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Key functions of Parliament - Coggle Diagram
Key functions of Parliament
LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
Type of bills
Primary legislation -
laws made directly by Parliament
Private Member's Bills - apply only to a particular area, body or group of individuals, they don't change the law for the general public -> lower chance of becoming a law than public bills
Can be introduced in one of three ways
Ballot bills
Ten minute rule Bills
Presentation bills
Public bills - have
general application when they become law
-
vehicles for transforming government policy into law
. Before bills are introduced to parliament, they are often shaped and redefined by consultation allowing early scrutiny by means of:
green paper
or
white paper
Legislative role of the House of Lords
Lords primarily
revises and improves legislation originating in the Commons
, carrying out
detailed analysis of Bills and identifying issues
(can occasionally reject Bills)
Bills can be introduced by the Lords
Exercise of
quality control
is
important where passages in Bills may not have full scrutiny in Commons
Role of committees
Are
temporary committees established to examine a specific public bill in detail in the House of Commons during its committee stage
ISSUES ARISING FROM THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
- processes that affect the quality of parliamentary scrutiny
The volume and complexity of legislation
Raises rule of law issues
It isn't' always possible to scrutinise legislation adequately in the Commons
. Although there has been a
reduction in number of Acts passed per year
, there has been an
increase in the average length of Bills introduced to Parliament
Scrutiny of bills
To
improve scrutiny of legislation, the Constitution Committee
made a number of recommendations, one of which was
pre-legislative scrutiny
Draft bills can
undergo pre-legislative scrutiny by selected committees before being formally introduced into Parliament
Post-legislative scrutiny
- aim: to see
wether legislation is working in practice as intended and to enable Parliament how to avoid negative consequences from legislation
Sunset clauses
- acts, especially controversial ones, can contain this clause -> an
expiring date after with the act, will no longer have effect unless it is renewed
Speed of legislation
Legislation can be
fast-tracked through Parliament
(Covid Act 2020 - passed in 4 days), it is
important to maintain effective scrutiny and transparency allowing outside bodies the opportunity to influence the legislative process
Drafting errors
Can generate legislative loopholes which can affect individuals
SECONDARY LEGISLATION
Orders in council - made by the
Privy Council
-> has an
important law-making power to issue Orders in Council
- two types of Orders in Council
STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS - secondary legislation m
ade by government ministers
and can be made in the
form of regulations, orders or rules
Can be used to
make emergency provisions
and make
technical changes or updates to an Act without the need to pass a new statute
Critical issues arising which impact on parliamentary scrutiny:
increased use of delegation legislation, effectiveness of scrutiny,
the use of skeleton bills, and Henry VIII powers and can be
done by: Houses of Parliament, parliamentary committee, and courts
Scrutiny by parliament -
provides democratic legitimacy and effective parliamentary oversight of minstrel decision-making
.
Secondary legislation scrutiny, however, can be
subject to less scrutiny and debate compared to primary legislation
.
Scrutiny gaps -> increase risk of arbitrary law-making
Parliament can't amend secondary legislation unless allowed by the parent Act
Scrutiny by Parliamentary committee -
scrutiny of SIs by a number of committees helps to reinforce the gaps
Skeletone bills -
set our overall plans or policy targets but leave detalied policy questions for delegated legislation
Henry VIII powers - trenchant criticisms are left to Henry VIII powers aka a
departure from constitutional principle
- a
clause
in a
statute allows government ministers to make secondary legislation to repeal or amend primary legislation
->
issue: can enable government to rewrite primary law without further parliamentary scrutiny
PREROGATIVE ORDERS