Private members bills LEGISLATION Flashcards
What are the two types of legislation
Primary legislation
Secondary Legislation
What is primary legislation
These are bills that are passed by parliament that obtain royal assent with 20-25 bills being passed each parliamentary session
for example, the 2020 european union withdrawal agreement.
What is secondary legislation
these are laws created by the government under the guidance of a primary bill,
they require parliamentary approval but dont have to go through the entire legislative process for example, changing the speed limits.
for example, the 1971 misuse of drugs act was primary legislation however, it allows the home secretary to add new drugs to the list as secondary legislation.
what form does secondary legislation take place as
statutory instruments.
what are private members bills
These are bills that can be introduced by MPs or peers that arent government ministers.
they give backbench MPs a chance to influence legislation on behalf of their constituents.
can also be a representative function
What are the strengths of private members bills
- It allows MPs to represent their constituents in order to be voted back into Parliament and are often long-standing wants of constituents.
- They usually receive high media attention on bills as they are social wants usually allowing the government to stay out of these bills as they dont want criticism from the media
what are the weaknesses of private members bills
- only 10 get passed each year with only 13 days set aside a year to consider them meaning they arent given a lot of time
- the current system is susceptible to filibustering meaning not a lot of bills can be passed.
- they are held on fridays meaning attendance is poor
Private members bills essay paragraph
Even though the executive dominates through control of the parliamentary timetable, Parliament can scrutinise the executive as MPs can introduce legislation through private members bills. While some private members bills tend to get little support with only 10 of these bills getting passed each year and nearly one a month, they are important as it reflects a long-standing interest raised by constituents and allows MPs to play a key role in legislation development. Private members bills are sometimes also given a free vote meaning they are not whipped; this allows for proper scrutiny of the executive as they are not being told how to vote, some of these bills include the agriculture bill. Parliament scrutinises the government in this way as many of these private members bills are high-profile matters such as the 1999 Abortion Act, this causes the government to not want to be associated with these matters and will tend to stay out.
