parlimentary law making

Question 1

what is the process of parliament making laws called

Answer 1

legislation

Question 2

what components make up parliment

Answer 2

house of lords, house of commons and the monarch

Question 3

what is the house of commons

Answer 3

the elected chamber of parliament, comprised of MPs who are members of the government and the opposition party.

Question 4

what is the house of lords

Answer 4

the unelected house in parliament, comprised of life peers and bishops

Question 5

what is the government said to control

Answer 5

the legislative agenda

Question 6

what is the first step of passing a bill

Answer 6

pre legislative process

Question 7

what is the first step of the pre legislative process

Answer 7

idea stage, can come from many different sources such as law commission, royal commission reports, manifesto promises etc

Question 8

what is the second step of the pre legislative process

Answer 8

consultation stage. involves a green slip where an idea for a new law is set out in a discussion document and the government remain uncommitted at this stage. involves a white slip which is the finalised version of the idea produced where the government have provided their ‘statement of intent’.

Question 9

what does the process of drafting involve

Answer 9

the parliamentary council write the idea up into legal terminology. It is now a bill to be presented in parliament. It is very important that the idea is written up well because otherwise it can cause issues for judges when they have to apply it to a case.

Question 10

what is a potential new law passing through parliament called

Answer 10

a bill

Question 11

what three types of bill are there

Answer 11

private bill, do not usually effect the whole public but rather a specific group of people. May be introduced by a large corporation, local council or public corporation that require an act of parliament.

public bill, laws from the government that will effect everybody. The government may get their ideas from manifesto promises, public protests etc

private members bills, these are put forward by back bench MP’s who represent a local area and are not in the cabinet. 20 MPs are randomly selected each year in order to speak to the house about a bill, there is a ten minute rule for them to speak. There must be enough MPs in attendance for the vote to be counted. Other MPs may waste time during the argument by ‘filibustering’

Question 12

what is meant by the term legislative agenda

Answer 12

the government has the power to allocate the most time in parliament to their own laws.

Question 13

what is the second step of passing a bill

Answer 13

parliamentary stages of the legislative process

Question 14

what happens during the first and second readings of the legislation process

Answer 14

the bill goes to either the house of commons or house of lords (with exception to bills to do with money that go to HOC).
first reading:
-first the title of the bill is read out to the chamber by the MP who is sponsoring it
-the bill is then published and a date is set for the second reading
second reading:
-the whole house debates the bill
-the MPs vote on the bill by passing through the ‘aye’ or ‘no’ door, they are counted as they return to their seats
-political parties will use the ‘whip’ system to ensure party support for an important bill (call on party members to attend parliament and vote)

Question 15

what are the five steps of the legislation process

Answer 15

first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading

Question 16

what happens in the committee stage

Answer 16

the bill is scrutinised by a group of MPs called the public bill committee (16-30mps reflecting the composition of parliament). They might make amendments and deletions to the bill which will be reported back to the house.

Question 17

what happens in the report stage

Answer 17

the changes suggested by the public bill committee are debated and voted on by the house. If there are not any propose changes, this stage will not happen.

Question 18

what happens in the third reading

Answer 18

the final read through of the bill, there may be a short debate and votes on any final changes. The bill is then ‘passed through the house’. It moves to the second chamber.

Question 19

explain the HOL reform

Answer 19

in 1999 the HOL was reformed so that it could also include nominated members

Question 20

explain the role of the HOL in passing a bill

Answer 20

Checks the fine detail of a bill and suggests any potential areas of modification to the HOC. The house of commons is under no obligation to go ahead with the changes. The HOL does not have the power to stop a bill from being passed but it does have the power to delay a bill for a year. The HOC may invoke the parliament acts 1911 and 1949 if they wish to skip this delay and bypass the HOL, the most recent occasion of this was the hunting act 2005.

Question 21

what is the final stage of a bill

Answer 21

royal assent where a bill will become an act of parliament once the queen has signed it, giving her royal assent