Law making : Parliament Flashcards
what is parliament made up of
monarchy, house of commons and house of lords
what is a green paper
a consultative document issued by the government putting forward proposals for reform of the law
what is a white paper
document issued by the government stating their decisions as to how they are going to reform the law
who thinks of new ideas for laws
house of parliament
what are the 4 types of bill
public/ government bills, private members bills, private bills, hybrid bills
what are public bills
introduced by the government on a matter of national importance. e.g freedom of information act 2005
what are private bills
designed to only affect individuals or organisations. e.g university college of london 1996
what are private members bills
introduced to parliament by backbenchers. e.g abortion act 1967
what are hybrid bills
mixture of private and government bills. e.g hs2 crossrail agreement
differences between the hc and the hl
hc has elected body, hl has non elected body
hc has a defined number of seats but hl the number of members is not fixed
hc may vote to call the prime minister or call an election but hl does not control terms of prime minister or government
what is included in an act of parliament
the chapter of the new law
the preamble
the formal statement
the sections of the act
what is the preamble
introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims and justification
what is the new chapter of new law
numbered within the the year the acts were introduced e.g 2015 chapter 18
what is the formal statement
official statement for what will happen in the act
what are the sections of the act/ schedules
additions to the main body of the act
may be used to house technical details which could interrupt the flow of the text if included in the body of act
what happens in the first reading
formal procedure where the name of the bill is read out
what happens in the second reading
main debate on the whole bill which MPs debate the principles behind the bill. those MPs who wish must catch the speakers eye. vote is taken at the end with an ‘aye’ or ‘no’.
what happens in the committee stage
detailed examination of each clause of the bill is undertaken by a committee of 16-50 MPs and amendments to clauses will be voted on
what happens in the report stage
there will be no report stage if no amendments were undertaken in committee stage. this is the stage where the committee report back to the house on the amendments
what happens in the third reading
final vote on the bill. almost a formality since a bill that has been passed through all the stages is now unlikely to fail
what happens in the house of lords
after third reading the bill is passed to the hl where it goes through the same 5 stages. if they make amendments it will be sent back to the hc
what happens in royal assent
the monarch finally gives approval to the bill and it formally becomes an act of parliament
what is the order of the progress of a bill through parliament
first reading
second reading
third reading
committee stage
report stage
third reading
hl
royal assent
what are some influences on parliament to reform the law
media and public opinion
law reform bodies
pressure groups
political influence
what is political influence and how does it influence parliament
when a general election happens, parties publish a list of reforms they would carry out if they were elected as next government- party’s manifesto. this is how they persuade people to vote for them
what are the advantages of political influence
each party has its proposals for reform ready, this makes the law making process very efficient.
what are the disadvantages of political influence
if a different party is elected at the next general election, they may decide to repeal or alter some of the laws that the previous government passed. changes to the law can be costly and receive a lot of criticism
what is public opinion/ media and how does it influence parliament
when there is strong public opinion about a change to law, the government may bow to such opinion. more likely to change the law as the government wants to remain popular.
