parliamentary law making

Question 1

What is supremacy?

Answer 1

Having the most amount of power. In theory, Parliament are the only ones who should be able to make laws.

Question 2

What does Parliament have the right to do?

Answer 2

Make, change, or abolish any law they want;

Overrule any other law;

And they cannot be bound by themselves (meaning they can change their own laws whenever they want)

Question 3

Why should Parliament be supreme?

Answer 3

There are 650 MPs who are voted for democratically by the public so in theory the laws they make represent what society wants.

Question 4

What are the different names of laws made by Parliament?

Answer 4

Acts, Legislation, Statutes.

Question 5

What is the difference between Parliament and government?

Answer 5

Parliament is made up of 3 parts (House of Commons, House of Lords and the monarch). They are responsible for legislature (they create laws).

Government is made up of the party with the majority of MPs in Parliament and they have executive function (present new ideas for laws and enforce laws through police).

Question 6

How do political influences influence Parliament?

Answer 6

Political parties publish a manifesto setting out political ideas/aims. If these people are voted into government, they can put these plans into action and make them laws.

Question 7

How does public opinion/media influence Parliament?

Answer 7

Public opinion, often expressed in media can influence Parliament to make certain laws e.g. Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 after public outcry when several children were killed or injured.

Question 8

How do pressure groups influence Parliament?

Answer 8

Bring specific matters to people’s attention which can influence Parliament to make laws.

Question 9

what are the 2 types of pressure groups?

Answer 9

Sectional pressure groups represent a section of society and their interests like the Law Society for lawyers’ interests.

Cause pressure groups focus on specific causes like the League of Cruel Sports that was against fox hunting. This led to the Hunting Act 2004.

Question 10

How do lobbyists influence Parliament?

Answer 10

Try to get individual MPs to support a cause, often by persuading them to ask a question in the House of Commons to give publicity to an issue. Some pressure groups try to lobby MPs.

Question 11

How does the Law Commission influence Parliament?

Answer 11

They are an independent group of legal experts who find problems within the law, conduct research and propose reforms to Parliament e.g. Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Question 12

What are the advantages of political influences?

Answer 12

Manifestos make it easy to see what each party will do if elected.
Government majority makes it easy to pass Bills.

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of political influences?

Answer 13

New Government may undo the work of old Governments.

Small majorities/ coalitions won’t be able to pass laws too freely e.g. Conservative and Lib Dem coalition 2010-2015

Question 14

What are the advantages of public opinion/media?

Answer 14

Make it easy to know which issues are actually important to society e.g. MP expenses scandal.

Question 15

What are the disadvantages of public opinion/media?

Answer 15

Parliament may respond to quickly and make rushed/bad laws to avoid public outcry like Dangerous Dogs Act.
Media may manipulate the news and public opinion.

Question 16

What are the advantages of pressure groups?

Answer 16

Can be very large and raise awareness for lots of important causes.

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of pressure groups?

Answer 17

These groups may be a minority of society imposing their ideas on the majority who don’t want it.
There may be 2 opposing groups e.g. Hunting Act had 2 opposite groups fighting over it.

Question 18

What are the advantages of lobbyists?

Answer 18

Anyone can be a lobbyist and get the attention of Parliament.

Question 19

What are the disadvantages of lobbyists?

Answer 19

Can lead to bribery of MPs to ask particular questions/ support particular ideas.

Question 20

What is a Private Member’s Bill?

Answer 20

These are usually introduced by individual MPs who aren’t in government (often called ‘backbenchers’) e.g. Abortion Act 1967.

Question 21

What are Public Bills?

Answer 21

Laws on important public matter that affect the whole country. These are usually introduced by the Government e.g. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Question 22

What are Private Bills?

Answer 22

These are laws that only apply to a private individual or legal entity e.g. The Faversham Oyster Fishery Company Bill 2016 only affects that one company.

Question 23

What are Hybrid Bills?

Answer 23

These are a cross between public and private bills e.g. Crossrails and HS2 Acts.

Question 24

What is a Green Paper?

Answer 24

This is a consultation phase. It sets out the general aims of the Bill and invites responses.

Question 25

What is a White Paper?

Answer 25

The firm proposal for a law based on the consultation. (A Green Paper turns into a White Paper after the consultation phase).

Question 26

What happens in the first reading?

Answer 26

This is a formality where the title of the Bill is read to the House.

Question 27

What happens in the Second Reading?

Answer 27

The minister explains the purpose of the Bill. A debate is held on the Bill and then a vote is held.

Question 28

What happens in the committee stage?

Answer 28

If the Bill starts in the House of Commons then between 16-50 MPs examine each clause of the Bill and think of any potential problems that could be caused.
If the Bill starts in the House of Lords then the whole House is the committee.

Question 29

What happens in the report stage?

Answer 29

The committee reports back to the House with any suggested amendments. These amendments are then debated and either accepted or rejected.

Question 30

What happens in the Third Reading?

Answer 30

This is the final vote on the Bill after each amendment has been accepted or rejected.

Question 31

What happens after a Bill has finished the Third Reading in one House?

Answer 31

The whole process repeats in the second House. After the process has been repeated, the Bill can be passed back to the original House for any further amendments. A Bill can sometimes ‘ping pong’ between the Houses.

Question 32

What happens after a Bill has successfully passed through both Houses?

Answer 32

The monarch must give Royal Assent to a Bill to make it law. They only get to see the short title and don’t even have to physically sign it.

Question 33

What are the advantages of parliamentary law making?

Answer 33

They can consult with many interested parties and experts so they have more information to make good laws. e.g when considering extending drinking hours in pubs- police, AA, hospitals, pub landlords.
-They can change whole areas of law at once so the law can be updated relatively quickly. e.g. Fraud Act 2006.

• Parliament are elected democratically so laws should reflect what people want or MPs won’t get elected again. Laws are also more likely to be obeyed. e.g. poll tax 1990 led to resignation of Margaret Thatcher.
• Bills must be checked by 3 groups so any errors should be picked up. However most power still lies with HoC. e.g. pushing through Hunting Act.

Question 34

What are the disadvantages of parliamentary law making?

Answer 34

• Acts can be complex as Parliament has to try and cover every eventuality. e.g. Health and Safety at Work Acts.
• Lengthy process where a Bill can get stuck in ping pong so law may be slow to update. e.g. many Bills never become Acts as government runs out of time.
• Parliament has other jobs too so limited time for law making e.g. OAPA 1861 still not updated even though Law Commission recommended important changes in 1993.
• Problems with separation of powers as Government are part of Parliament e.g. between 2016 and 2017, 25 of 28 Public Bills put through by Government passed compared to only 8 of 163 Private Members Bills.