law making process

What are the 6 sources of law

Delegated legislation

ECHR

EU law

Statutory interpretation

Judicial precedent

Acts of parliament

What is the green paper

A consultative document issued by the government with the intention of changing the law, it outlines the form the change will take take & is published with intent for the public to comment on

What is the white paper

A positive proposal on the format the new law will take & one more chance for consultation before the final bill

What are the 4 types of bills

• Private

• Public

• Private members

• Hybrid

What are public bills & an example

Matters of public policy that will affect the whole country or a large section of it put forward by the government

E.g. EU (Withdrawal) Bill

What are private bills & example

Only affects individual people or corporations

Anyone ‘specially & directly’ affected can petition against the bill

E.g. University College London Act 1996

What are private members bills & example

Affect the whole country, put forward by an MP

Sponsored by an individual or corporation

At each parliamentary session 20 MP’s are chosen from a ballot to present their bills

E.g. Abortion Act 1967

What are hybrid bills & example

Mixes characteristics of public & private bills

Affect the general population but impact specific groups or individuals

Longer procedure to allow affected parties to petition against it

Often involve large infrastructure projects

E.g. High speed rail bill 2017

What is the whole legislative process (7 stages)

First reading

Second reading

Committee stage

Report stage

Third reading

House of lords

Royal assent

What happens in the first reading

Introduces the bill into the commons through a formal announcement followed by by a vote

What happens in the Second reading

Read out to the commons & its main principles are considered and debated, followed by a vote

What happens in the committee stage

Examined in detail by a small committee made up of MP’s from different parties who will propose amendments

What happens in the report stage

The committee will then report back to the commons to consider any amendments, followed by a debate & vote

What happens in the third reading

This is a final chance for MP’s to debate the contents of a bill but no amendments can be made, followed by a vote to pass or reject the bill

What happens in the House of Lords phase

The HOL travels through a similar process of 3 readings, if anything is altered the bill returns to the HOC for consideration, this will continue until both agree - “pingpong”

But overall the commons have the final say because they are elected

What is the Parliament Acts 1911 & 49 & an example

The HOC can make a law without the HOL’s consent

Hunting Act 2004