Law making : Parliament

Question 1

what is parliament made up of

Answer 1

monarchy, house of commons and house of lords

Question 2

what is a green paper

Answer 2

a consultative document issued by the government putting forward proposals for reform of the law

Question 3

what is a white paper

Answer 3

document issued by the government stating their decisions as to how they are going to reform the law

Question 4

who thinks of new ideas for laws

Answer 4

house of parliament

Question 5

what are the 4 types of bill

Answer 5

public/ government bills, private members bills, private bills, hybrid bills

Question 6

what are public bills

Answer 6

introduced by the government on a matter of national importance. e.g freedom of information act 2005

Question 7

what are private bills

Answer 7

designed to only affect individuals or organisations. e.g university college of london 1996

Question 8

what are private members bills

Answer 8

introduced to parliament by backbenchers. e.g abortion act 1967

Question 9

what are hybrid bills

Answer 9

mixture of private and government bills. e.g hs2 crossrail agreement

Question 10

differences between the hc and the hl

Answer 10

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

Question 11

what is included in an act of parliament

Answer 11

the chapter of the new law
the preamble
the formal statement
the sections of the act

Question 12

what is the preamble

Answer 12

introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims and justification

Question 13

what is the new chapter of new law

Answer 13

numbered within the the year the acts were introduced e.g 2015 chapter 18

Question 14

what is the formal statement

Answer 14

official statement for what will happen in the act

Question 15

what are the sections of the act/ schedules

Answer 15

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

Question 16

what happens in the first reading

Answer 16

formal procedure where the name of the bill is read out

Question 17

what happens in the second reading

Answer 17

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’.

Question 18

what happens in the committee stage

Answer 18

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

Question 19

what happens in the report stage

Answer 19

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

Question 20

what happens in the third reading

Answer 20

final vote on the bill. almost a formality since a bill that has been passed through all the stages is now unlikely to fail

Question 21

what happens in the house of lords

Answer 21

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

Question 22

what happens in royal assent

Answer 22

the monarch finally gives approval to the bill and it formally becomes an act of parliament

Question 23

what is the order of the progress of a bill through parliament

Answer 23

first reading
second reading
third reading
committee stage
report stage
third reading
hl
royal assent

Question 24

what are some influences on parliament to reform the law

Answer 24

media and public opinion
law reform bodies
pressure groups
political influence

Question 25

what is political influence and how does it influence parliament

Answer 25

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

Question 26

what are the advantages of political influence

Answer 26

each party has its proposals for reform ready, this makes the law making process very efficient.

Question 27

what are the disadvantages of political influence

Answer 27

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

Question 28

what is public opinion/ media and how does it influence parliament

Answer 28

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.