A Source of New Laws - Essay Example

Explain how each of the following can be a source of new laws; a party manifesto, the Queen’s Speech, the Law Commission and a social situation.’ ‘Sources of law’ means the source, a court of law can rely upon to make its judgments. Hence in UK, sources of law are Acts of Parliaments and Common Law comprising of judge-made laws or precedents. Source of new law on the other hand can not form the basis of law for the judge to rely upon. As the very term suggests, sources of new law take the shape of new law only after it is passed by the Parliament. A judge will not quote a party manifesto as an authority to arrive at his decision. Party manifesto In democracy, Government is formed by a party or parties who win in the elections. During the elections, they release what is called their respective manifestos in which they undertake to bring certain measures into effect if their party is elected. And in the event they win, it becomes their moral duty to fulfil their commitment made in the party manifesto. Such measures in order to be implemented may some times require legal sanction. And it is for this purpose they enact law in the parliament incorporating what they promised in the manifesto. To this extent, the party manifesto becomes a new source of law. The parliament justifies the commitment made in the manifesto to make new law. However there is no legal duty on the part of the newly elected Government to enact law based on the party manifesto, though they are morally bound to the electorate who will not hesitate to defeat the party responsible, in subsequent elections. The party manifesto once thought of as a sacred document has now lost its sheen due to dilution of morals on the part of elected representatives. In the earlier periods of revolution aiming to dethrone the colonial powers and to set up a Government of their own, freedom fighters had released documents having the force of manifesto. Few examples are The United Sates Declaration of Independence in 1776 and The declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen during the French Revolution. In the labour party’s manifesto of 2005, the party makes several promises to make new laws. 1 . Mitchell and Dadhania 2 state that while origins of law making are varied, the most obvious source would be when a new Government comes into power, having been elected on the basis of the respective party’s manifesto. Thus when the Labour Government took office in 1997, it fulfilled its manifesto promise of incorporating Bill of Rights into the English Constitution by means of Human Rights Act 1998. It also achieved devolving of decision making power to the regions from the centre pertaining to Wales and Scotland through the Scotland Act 1998. Queen’s speech Queen or Crown is the Head of the State. The Queen presides over the Parliament during opening and closing sessions and has her speech delivered at the parliament session. Invariably the Queen would say “my Government”. which means the head of the State simply states that her Government has authority to make laws supported by majority in the parliament. Hence in as much as Government acting as a source of forthcoming legislations to be enacted into new laws, the Queen’s confirmation to that effect make her speech also a source of new law. Although courts have the authority of interpretations of laws made by the parliament, the latter is however the major source of law making. The process of passing in the parliament though a lengthy one, there is a pre-parliamentary process in which most of the provisions of the enactment takes place. The legislative proposals come from various Government departments as a result implementation of Government’s policies, though polices do not originate there but in political persuasions. Any Act of Parliament will be preceded by a legislative proposal known as bill which should be approved by both the Houses of Parliament and must receive Royal Assent. Without the Royal Assent, no statute can come into being, though there is no constitutional provision as such. The Queen would follow the convention as other wise it will result in constitutional jeopardy by refusal to give assent.3 Thus Queen’s role both in her speech and her assent however formal it may be, certainly is a source of new law Law Commission In certain situations, Government appoints a law commission to go into the aspects of certain issues or it may itself request the commission to give proposals for new enactments or amending existing enactments by reviewing performance of the existing ones. Such a law when given effect has the respective commission’s recommendations as source of law. Social Situation In certain situations public influenced by the media, demands new law to be made. Thus the Dangerous Drugs Act 1991 was enacted due to public demand. However not all demands are met by the Government. In the case of murder of a child, Sara Payne, by a paedophile led to public outcry to enact what was called “Sarah’s Law’ for gaining access by the public to the information about sex offenders in their respective areas. However the Government was cautious about the problem such a law may present and hence it could not be implemented as yet. Social situation also can cover demands made by pressure groups which would seek to influence the direction of law and policy of the Government. They champion causes such as health, human rights, consumer protection and the environment. Royal Society for the Protection for the protection of birds (RSPB), Greenpeace, Amnesty International etc are such pressure groups which would constantly exert pressure on the Government until their objectives are met by the Government by making new laws or amending the existing laws.4 Thus social situation involving public or pressure groups would become source new laws. . Read More