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Unit 2 BTEC Applied Law M1 (Law Making)
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Essay of 3 pages for the course Unit 2 at East Surrey College
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Unit 2 M1Advantages of law making in Parliament
The main advantage of parliamentary-made law is that it is made by our elected
representatives. This means it is democratic. Also, as there has to be a general election
at least once every five years, the public can vote out any government if it has not
performed as the public expected. Another advantage is that Acts of Parliament can
reform whole areas of law in the one Act. An example is in the criminal law with the Fraud
Act 2006 which abolished all the old offences of deception and fraud and created a newer
and simpler structure of offences. Judges can only change the law on very small areas of
law as they can only rule on the point of law in the case they are deciding. Acts of
Parliament can also set broad policies and give the power to others to make detailed
regulations. This is known as delegated legislation. This is an advantage because the
general structure is laid down by Parliament but it allows greater detail in the law than if
it was just contained in an Act of Parliament. Also before a Bill is presented to Parliament
there will have been consultation on the proposed changes to the law. This allows the
government to take into consideration objections to the proposals. Also, as all Bills have
to go through Parliament, the new law will be thoroughly discussed in Parliament. Law
made by Parliament is also certain as it cannot be challenged under the doctrine of
Parliamentary supremacy. Whereas Delegated Legislation is generally made (excluding
by-laws) by non-elected bodies, this method saves parliamentary time and allows for
more consultation of experts. Technical expertise or local knowledge will be used to make
the Law workable, whereas Parliament may not have the required knowledge to make the
law work. But using delegated legislation means that you have non-elected bodies
making law and Parliament has limited control over this. But using Delegated Legislation
means that law can be amended or revoked quickly, such as in an emergency. Orders in
Council can be made law quickly in an emergency.
Disadvantages of law making in Parliament
Although there are major advantages to having law made in Parliament, there are also
some disadvantages. One is that Parliament does not always have time to deal with all
the reforms that are proposed. This is particularly true of reform of ‘lawyers’s law’ such
as criminal law or the law of contract. An example of law that is still awaiting reform is
the law on assaults and other offences against the person. The Law Commission
proposed changes to the law on offences against the person in 1993. Reform was needed
because the old law dated back to an Act of 1861 which was very difficult to understand.
In 1997 the government accepted that there was a need for reform and published a draft
Bill in 1998. However, this was not put before Parliament and the law has not yet been
reformed. Even where the government introduces a Bill into Parliament the process of
becoming an Act with all the different reading, committee and report stages it can take
several months. The government is in control of the Parliamentary timetable and allows
very little time for private member’s Bills. Even when a private member does manage to
introduce a Bill, it can be easily voted out by the Government as they have the majority
in the House of Commons. The result is that few private members’ Bills become law.
Another disadvantage is that Acts of Parliament are often very long and complex. This
can make them difficult to understand. In fact many of the cases that got to the House of
Lords/Supreme Court on appeals are about what the words in an Act of Parliament mean.
The law can become even more complicated where one Act amends another so that it is
necessary to consult two or more Acts to find out exactly what the law is.
Advantages of Delegated Legislation
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