Legislation And Law Reform Flashcards
What are the stages of the legislative process?
- Pre-legislative stage-
Private bill = Affects individuals or small groups.
Public bill = Affects whole population.
Private Members bill = proposed / sponsored by a back-bench MP
Green paper = A consultation paper stating the new idea where people are welcome to make comments.
White paper = A document stating parliaments firm proposal. - First reading-
The title of the bill is read out and date of second reading is set allowing MPs to prepare for the debate. - Second reading-
Main debate and vote takes place in one of the houses. - Committee stage-
16-50 MPs either professionals or members of the Party in government go through each clause of the bill examining it and making amendments where necessary. - Report stage-
Committee report back any changes they have decided to make to the house and each change is debated and voted on. - Third reading-
Final debate and vote where only SPaG can be corrected. - Repeat process-
All stages done again in opposite house until everyone comes to an agreement. - Royal assent-
Monarch gives approval decided from a short title of the bill they are given.
What Act is involved in the repeat stage of the legislative process?
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 prevent a ping-pong affect that may occur if the houses have a disagreement regarding a bill. This is done by giving the HoC more power than the HoL as they are elected by the public which makes it more democratic. The HoC can pass a bill without the approval of the HoL.
What Act is involved in the royal assent stage of the legislative process?
The Royal Assent Act 1967.
What are the different types of bills?
Private bill = Affects individuals or small groups.
Public bill = Affects whole population.
Private Members bill = Proposed / sponsored by a back-bench MP
What are the political influences on Parliament?
The government control parliaments agenda whilst they are in power. Before a general election each political party presents voters with a manifesto that summarises their promises as government to the public
(eg. Conservative manifesto 2019: ‘Get Brexit done’). Once a party forms government they can bring in reforms to match their manifesto.
8% of conservative manifesto promises became law between 1970-1974
What are the public opinions / medias influences on parliament?
If there is a strong public opinion about a change to law, government is likely to follow the demand to keep the majority happy and win their votes in the next general election. The media bring public opinion to governments attention and also sometimes cause a snowball effect increasing its impact. An example of this was the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
What are the pressure groups’ influence on parliament?
Groups with a particular interest that try to bring it to the attention of the public and government so the law will be changed. They use methods such as protests, petitions, publicity stunts etc.
An example of this working was the Snowdrop campaign causing the Firearms Acts 1997.
There are two types of pressure groups: Sectional pressure groups = groups that represent the interests of a particular section of society (eg. Law Society).
Cause pressure groups = groups that promote a particular cause (eg. GreenPeace).
How do lobbyists influence parliament?
Lobbying is persuading individual MPs to support their cause by asking a question in the House of Commons in order to get publicity.
An example of this working is Sydney Silverman being lobbied to put forward the private-members bill that abolished the death penalty. (Murder Act 1965)
How does the Law commission influence parliament?
The Law commission is a full-time reform body who work part-time to suggest which laws need reviewing through repeal, consolidation or codification. The Lord Chancellor refers the LC an area of law to research and the LC will send their response to parliament. An example of this is the Criminal Attempts Act 1981.
What is the Law Commission?
The Law Commission is a law reform body that review / identify areas of the law where reform is necessary, codify the law, repeal obsolete laws, consolidate and modernise the law.
They identify old acts that are no longer used, so that parliament can repeal them.
They codify acts by bringing together a number of acts on a single topic into one large act.
They consolidate law by bringing all law on one topic together into one source. (Eg. The Draft Criminal Code 1985)
They suggest reform by-
1. Refer: the lord chancellor or the law commission itself refer topics of the law for them to research.
- Research: they publish a consultation paper to seek people’s views and then outline possible areas of reform.
- Respond: after the response of the consultation paper the commission draws up plans of reform which, if approved by government, will then go through the legislative process to become and act of parliament.
Give an example of the Law commission codifying law.
The Draft Criminal Code 1985
What is an example of a law passed by the law commission?
The criminal attempts act 1981
Give an example of an act caused by a pressure groups influence.
Firearms act 1997
Give a statistic for political influence.
8% of conservative manifesto became law between 1970-1974
Give an example of an act made due to media / public influence?
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
