Stages of a Bill through Parliament - Essay Example

Stages of a Bill through Parliament The process of getting a bill passed through the U.K. Parliament and being transformed into law is a long process. It is the House of Commons that enjoys primacy in the passage of bills as compared to the House of Lords because they are responsible for the monetary bills and any bill that has passed through the House of Commons cannot be held up by the House of Lords beyond a second reading. The Prime Ministers and the rest of the executive arm of Government are all members of the House of Commons, and the Prime Minister functions as the leader of the House of Commons enjoying its support. While there is no mandate that exists that prevents the legislature from turning down a bill that is initially proposed by the prime Minister, in practice it rarely happens since the prime Minister enjoys the support of a majority of the members of the House of Commons. The passage of a bill through parliament: A bill in Parliament passes through seven different stages before it becomes law1. A bill originates in the House of Commons, where any member may propose it. The First reading is the stage where the title of the Bill is read out in parliament and copies are printed and circulated. The next is the Second Reading stage where the House debates upon the principles and points contained in the bill. At the Committee stage, the House examines the Bill in detail subjecting it to a line by line scrutiny and making necessary amendments so that its language will be clear and no loopholes are left. At the fourth stage – the report stage, the amended bill is reviewed after which it goes through its Third Reading, when the House examines the Bill in its entirety. Following this, the Bill travels to the House of Lords, where it is subjected to the same intense scrutiny , after which it is passed on for royal assent, when the Crown formally converts the bill into law. Issues related to the passage of a bill: In analyzing whether a bill proposed by the Prime Minister can be prevented by the legislature from becoming law, the following issues must be considered: Bills are drafted by lawyers at the parliamentary Council Office and may be preceded by Green or White Papers.2 At the Second stage of the Bill reading, it is possible for any bill to be defeated, since the opposition can table a “reasoned amendment” which may require changes to be made to the Bill and the changes will be further debated. Moreover, when the bill moves to the Committee stage, it is possible for more objections to be raised and the Bill will be the subject of intense debate before it is ultimately finalized. A bill is generally introduced into parliament for the First reading in a finalized form. Before the actual drafting of a bill, the Government initiates a period of consultation with experts and the draft of the provisions of the to-be bill are made available to concerned members of the public and to organizations so that they can propose their suggestions. Issues raise din Green and White papers may be debated in parliament before a bill is drawn up. Therefore, when a bill is presented in Parliament, it is no longer a rough draft but a polished document. The House of Commons enjoys a position of pre eminence as compared to the House of Lords3. First of all, it may not consider those bills that involve the use of Government funds and are known as money bills – it is obliged to approve them. In the case of other bills, if the House of Lords is of the opinion that the Bills proposed by the executive through the combined vote of the House of Commons does not necessarily reflect the will of the people, they may send it back for review, in accordance with the Salisbury Doctrine4. In this way, a bill may also be delayed, as it is re-debated in the House of Commons and amendments and changes are introduced. However the Salisbury Doctrine also requires that the House of Lords not delay a bill beyond a second reading. The reason for the pre-eminence of the House of Commons lies in the fact that they are the elected representatives of the people, unlike the Lords who inherit their titles and their positions, and can be elected from their own Party5. Factors affecting defeat of a bill: In view of the above factors, it may be noted that while technically, a bill can be defeated, the instances when this actually happens is rare. Firstly, the Second reading and the Committee stages are generally the times when a bill can be defeated through a vote of the House of the Commons. The composition of the House of Commons is in accordance with the political representation of the various political parties and a two thirds majority support is required in the House of Commons before the leader of the majority party is invited to form the Government. The leader of the majority party is the Prime Minister. Therefore, the House of Commons is likely to be largely comprised of members of the same Party as the executive branch of Government, who are also members of the House of Commons. Moreover, several members of the House of Lords may also belong to the majority party. As a result, these members are likely to support the initiatives proposed in the Bills that are generally introduced by the executive. In this connection, it must also be noted that the Crown is only a figurehead, in essence, it is obliged to act upon the advice of the prime Minister and his Council of ministers6. The Prime Minister also has the power to select his Council of Minister sand is therefore in a position of undisputed power. As pointed out by Richard Ramsey, Barrister, during times of war, the Prime Minister as head of Government may enjoy the prerogative of engaging in military action and gaining Parliamentary approval through a bill may only be a formality7. While Members of parliament may raise opposition to a bill mooted by the Prime Minister, they are often unlikely to do so since they are likely to remain loyal to their own party. The outward display of disunity in the ranks of a political party are not conducive towards it maintaining its position of supremacy in the House of Commons. If a party that is in power seeks to achieve its aims and objectives, it needs to maintain a united democratic Government, otherwise it is likely that the Opposition will be able to gain an advantage and cause damage to the Government and its policies. Therefore, they are unlikely to vote down a bill that has been proposed by the prime Minister who is the leader of their own party. Other parties that have offered support for the majority party in the event of a coalition Government, to enable them to gain a majority are also likely to support the Prime Minister, to present a united front. The prime Minister enjoys undisputed supremacy, since his position is a reflection of the mandate of the people through its vote and the Members of parliament are likely to eschew their objections in order to gain political favor. Therefore in the case of any bill proposed by the prime Minister, passage through the two houses may be only a formality. The process of scrutiny of a bill before it is presented in parliament is also limited and has been considered to be inadequate. As a result, public interest groups have been pressing for higher levels of scrutiny before introduction of the Bill into parliament, and a recent Royal Commission Report recommends increased powers of scrutiny and heightened challenge to Government legislation8 . Once a bill proposed by the prime Minister is introduced into parliament, his position of prominence makes it difficult to turn down a bill, which can only be defeated through a vote. This cannot be often achieved due to lack of support, for the reasons mentioned above. At best a bill can be delayed by requesting amendments or passing it back and forth between the two Houses in order to delay it so that it does not pass in one Parliament session, especially in an election year. It is only in rare instances that there may be a deadlock between the two Houses of Parliament which can destroy a bill. Bibliography * Parliamentary stages of a Government Bill [online] available at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/l01.pdf * Guide to legislation [online] available at: http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page29.asp * The Salisbury Doctrine, 2005. House of Lords Library. [online] available at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/HLLSalisburyDoctrine.pdf * See the House of Lords Bill titled Modernising Parliament: reforming the House of Lords. Which received royal assent on November 11, 1999 * The Government and the prime Minister [online] available at: http://www.parliament.uk/works/newlaw.cfm * Ramsey, Richard, 2005. Call for evidence: war making powers. Evidence submitted to the House of Lords Constitution Committee, looking into the Government’s law making powers. Richard Ramsey is a senior lecturer in law at the Oxford Brookes University * Royal Commission’s Report titled A House for the Future published on 20 January 2000 * http://www.direct.gov.uk/Gtgl1/GuideToGovernment/Parliament/ParliamentArticles/fs/ en?CONTENT_ID=4003249&chk=GQQbwL Read More