Detailed explanation of the sources of legislation in the UK. Includes the process in which bills become law, criminal and civil court structures, precedent, secondary legislation, and supporting cases.
Sources of Law
How are Laws Made?
• Acts of Parliament = Statute Law = Legislation
o Procedure
o Delegated Legislation
o Interpretation
o EU law
• Judge-made law = Case Law
o Precedent
o Court Structure
Note: = refers to synonymous with e.g., judge-law and case law refer to the same thing.
Note: Parliament has sovereignty. This means that Parliament can make any laws it pleases, no
matter how perverse or unfair. Parliament may repeal the enactments of an earlier Parliament; it
may delegate its legislative powers to other bodies or individuals.
Statute Law
Statute = Legislation = Acts of Parliament
Statute law refers to the body of principles and rules of law laid down in statutes.
Inception
Statutes start off as Green / White Paper.
• Green Paper: set out for discussion, government proposals which are still at a formative /
developmental stage. Its purpose is to create debate on policy without actually committing
to any specific action. Stakeholders and the public will be invited to comment on the Green
Paper. Each Green Paper will contain several alternative policies, which will be discussed
before a final decision is made.
• White Paper: is a more authoritative report and is seen as a statement of government policy.
A White Paper may also consult public and stakeholders on policy, it does signify clear
intention on the part of the Government to pass a law.
Becoming a Bill
The procedure by which a legislative proposal is translated into an Act of Parliament is long and
complicated. Until all the stages in the process have been completed, the embryonic / undeveloped
/ unformed Act is known as a bill. There are different types of Bill:
• Public Bills: change general law or affect the whole of the country. It is assumed that the Bill
extends to all of the United Kingdom unless there is a specific provision stating otherwise.
• Private Bills: do not alter the law for the whole community but deal with matters of concern
in a particular locality or to a private company or even individuals. Private Bills are mainly
promoted by local authorities seeking additional powers to those granted by general
legislation.
, • Government Bills: are introduced by government or a minister with the backing of the
government and are almost certain to become law. Some of the Bills are designed to
implement the government’s political policies, but others may be introduced to deal with an
emergency which has arisen, to amend or consolidate earlier legislation (e.g., the Consumer
Rights Act 2015 was a consolidation of the earlier Sale of Goods Act 1979), to codify the law
(bringing together statutes and case law).
• Private members’ Bills: are introduced by an individual MP or private peer (in the House of
Lords) without guaranteed government backing. They usually deal with moral or legal
questions rather than with purely party-political matters. A private member’s Bill is unlikely
to become law unless the government lends its support.
o Successful private member’s Bills: Murder Act 1965 (abolished the death penalty)
and the Abortion Act 1967 (legalising abortions on certain grounds by registered
practitioners).
o Unsuccessful private member’s Bills: Lord Falconer (peer i.e., House of Lords
member) Assisted Dying Bill (a bill to enable competent adults who are terminally ill
to be provided at their request with specified assistance to end their own life) - so
far.
Delegated Legislation
The activities of modern government are so varied, and the problems it deals with are so complex
and technical, that Parliament does not have sufficient time to deal personally with every piece of
legislation required. This difficulty is overcome by passing an enabling Act of Parliament (a piece of
legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it for authorization or
legitimacy the power to take certain actions) which sets out the basic structure of the legislation but
allows other bodies or people to draw up the detailed rules necessary. Rules made in this way are
known as delegated legislation. The main forms of delegated legislation are as follows:
• Byelaws: these are made by local authorities and certain other public and nationalised
bodies to regulate their spheres of activity (a particular area of activity or interest). This form
of delegated legislation requires the consent of the appropriate minister.
• Rules and Regulations / Statutory Instruments (SIs): these are made by a minister in respect
of (another way of saying in regard to) the area of government for which he / she is
responsible. Most orders, rules and regulations are collectively referred to as statutory
instruments.
• Orders in Council: these are rules made under the authority of an Act by the Queen (i.e.,
made in the name of the Queen) and with the advice of the Privy Council. They are typically
emergency measures e.g., the decision to go to war.
Acts of Parliament
Queen’s Speech at start of Session of Parliament (The Queen announces the government's
legislation for the year ahead).
Note: A Parliament is the period of parliamentary time between one general election and the next.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 sets the interval between general elections at five years. Each
Parliament is usually divided into five parliamentary years called ‘sessions’, beginning and ending in
the spring.
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