Parliamentary Law Making Flashcards
What is the structure of Parliament?
It consists of the House of Commons who are directly elected and the House of Lords.
What Act ensured there must be an general election every 5 years?
Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011.
What Act removed most hereditary peers from the House of Lords?
The House of Lords Act 1999. It saw all but 92 hereditary peers lose their seats, the 92 were allowed to stay as their contribution to the House was beneficial.
What are the three ways a bill may be introduced?
Private Members Bills, Private Bills and Public Bills.
What is a Private Members Bill and an example of one?
This is a bill introduced by an individual MP rather than a government minister.
An example is the Abortion Act 1967.
How can a Private Members Bill be introduced?
The Parliamentary process allows for a ballot in each session in which 20 MPs can present their bill. Also, MPs may use the 10 minute rule.
What is private bill and an example of one?
These are intended to affect one particular area or organisation. An example is the University College London Act 1996. They always start in the House of Lords.
What is a public bill and what is an example of one?
These affect the public as a whole and most government bills are public bills. An example is the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
What is the pre-legislative procedure for a Bill?
The Green Paper, which is a consultative document that helps to prevent unworkable legislation like the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and the White Paper, which is published by the government and has firm proposals for new laws.
What is the passage of a Bill through the House of Commons?
First Reading, Second Reading, Committee Stage, Report Stage and Third Reading.
What happens at the First Reading?
Letting MPs and the public know about the proposed legislation where the main aims and name of Bill read out.
What happens at the Second Reading?
This the main debate on the whole Bill, the MPs debate on the principles of the Bill but not the details. At the end a vote is take and if there is a majority it will move on.
What happens at the Committee Stage?
This is a detailed examination of each clause of the Bill by the Standing Committee.
What is the Standing Committee?
The Standing Committee is specifically chosen for the Committee Stage of a Bill. It will consist of 16-50 MPs and members are chosen because they have a special interest in the subject matter.
What is the Report Stage?
At the Committee Stage amendments to clauses of the Bill may have been voted on and the Standing Committee then reports back to the House on the amendments. If there are no amendments there is no report stage.
