Rules, Rights, and Justice in the UK - Essay Example

?RULES, RIGHTS AND JUSTICE of Introduction Parliament in the United Kingdom is man d with the responsibilities of enacting laws that will ensure rules are obeyed, justice is administered and rights are guaranteed to all. The United Kingdom has various sources of laws which include the Westminster parliament, European Union, the common law and the European Court of Human rights (Ingman, 2006; p. 124). However, a majority of the laws in the Kingdom are influenced by the changes in the social set up, the political arena and technological change. Parliament is normally influenced by public opinion and social changes into making laws through Acts of parliament. There are various origins of Acts of parliament, which are caused by the variations in public and social opinions. Consequently various Acts of parliament are enacted, laws established to ensure a peaceful cohabitation of the people with its environs. Most of these will be addressed in this paper to find out the numerous ways the public can affect establishment of laws. Origin of Acts of Parliament There are different origins of Acts of parliament in England and Wales. Some of these include; national emergency crisis, manifestos of parties, the law commission, royal commission and the private members bills. The party manifestos refer to those lists of reforms promised by political parties when there is a general election. They do guarantee they would implement if they are elected into parliament. In other terms, party manifestos are simply pre-election promises. The Acts of parliament may be obtained from the pre-election promises on which the elected government made to the public (Block 2, 2012; p. 93). Nationwide emergency, crisis or fresh developments which arise during the reign of a government might force the parliament to establish an Act to deal with the crisis. For instance, the Anti-Terrorism, crime and Security Act 2001 was brought up to respond to the latest circumstances concerning the terror attack on September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington. The main objective of the 2001 Act was to cut down on financing for the terror groups, ensuring the departments and agencies in the government had authority to gather and share important information needed to deal with terror threats. In addition, the 2001 Act had the aim of expanding police jurisdiction and accessibility to appropriate forces and pass on to UK’s anti-terror authority (Block 2, 2012; p. 95). The royal commissions at times submit their report to the parliament with recommendations for laws which may be assumed as part of the government lawmaking process. Royal Commissions are recommended committees enacted by the State even though officially selected by the Crown. The commission conducts an investigation for any subject the government might see fit to refer to. These are normally used for political issues that are not related to any party or for matters the government deems to be perceived as addressing in a non-party political manner (Block 2, 2012; p. 101). A recommendation from the law commission is also another source of Parliamentary Acts. The main aim of creating the law commission was to establish recommendations concerning any subject of the law that the commission might feel necessary to have reforms. Thus the commission is mandated with the accountability of keeping all the regulations under the review with the objective of reform and development. The work of the commission is wide-ranging in the sense that it proposes the changes to the law inclusive of the necessary reforms. The private member bills are also another source of the Acts of parliament. This is a situation where the individual members of parliament are able to initiate their own laws otherwise known as the Private Member’s Bill. One good example of the successful private member’s Bill which was signed into legislation is the Marriage Act 1994. This was initiated by Gyles Brandreth, Chester’s MP at that time. The law permits individuals to get married in any registered location but not constrained to religious building or registered office. The bills may be as a result of the public influence on the MP and put forward by specific groups of interests not in parliament. Another good example is the Fireworks Act 2003, which was formulated by Bill Tynan in 2003. The Act establishes new laws to help in minimizing noise, anti-social use of fireworks and nuisance. The Act was confirmed by parliament and was signed into law in September, 2003. The Fireworks Act 2003 provides room for the State to enforce a noise constraint as a result of fireworks, abolish the use of fireworks in anti-social time, provide license to individuals who sell the fireworks and permit the local authority to withdraw the license from sellers who contravene the Ac (Block 2, 2012; p. 87). The Act also establishes a mandatory training program for those who operate the fireworks during public holidays. Preparation and Passage of Bill into Law Prior to the introduction of a bill in parliament, there are a series of consultative meetings which take place. This is planned by the State department accountable for the bill. At times the State department might publish a green paper highlighting the subjects for the bill and search for advice and comments from the organizations that are affected. The comments are consolidated by civil servants and handed over to the appropriate minister. The department might then publish a white paper which also highlights the proposals by the firms that will be encompassed in the bill. This is what is brought up in the parliament for discussion. The drafting of the bill is done by the parliament’s drafts people who are specifically lawyers with experience in drafting bills. The lawyers must ascertain that the bill is clear and not ambiguous (Block 2, 2012; p. 89). Prior to the bill becoming an Act of parliament it has to pass through various stages which are clearly outlined below. First reading involves reading out the title of the Bill and printing out copies of it. There is no debate that takes place on the bill at this stage. A vote is taken as to whether the house would wish to consider the Bill for further deliberation and debate. At this stage, the MP responsible is made aware that the Bill is up for discussion or not. During the second reading, the Bill is elaborated to members by the minister. This is because it is the most significant stage of a Bill. The public is also made aware of the Bill hence drawn to make their proposals through coverage by the media and at times serious campaigns for or against the Bill. A vote is drawn for the Bill by the members of the House where the majority favor for the Bill pushes it to the committee stage. At the committee stage a comprehensive analysis of every clause in the Bill is conducted by a selected committee of between 16 to 50 members of parliament. The selected committee puts the Bill to a series of study and provides amendment for the Bill. The committee comprises of MPs who are agents of different political parties approximately to the entire composition for the House of Commons. A government majority is represented in the committee. Nevertheless, an effort is made to include a representation by the marginal parties. The composition of the committee is normally dominated by the MPs with particular interests in, or information of, the main ideas of the Bill under discussion. The Bill is then passed to the report stage where it is reviewed by parliament from where t originated. The amendments made by the committee are then debated in the parliament and accepted or refuted. Additional amendments may also be included before going to the third reading. The third reading involves the ultimate vote on the stated Bill. At this stage the Bill is close to being officially a legislature given the fact that it has already passed through many stages and little probability of failure exists at this point. Additional debates on the Bill are conducted in case at least 6 Mps demand for it. Amendments might be made at this level. The Bill is then passed to the House of Lords. The House of Lords and the House of Commons must consequentially arrive to an agreement on the nature of the Bill. If the Bill began in the House of Lords it is passed to the House of Commons and vice versa. At this stage the Bill goes through the above stages. In case amendments arte proposed by the House of Lords it is then passed to House of Commons for the parliament to take in mind those amendments proposed. In case the House of Lords votes against the Bill, the Bill goes back to the House of Commons; however it becomes a law if it passed for the second time by the House of Commons. The explanation behind this is that the House of Lords is not a body that is elected and its purpose is to clear doubts and to add to the legislature as opposed to a House of Commons, which is elected. There has been only one incident where a bill was refuted by the House of lords from the house of commons; these are the War Crime Bill 1991, the European Parliamentary Elections Bill in 1998, the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill in 2000 and the Hunting Bill in 2004 (Block 2, 2012; p.93). Upon the enactment of a bill into law, various laws might arise within the area to identify the best way of understanding the concept of legislature. Corporate Manslaughter One of the laws enacted by parliament due to public opinions and social changes is the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (Harris, 2007; p.321). The Act was signed into law by Monarch and came into force in 2008 other than stipulations connecting to death in custody which were included by the pressure from the government and from which the House of Lords can bring in at an unspecified date. Various public interventions and opinions such as the lobby groups; like employer’s groups, pressure groups, trade unions had a desire for changing of the corporate responsibility to be changed or amended. Though it was politically sensitive restructuring and reform it was the right approach. This has resulted into a successful production of an effectual piece of law that will meet its purpose and satisfy the different interest of those involved (Block 7, 2012; p. 7). It can be noted that in the recent past suing the companies for corporate manslaughter in the event of catastrophes like the Hatfield train crash and submergence of the Herald of Free Enterprise did not succeed since individual managers could not be held accountable for the events that occurred. Of recent cases of corporate manslaughter small firms have fallen victims of this given the fact that the ownership could be traced to the individual. By providing a fresh foundation upon which Corporate Liability Act is created, it might speed up the process of prosecuting large and medium sized firms in the event of deliberate failure in the management of safety and health which might lead to death. A company would be guilty of an offence of manslaughter, “if the way in which its activities are managed or organized causes a person’s death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organization to the deceased’’ (Muylle, 2003; p. 124) this provided under section1 (3) of the Act which requires the top management to have controlled or organized the company business to have been a considerable element. Any form of gross breach of a company’s responsibility to take considerable task or in so doing take into mind the involved breach, a jury has the jurisdiction to decide whether it is a breach or not. Legal Personality An individual might for objective of the legislation act an entire variety of roles in the social set-up, any of which might not be legally considerable. An individual might be an employer, house owner, a trade unionist, father, a voter, pensioner or customer where he/she represents a legal personality. The person might cripple, blind or any person with disability but legal personality is well represented. Every bit of the following classes might or might not possess legal principles related to it and laws pertaining to the status of the member of these might be and are normally unconnected to other dimensions of an individual’s life. The duties of the father for instance consist of a variety of rights and accountabilities towards the family. In addition one dimension might affect another. A claim to state welfare gains and allowances might rely upon the status of the persons as employee. The idea to be emphasized for the purpose of legal proceedings concerns, laws that group people according to classes (Block 7, 2012; p. 7). Family and Marriage It is essential to remember the value of politically filled terms like marriage, family and parenthood. There is a tendency amongst some politicians who allege to support the family principles when they do not understand the institutions of families in a constrained and ancient way, which implies that two parents, who are heterosexual and married with children have the potential of making an actual family. The politicians also claim that other families are inefficient or do exhibit a family connection such as those defined by the Local Government Act 1988 under section 28 which defined gay families before the section that was repealed way in 2003 (Block1, 2012; p. 35). Nevertheless, the nature of a normal nuclear family set-up in which two happily married couples raise their own children is a big doubt, but at the philosophical level and lived experience it might seem a reality. It is said that in the United Kingdom one in eight children have life experiences in a step family background by age 16 (Harris, 2007;p. 111) this might be considered as the most modern peculiar event. In spite of the wide-spread doubts put around the actual impact of the absence of fathers, working mothers and step families have long been determined life within the family. In the nineteenth century, a typical marriage lasts about 10 years. Even though they are normally curtailed by death as opposed to divorce, the condition implies that children might be raised in a step family set-up; many children grow up with the absence of one or both of their parents. Conclusion From the discussion above it is fundamental to note that parliament has a great role to play in today’s’ legislation process. The lawmakers must be conversant with the different laws and the plight of the minority in seeking the actual justice in a world without one. Besides, as noted also it is beneficial to state that the right channels must be followed into making sure that the laws drafted are real and serve the purpose they were meant to. A well established guideline on the ways of dealing with emergency has the best ways of Crisis management is very vital to enable the state provide the necessary basic right. The House of Lords and the House of Commons are the main organs of law making in England and Wales and hence they shoulder great responsibility in executing their job. Bibliography Harris, J 2007, ‘The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007: Unfinished Business?’ Company Lawyer, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 321-322. Ingman, T 2006, The English Legal Process (11th Ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press, p. 124 Muylle, K.J 2003, ‘Improving the effectiveness of parliamentary legislative procedures’, Statute Law Review, Oxford, Oxford University Press. W100 Rules (Block 7, 2012), Rights and Justice: An Introduction to Law, Justice, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA W100 Rules (Block 2, 2012), Rights and Justice: An Introduction to Law, Justice, The open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA W100 Rules (Block 1, 2012), Rights and Justice: An Introduction to Law, Justice, The open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA Read More