Law-making Process in the UK

It is common knowledge that there is no written constitution in Great Britain, and the laws of the country are not listed within a single document. That is why law-making has special significance, as each new Act of Parliament represents a new page in the country's constitution.

The law undergoes constant reform in the courts as established principles are interpreted, clarified or reapplied to meet new circumstances. Occasionally obsolete laws become outdated, and pressure arises on the Government to update the law. The Government may also wish to introduce new laws in line with its policies.

Sometimes new laws are needed to ensure that the UK complies with International or European Law. The Human Rights Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are recent examples of this.

In the UK laws made by Parliament are known as Statute Laws. Every year Parliament passes about 100 laws directly by making Acts of Parliament. Within the same period, more than 3,000 Statutory Instruments containing many rules and regulations are made indirectly, on Parliament's authority. Parliament sometimes passes a very general law and leaves the relevant minister to fill in the details.

The essence of law-making in Parliament is that decisions are taken on behalf of the people. Elected representatives sit in the House of Commons, while the House of Lords contains a variety of experts from all walks of life who provide the benefit of their experience.

No new law can be made by Parliament unless it has completed a number of stages in both Houses of Parliament and received the Royal Assent. Only after the Royal Assent does it become a new law or Act of Parliament. Before this, while it is still journeying through Parliament, it is called a Bill.

Stages of a Government Bill

A Government Bill has to pass through several stages in Parliament, each having a clear purpose. Most stages are known as 'readings' because in the days before printing, the only way in which Members could find out what a Bill said was by having the contents read out in each Chamber.

The House of Commons

First Reading (Introducing a Bill)

The First Reading is a way of letting Members know that a Bill is coming up for discussion. There is no vote on the First Reading, so a Bill automatically goes through that stage. Then it is printed so that Members have a chance to read it and decide what they think about it. Explanatory notes are often published to accompany the Bill.

Second Reading (Explaining the purpose of the Bill)

This is an important stage of a Bill, when its main purpose is explained and general questions are answered by the Minister in charge.

Committee Stage (Looking at the details)

It is during the Committee Stage, that MPs are, for the first time, allowed to examine all the detail of a Bill and suggest some changes or amendments to it. Most Government Bills are considered by small committees of between 15 and 50 MPs known as Standing Committees.

Often a Bill which has constitutional significance or requires a very rapid passage will be heard by a Committee of the Whole House, i.e. in the Chamber, so that all Members can contribute.

Report Stage (Further consideration and changes by the whole House)

After the Committee Stage, the whole House of Commons has to be told what changes have been instituted since only a small number of Members are involved in the committee meetings. If there have been amendments, the Bill will be reprinted before the Report Stage so that Members could see how the changes fit into the Bill as a whole. MPs can suggest further changes if they want to. The Report Stage is not necessary if the Bill has been considered by a Committee of the Whole House.

Third Reading (Overall examination of the Bill)

At this stage the House of Commons is given a chance to look again at the Bill as a whole, with all its amendments, and decide whether it should go any further. The Bill cannot be changed substantially at this stage – it is either accepted or rejected. Once a Bill has passed its Third Reading in the Commons, it is forwarded to the House of Lords for further consideration.

The House of Lords

To spread legislative workload more evenly between the two Houses a sizeable proportion of all Bills begins in the House of Lords. By convention the Lords do not reject legislation on matters which were in the Government's manifesto (election pledge). The Act of 1949 provides that any Public Bill passed by the Commons in two successive parliamentary sessions and rejected both times by the Lords, may be presented for the Royal Assent, even though it has not been passed by the Lords. The Lords, therefore, can only delay the passage of a Public Bill, they cannot reject it.

The Lords cannot make changes to a Money Bill (although it can delay Money Bills for one month). It is the House of Commons which is elected by the public that should make the decisions on the amount of taxes people have to pay and the like.

The stages of a Bill in the House of Lords are pretty much the same as those in the House of Commons.

Any changes made to a Bill in the House of Lords have to be considered in the House of Commons, for which purpose they are taken back to the lower chamber. The Commons normally accept most of the Lords’ amendments which are non-controversial. At times a Bill can go to and fro for a while, a process known as “ping-pong”, until an agreement can be reached. If the two Houses are unable to compromise, the Commons will eventually get its way by reintroducing the Bill the following year.

The Royal Assent

Once both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill, it has to go to the Queen for the Royal Assent. No monarchs since the sixteenth century have signed Bills themselves. Queen Ann became the last monarch to reject a Bill in 1707.

These days the Queen signs a document which commands certain Lords to inform the members of both Houses that the Royal Assent has been given. Though the Queen always knows which Bills she is consenting to, it is unlikely that she reads through the contents of every Bill before giving the Royal Assent because she is aware of the fact that both Houses of Parliament have already considered the Bill very carefully. However, most important Bills are sure to be mentioned in some of her weekly meetings with the Prime Minister.

Once a Bill has received the Royal Assent it becomes an Act of Parliament.

Bill And Law

In the British Parliament a bill is usually produced by the Government, and discussed in the House of Commons. Then it goes to the House of Lords. Finally, it receives the Royal Assent (it is signed by the Queen) and becomes law.

Analyse the chart.