can be repelled by the next P
3. No Act can be challenged by a court meaning acts can’t be overruled even if it was made fraudulent, the only way to challenge is through judicial review
what are threats to Diceys theory on PS
the theory is outdated and doesn’t reflect current legal positions - Human Rights Act 1998 and Devolution
what is the rule of law
Dicey was also responsible for the second theory and said it has 3 elements -
1. No sanctions without breach meaning no one should be punished unless they have broken a law and that law cannot act retrospectively
2. One law should govern everyone and everybody is equal before law
3. Rights of individuals are secured by decisions of judges which engages the idea of judicial precedent that higher courts bind lower courts
what are problems with Diceys theory on the RoL
the RoL can be thought to conflict with the idea of PS as breaches of the law have been allegedly breaches in the cases of John Hemming and Abu Quatar
but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 recognises the RoL and importance of judiciary seperation - upholding the theory
what are the seperation of powers
the theory given by Montesquieu that individuals should not be members of more than one arm of state
what was the issue with the SoP
there was an overlap between the judiciary and legislature that occurred for a while between the HoL being a debating chamber and the highest court in the UK. this went against the SoP so the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created the Supreme Court and removing the HoL from the legislature
what are the 3 separate functions of the state
Legislature - UK Parliament who makes the law
Judiciary - Judges who apply and interest the law in court
Executive - The Government which enforces the law
what are the methods of law reform
Judicial Change
Parliamentary Change
Pressure Groups
Law Commission
Advisory Committee
what is law reform
the process of examining existing laws, advocating and implementing changes in a legal system usually with the aim of enhancing justice for efficiency
what is the Law Commission Act 1965
the statutory independent body created by the Law Commission Act 1965 to keep the law under review and to recommend reform where it is needed. the commission considers areas of law that are in need of reform and aim to ensure the law is
fair
modern
simple
as cost-effective as possible
what is the Law Commissions Aim
“to take and keep under review all the law which are respectively concerned with a view to its systematic developments and reforms including the codifications of such laws.”
Keep the law under review
Systematically develop the law
Codifications
Eliminate anomalies and repeal obsolete law
Consolidation
General simplifications
What is Repealing law reform
remove old, absurd or unnecessary laws as a Statute Law Act enables a number of statutes which are no longer in practice to be repealed together
what is Consolidation
Pulling together all existing statutory provisions Onan area of law that were previouly located in several different Acts. the law remains unchanged but can now be found all in one place
what is Codification
Brining together all existing law on a topic and the Commission believes the law would be more accessible to the citizen and easier for the courts to understand through a series of statutory codes
what are Advisory Committees
temporary law reform bodies that are set up to research, consult and propose laws on a particular issue or to investigate where the law needs to be reformed following a tragedy or big event - Hillsborough Committee
who runs the Law Commission?
Chairperson (High Court Judge)
Four Law Commissioners
Four Parliamentary Draftsmen
Support Staff - Researchers
what are the Royal Commission’s
a ad hoc committees established by the Government to investigate a subject the Government deems important at the time and report on one specific area of law. once the report is published the RC is disbanded
