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Parliamentary Law Making - Coggle Diagram
Parliamentary Law Making
Green and White Papers
Green paper: An intention to change the law and outlines the format this change could take. Published on the internet for the public to comment on and copies are distributed to interested parties. These individuals then make comments and put forward suggestions.
White paper: Positive proposal on the format the new law will take. Often includes changes as a response to the opinions of the interested parties. There is then a further change for consultation before the final Bill enters parliament for consideration.
Bills
Public Bills: Involves matters of public policy that will affect the whole country or a large section of it. Sometimes reflect the manifesto of the government. Most government Bills are in this category. E.g. Juries Act 1974
Private Members' Bills: Sponsored by individual Members of Parliament. At each parliamentary session, 20 members are chosen from a ballot to take turns in presenting their Bills to parliament. Not many Private Members' Bills become law and the time for debating them is very short. They rarely reflect the governments' agenda as they cover individual members that the members are interested in. E.g. Abortion Act 1967
Private Bills: A law that is designed to affect only individual people or corporations. E.g. University College London Act 1996
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The Legislative Process
First reading: The title of the prepared Bill is read to the House of Commons. This acts as notification of the proposed measure.
Second reading: The first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the Bill. At the end of the debate, the House of Commons votes on whether the legislation should proceed.
Committee stage: Detailed examination of the Bill where every clause is agreed to, changed, or removed - taking into account the points made during the debates at first & second readings
Report stage: The committee will then report back to the House of Commons. Any proposed amendments are debated and voted upon.
Third Reading: The final chance for the House of Commons to debate the contents of the Bill. No amendments can be made at this stage. There is simply a vote on whether to accept or reject the legislation as it stands.
House of Lords / Ping Pong Stage: The Bill then goes to the House of Lords where it travels through a similar process of three readings. If the House of Lords alters anything, the Bill returns to the House of Commons for consideration - this is known as the 'ping pong' stage.
Royal Assent: Once agreement between the House of Lords and the House of Commons is reached, the Bill is then presented for Royal Assent. The King must give his consent to all legislation before it becomes law - that consent is never refused and is always granted.
The Bill is now an Act of Parliament and becomes law. Most Acts do not take effect the moment the King gives his consent, but on a specified future date - this is known as 'commencement'. Three to five years after the Bill has passed, the department responsible should review how it has worked in practice and submit an assessment of this to the relevant commons departmental committee. The committee will then decide whether it wants to carry out a fuller post-legislative enquiry into the act.
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