Stages in legislation

Task 4. Review the text.

Statutes

The Sovereignty of Parliament means that Parliament is legislatively supreme and can make and unmake (i.e. repeal) laws to any extent, Moreover, there is no body which can declare its legal enactments to be of no effect; the only limit on the legislative power of Parliament is that it cannot bind its successors in power. This statement is now qualified since Britain's entry to the E.E.C. The E.E.C., now E.U., rules take precedence in the event of conflict with statute or common law.

Any Act passed by Parliament which is of general application is absolutely binding on all persons within the sphere of Parliament's jurisdiction. However controversial a particular statute may be, a judge is bound to enforce its provisions, although there may be some scope for judges to interpret a new statute in a particular way.

A statute may be defined as an express and formal laying-down of a rule or rules of conduct to be observed in the future by persons to whom the statute is expressly, or by implication, made applicable. A statute and a judgment may be contrasted thus:

Statute:	Judgment:
(a) Creates new law (b) Lays down general rules for the guidance of future conduct (c) Is imperative	(a)Usually disclaims any attempt to create new law (b)Usually applies an existing law to a particular set of circumstances (c)Gives reasons

The Making of a Statute.

Parliament comprises the Queen, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. Although legislation may be introduced by both Houses, the effective chamber from which most legislation springs is the House of Commons. This lower House contains some 635 members representing geographical areas of the country called constituencies. Such Members of Parliament are elected at General Elections, held usually every five years, by the vote of all subjects over eighteen years of age, unless disqualified.

The Government is formed by that party gaining a majority of seats in the House of Commons. A Prime Minister is appointed to lead the Government. He then forms his Cabinet from the important members of his party, and appoints junior officials to various posts in the Government. When, however, no one party has a sufficient majority, or when a national emergency occurs, a coalition government may be formed by two or more parties temporarily uniting.

The Cabinet forms its policies of government and turns to legislation as the means of carrying the policies into effect, e.g. The Local Government Act, 1972 (as amended).

The first step in legislation is the drafting of the Bill. This is a skilful and

sometimes long process requiring the services of Parliamentary Counsel, who are lawyers attached to the Treasury.

Once drafted, the Bill passes through the following stages to enable Parliament to consider and reconsider its provisions as thoroughly as possible:

(a) First Reading. This is a formality. The Bill may be read a first time as a result of the House agreeing to a motion for leave to introduce it. The Bill is then printed and published.

(b) Second Reading. Here the Minister or Member in charge of the Bill explains its purpose and the main issues of policy involved. The debate is limited to the purpose of the Bill and the means proposed for giving it effect. The House votes on the Bill. If the Bill survives the vote it passes to the next stage.

(c) Committee Stage. At this stage the Bill is dealt with by (i) a committee of the whole House, or (ii) a Select Committee, or (iii) a Standing Committee. A Select Committee is a committee constituted on a party basis, while a Standing Committee is composed of 20-50 Members appointed to examine Public Bills, which, after a second reading, are not passed to a committee of the whole House or to Select Committees. The purpose of the Committee Stage is to consider the details of the Bill clause by clause.

(d) Report Stage. Having passed the Committee Stage the Bill is formally reported to the House by the chairman of the committee. At the Report Stage the amendments made in the committee are considered by the House, which may make any additional amendments.

(e) Third Reading. At this stage the Bill is reviewed in its final form. The debate is confined to verbal amendments only, not the principles of the Bill.

The House of Lords is the second tier in the legislative process which allows for reflection on the merits or faults of the Bill and for criticism from different points of view.

After its Third Reading in the Commons, the Bill is sent to the Lords where it goes through a procedure similar to that in the Commons. If the Bill is amended in the Lords, it is returned to the Commons for consideration of the amendments. These may be accepted or rejected, though an attempt is made to reconcile the two points of view. If agreement is impossible, the Commons can invoke its powers under the Parliament Acts, 1911 and 1949, whereby it may present the Bill for Royal Assent after one year without the agreement of the Lords. A Money Bill must originate in the Commons and may be delayed by the Lords for one month only.

Royal Assent. Having passed the House of Lords the Bill is ready for the Royal Assent, which may be given by the Queen personally or by three Lords Commissioners. The Royal Assent Act, 1967, now provides that an Act is duly enacted if the Royal Assent is notified to each House of 28 Law-Parliament, sitting separately, by either the Speaker of that House or the acting Speaker. The Royal Assent is now simply a formality. Once the Royal Assent is given, the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and takes effect immediately (unless some future date is specified in the Act).

Private Members' Bills. At the beginning of a Parliamentary Session (a session lasts one year), the Cabinet lays down its legislative programme. It is still possible for a Private Member of the House (i.e. an M.P. who is not a member of the Government) to introduce a Bill on some matter of importance to him or her. If the Private Member's Bill is of general importance and receives the support of the House it may be adopted by the Government and so form part of its legislative programme. Otherwise the Member may have difficulty in securing the passage of the Bill through Parliament. The Matrimonial Causes Act, 1937, and the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act, 1965, were the Private Members' Bills of Sir Alan Herbert and Mr Sidney Silverman, respectively.

Private Bills. These are of two kinds: (i) Local and (11) Personal. Local Bills deal with purely local matters. Where a local authority or other public body wishes to acquire additional powers not available under the general law, it may obtain them by the promotion of a private Bill. After receiving Parliament's approval the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.

Local Bills usually deal with the construction or alteration of bridges, canals, docks, ports, roads, railways, tramways, waterworks, etc., or with extending the powers of local authorities, gas, electricity or other public-utility undertakings.

Personal Bills relate to private estates, names, naturalization, divorce, peerage and other matters. Such Bills are rare and must be started in the House of Lords.

Task 5. Read & translate the text.

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