Legislative Process Flashcards
Intro [Paragraph 1]
Before P introduce a bill, a consultation stage usually takes place to reform vague ideas of the law. This is done by producing consultation documents, the first of which is a green paper.
Green Paper [Paragraph 2]
The Green Paper is issued by the Government Minister for the department relevant to the area of the proposed law and is drafted by civil servants. They detail the initial ideas for the law which are released to interested parties to receive feedback and address any concerns that may be had.
‘High Speed Rail’ paper in 2010
White Paper [Paragraph 3]
After the Green paper, the Government will gather feedback and make according adjustments. Then, their formal proposals for the law are written down in the form of a white paper, another consultation document released to the public sometimes with a draft bill.
This allows for people to comment on more substantial proposals as to ensure that the Government can make final amendments and to ensure that the bill is thoroughly discussed, which was not done for the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 [which has since come under much scrutiny].
HOC [Paragraph 5]
The HOC play a large part in the law-making process as most bills are first introduced here by the relevant government minister and taken through the initial stages of the legislative process. It is usually Public Bills introduced here.
First Reading [Paragraph 6]
The first stage of the process in the HOC is the first reading, where the main aims and name of the bill are simply read out.
Second Reading [Paragraph 7]
Following this, the Second Reading proceeds where the main debate ensues, with MPs having to catch the speakers eye to talk, and a vote is taken by MPs to see whether the bill should progress.
Committee Stage [Paragraph 8]
The next stage is the committee stage where a group of 16-50 MPs, known as a Public Bill Committee, with special interests in the bill’s topic analyse the bill word by word, line by line, clause by clause.
The committee will then report any suggested amendments back to the HOC who will debate and vote on whether the amendments should be implemented. This is known as the Report Stage and it will not happen if the committee submit no amendments for approval.
Third Reading [Paragraph 9]
Next, is the Third Reading where a final review and vote occurs. If the bill passes this stage (which it most likely will) it is passed to the HOL where the previous stages will be repeated proceeding the HOL passing the bill back to the HOC if there are any suggested amendments, known as the ping pong procedure.
Angry HOL [Paragraph 10]
The HOL may block a bill for up to a year (one month for financial bills) under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949. After this, the HOC are able to reintroduce the bill, take it through all the aforementioned stages and pass it for royal assent without the HOL’s approval. This only occurs when the HOC and HOL cannot agree, such as the Hunting Act 2004, but this is very rare.
Royal Assent [Paragraph 11]
After a bill has made its way through all the Parliamentary stages, it will be sent for Royal Assent, where the Monarch gives formal approval of the law and then it shall become an AOP. The Monarch hasn’t refused approval since 1777 so today it is a mere formality.
Types of Bills [Paragraph 4]
There are 3 types of bills:
- Public Bill: Created by the government and usually affect the whole country, often pass
- Private Members Bills: Created by single MP and tend to affect smaller areas of society, not likely to pass
- Private Bills: Created by the government and affects very small group of society or a single business
