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Unit 2 BTEC Applied Law P2, P3, P4, P5, M2, M3 (Parliament, EU Law)
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Essay of 21 pages for the course Unit 2 at East Surrey College
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ParliamentIn the UK major laws are made by Parliament, Parliament consists of the House of
Commons and the House of Lords.
House of Commons: The members of the House of Commons are elected by
the public. The country is divided into constituencies and each of these votes for
one MP. There must be a general election every five years to decide which party
runs the country. The Party with the majority in the House of Commons has the
main say in formulating new Acts of Parliament. Members of the Commons (MPs)
debate the big political issues of the day and proposals for new laws. It is one of
the key places where government ministers, like the Prime Minister and the
Chancellor, and the principal figures of the main political parties, work. The
Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on financial Bills, such as
proposed new taxes. The Lords can consider these Bills but cannot block or
amend them.
House of Lords: The House of Lords is a non-elected body. The House of Lords
is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and
complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the
task of making and shaping laws and checking and challenging the work of the
government. Members spend almost half of the time in the House considering
bills (draft laws). All bills have to be considered by both Houses of Parliament
before they can become law. During several stages, members examine each bill,
line-by-line, before it becomes an Act of Parliament (actual law). Many of these
bills affect our everyday lives, covering areas such as welfare, health and
education.
Together these two Houses make up the Government, The House of Commons
debates new Laws, Bills and Acts of Parliament, all of which are sent to the House
of Lords to be checked, they can then be blocked, amended or passed.
Parliamentary Process
The majority of Acts of Parliament are introduced by the government and these
are initially drafted by lawyers in the Civil Service who are known as
parliamentary counsel to the Treasury. The government department which is
responsible for new law gives instructions as to what is to be included and the
intended effect of the proposed law.
Type of Bill
Government Bill – Introduced by the Government e.g Legal Services Act 2007
Private Member’s Bill – Introduced by a Private MP e.g Household Waste
Recycling Act 2003
Public Bill – Involves matters of public policy and affects the general public e.g
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012
,Private – Affects the particular person, organization or place e.g Whitehaven
Harbour Act 2007
Hybrid – Introduced by the Government but affects a particular person,
organization or place e.g Crossrail Act 2008
The Pre-Legislative Procedure Each government minister has a department
of civil servants and advisers. The particular ministry which is responsible for the
area in which a change in law is being considered will draft ideas for change.
These ideas may be published as a consultation paper. This will outline possible
changes, often with alternatives, and anyone can then send in comments on
those ideas. Usually pressure groups or groups with a particular interest in the
matter will respond to the consultation paper, but members of the public are also
entitled to respond. All consultation papers are published on the website of the
ministry issuing them.
Green and White Papers On major matters a Green paper may be issued by
the minister responsible for that issue. A Green Paper is a consultative document
on a topic in which the government’s view is put forward with proposals for law
reform. Interested parties are invited to send comments to the relevant ministry
so that a full consideration of all sides can be made and necessary changes
made to the government’s proposals. Following this the government will publish
a White Paper with its firm proposals for new law.
Formal Legislative Process Major legislation is usually made through Acts of
Parliament. Acts of Parliament are also known as statutes. There is a long and
formal process which has to be followed before an Act of Parliament can become
Law.
Bills When a proposed Act has been drafted it is published and at this stage it is
called a Bill. It will only become an Act of Parliament if it successfully passes all
of the Parliamentary stages. It can be tricky during these early stages to get a
Bill started as draftsmen may have problems trying to frame the Bill in such a
way that it reflects the governments wishes while at the same time using correct
legal wording so it can be easily applied in court. It also cannot be ambiguous, it
must be precise and comprehensive. There is also pressure on time, as the
government will have a timetable for when the Draft Bill will be introduced to
Parliament.
In order to become an Act of Parliament, the Bill will usually have to be passed
by both Houses of Parliament, and in each House there is a long and complex
process. A Bill may start in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords,
with the exception of Finance Bills which must start in the House of Commons. All
Bills go through the following stages.
First Reading This is a formal procedure where the name and main aims of the
Bill are read out. Usually no discussion or vote takes place.
Second Reading This is the main debate on the whole Bill in which MPs debate
the principles behind the Bill. The debate usually focuses on the main principles
, rather than the smaller details. Those MPs who wish to speak in the debate must
catch the Speaker’s eye, since the Speaker controls all debates and no-one may
speak without being called on by the speaker. At the end of this a vote is taken.
The vote may be verbal, that is the speaker of the House asks the members as a
whole how they vote and the members should out ‘aye’ or ‘no’. If it is clear that
nearly all the members are in agreement, either for or against, there is no need
for a more formal vote. If it is not clear, a formal vote will be called for, in which
the members of the House leave the chamber and then walk back in in one of
two special doors, at each door there is a teller that takes a list of all the
members on its side. The tellers count up the votes and then relay them to the
Speaker. There must be a majority for the Bill to be passed.
Committee Stage At this stage a detailed examination of the Bill is carried out
by a committee of between 16 and 50 MPs called a Standing Committee who are
chosen specifically for that Bill. In such a committee the government will have a
majority and the opposition and minority parties are represented proportionately
to the number of seats they hold in the House of Commons. The members of
Parliament nominated for each standing committee will usually be those with a
special interest in or knowledge of the subject of the Bill which is being
considered. For finance Bills the whole House will sit in committee.
Report Stage At the committee stage amendments to various clauses in the Bill
may be voted on and passed, so this report stage is where the committee report
back to the House of Commons on those amendments. (If there are no
amendments made at the committee stage there will be no report stage instead
the Bill will go straight to the Third Reading.) The amendments will be debated in
the House and accepted or rejected. Further amendments may also be added.
The report stage is a ‘safeguard’ against a small committee amending a Bill
against the wishes of the House and a necessary opportunity for second
thoughts.
Third Reading This is the final vote on the Bill. It is almost a formality since a
Bill has passed through all the stages above and is unlikely to fail at this late
stage. In fact in the House of Commons there will only be an actual further
debate on the Bill as whole if at least 6 MPs request it. However, in the House of
Lords there may sometimes be amendments at this stage.
The House of Lords if the Bill started in the House of Commons it will now be
passed through the House of Lords where it goes through the same five stages. If
the House of Lords makes amendments to the Bill then it will go back to the
House of Commons for them to consider those amendments. If the Bill started in
the House of Lords then it is passed through the House of Commons.
Royal Assent The final stage is where the monarch formally gives approval to
the Bill and it then becomes an Act of Parliament. This is now a formality and,
under the Royal Assent Act 1967, the monarch will not even have the text of the
Bills to which she is assenting, she will only have the short title. The last time
that a monarch refused to assent was in 1707 when Queen Anne refused to
assent to the Scottish Militia Bill.
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