Parliamentary Law Making

Question 1

House of Commons - Purpose

Answer 1

• Debates important issues
• Makes and reviews laws
• Represents the public
• Holds the government to account

Question 2

House of Commons - History

Answer 2

• Parliament created 1265
• House of Commons created 1332
• No monarch has entered since Charles I

Question 3

House of Commons - Structure

Answer 3

• 437 seats
• Left sits the governmental party
• Right sits opposition and minor parties
• Main cabinet are ‘Front benchers’
• General MPs are ‘Back benchers’
• Each cabinet member has a shadow role on the opposition
• Controlled by ‘Common speaker’ not in any party
• Weekly PMs questions at dispatch box
• MPs elected every 5 years
• Public viewing gallery above

Question 4

House of Commons - Role

Answer 4

• MPs elected by the general public
• Each MP represents 1 of 650 constituencies
• Each MP represents a party
• Send bills to the House of Lords
• Anyone of 18: not in prison or a lord can run
• Must approve tax raises

Question 5

House of Lords - Hereditary Peers

Answer 5

• Inherit their title
• Reducing in number
• As of 1958 and 1999 acts they can no longer pass on titles

Question 6

House of Lords - Life Peers

Answer 6

• Lord Sugar
• Lady Thatcher
• Appointed for specialist expertise to represent areas of interest
• Only vote on bills significant to their area
• Appointed by ‘Appointments panel’ since 2000

Question 7

House of Lords - Structure

Answer 7

• Contains a throne for the monarch
• Has a central row for non-political lords

Question 8

House of Lords - Role

Answer 8

• Contains hereditary peers, life peers and religious leaders
• Appointed not elected
• Not their primary job
• Choose their title when appointed
• Contains lords of all backgrounds
• Only 1 in 5 lords are women
• Can’t prevent a bill from becoming an act but can delay it for a year

Question 9

Why do laws need to change?

Answer 9

• Laws are society’s rules
• With changes in attitudes and lifestyles, new inventions and medical advances, they may need to create a completely new law or make changes to older laws
• Calls for a change in the law may come from an individual, a pressure group, business, charity, the medical profession, the police or lawyers
• While the government has the greatest say in which changes are actually proposed, it is the House of Commons and the House of Lords that pass or reject them

Question 10

Bills and Acts of the UK Parliament

Answer 10

• A proposal for a new law is known as a bill
• If parliament passed a bill, it becomes an act of parliament
• Writing a bill normally involves a great deal of discussion and consultation
• Sometimes the government pushes a draft bill and invites the public to comment
- This draft version may be looked at by a select committee who will ask experts on their views on how to improve it
• This is called pre-legislative scrutiny

Question 11

8a - Types of Bills - Public Bill

Answer 11

• focus on public policy
• What the government wants to change or introduce
• Anything the government wants to bring in
• Government backed based on their manifesto
• impacts upon the country or a large section of it
• Legal services act, Theft act, Criminal justice and courts act

Question 12

8a - Types of Bills - Private Bill

Answer 12

• Much smaller impact than Public bills
• Focuses on a corporation or individual people
• Affect one locality
• Whitehaven harbour act

Question 13

8a - Types of Bills - Private Members Bill

Answer 13

• Put forward by an MP who wants to change an aspect of law
• These can become public bills
• Brought about by a 10 minute ballot
- MP has a 10 minute presentation to pitch bill
• Abortion act, Household waste recycling act

Question 14

8b - Legislative Process - Order

Answer 14

• Green Paper
• White Paper
• First Reading
• Second Reading
• Committee Stage
• Report Stage
• Third Reading
• House of Lords
• Royal Assent

Question 15

8b - Legislative Process - Green Paper

Answer 15

• Government proposals are put forward and suggest areas for reform
• Issued by the minister with a specialist interest in the subject matter
- The minister for health
• Other interested groups are requested to put forward their suggestions on the document

Question 16

8b - Legislative Process - White Paper

Answer 16

• Firm proposals for a new law
• There is less opportunity for commentary on a white paper
• This states how the law is going to be reformed

Question 17

8b - Legislative Process - First Reading

Answer 17

• The title and main aims of the bill are read out
• No vote or discussion usually takes place at this point

Question 18

8b - Legislative Process - Second Reading

Answer 18

• Main debate takes place and the bill is examined in detail
• A vote takes place at the end of this stage and if the majority vote in favour of the bill then it passes through to the next stage

Question 19

8b - Legislative Process - Committee Stage

Answer 19

• 16-50 MPs with a specialist interest in the bill’s content forms a committee
• Often called a standing committee
• Majority and minority parties should be represented in the committee

Question 20

8b - Legislative Process - Report Stage

Answer 20

• The bill is returned to the house for a review and the changes should be reported back to the house
• The amendments are debated and voted upon

Question 21

8b - Legislative Process - Third Reading

Answer 21

• The final vote takes place
• This is normally a formality as the House of Lords cannot stop a bill, they can only delay it since the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949

Question 22

8b - Legislative Process - House of Lords (Other House)

Answer 22

• Repeat the stages from first paper to third reading
• House of Lords are unable to stop a bill
- They can delay one
- Hunting act
• Usually the other house is the House of Lords unless it is a finance bill

Question 23

8b - Legislative Process - Royal Assent

Answer 23

• The monarch is provided with the title to the bill and authorises it
• They are unable to refuse it due to the Royal Assent Act
• The last monarch to refuse a bill was in 1707

Question 24

12a - Parliamentary Process - Advantages - Democratic

Answer 24

• Law is made by elective representatives
• Parliament is answerable to the electorate as there has to be a general election at least once every 5 years
• They may be voted out of office
• Acts are only pushed or stopped by those elected by the public

Question 25

12a - Parliamentary Process - Advantages - Full Reform

Answer 25

• Whole areas of law can be rewritten in one act
• Providing one central piece of legislation on a topic
• This makes law more accessible
- The Fraud Act
• In contrast, judges can only change small areas of law with a precedent
- Airedale NHS trust v. Bland
• The Theft Act brought together multiple acts

Question 26

12a - Parliamentary Process - Advantages - Broad Policy

Answer 26

• They can set broad policy and delegate powers to their parties, often government ministers in their specialist areas
• The structure is set out by Parliament, however, it allows specialists to include what is necessary in the act, providing it is suitable for legislation
• Involve specific groups of government
- Education department

Question 27

12a - Parliamentary Process - Advantages - Consultation

Answer 27

• Before a bill is drafted, various parties will be consulted on proposed changes to the law
• This allows the government to take other opinions and concerns into account
• Each bill should be thoroughly discussed by Parliament
• Anyone can give their opinion through their MP or a petition

Question 28

12b - Parliamentary Process - Disadvantages - Lack of Time

Answer 28

• Parliament may not have the time or political will to consider the new laws in detail
• Some areas such as non-fatal offences were first reviewed by the law commission in 1993, however, no changes have been made to the area as Parliament are too busy or lack the understanding needed in complex areas of law such as criminal and contract law

Question 29

12b - Parliamentary Process - Disadvantages - Long Process

Answer 29

• The process may take several months to complete and, due to multiple alterations to the arranged bill, it may not achieve the aims or it may lack clarity

Question 30

12b - Parliamentary Process - Disadvantages - Government Control

Answer 30

• The government have a house majority and therefore control the laws that are proposed and possibly approved
• It allows far too little time for private members bills and very few moral issues are debated by parliament as the government have the power to veto all bills due to their majority in the House of Commons

Question 31

12b - Parliamentary Process - Disadvantages - Complexity

Answer 31

• Acts are too long and complex
• They are often difficult to understand and interpret which means the courts often have to resolve wording or understanding issues from the original act
• The majority of appeal cases are based on the interpretation of wording
• Acts can only be corrected by other acts
- This takes more time away from parliament