Role and Function of the UK and European Parliaments - Assignment Example

Role and Function of the UK and European Parliaments By 05 January Role and Function of the UK and EuropeanParliaments Parliaments across the world serve numerous roles and functions; for example, the parliament has the sole mandate of making laws and fixing taxation policy. In addition, the parliament is largely involved in sanctioning war and peace and takes charge of the government machinery among many functions. This paper critically looks at the role and function of the UK and European Parliaments. The UK Parliament The British parliament remains one of the most remarkable and successful parliaments across the globe. It has grown through different phases in history to its current state. In the absence of the separation of power, the UK parliament works in tandem with both the executive and the judiciary. In Britain, the Parliament serves as the main legislative body. It has supreme and enormous power; however, it is not the sole legislative wing of the government. Composition and Structure of the UK Parliament The British Parliament is unique in the sense that it is composed of a king and two houses i.e. lower and upper houses. The former is normally called the House of Commons while the latter is known as the House of Lords and serves as a symbol of aristocracy. The lower house, on the other hand, is a representative of the people. In terms of composition, the upper house is bigger, however, in terms of power and function; the lower house commands a huge influence (Patterson & Mughan, 1999). The House of Lords (Upper House) The Upper House does not have a fixed number of members. On average, however, the house has over 1100 members but this number varies from time to time following deaths and the creation of new peers. The Upper House is a permanent chamber in which its peer office holders often remain there for their entire life. The members of this house are grouped into the following distinct categories. The categories include Princes of the Royal Blood, Hereditary Peers, Representative Peers of Scotland and Lords of Appeal in Ordinary of Law Lords. In addition, there are Lords Spiritual, Representative Peers of Ireland and Life Peers (Carmichael & Dickson, 1999). Roles and Functions of the House of Lords Initially, the UK parliament worked simply as an advisory body of the Monarch and did not have any legislative power. Over time, however, things changed, and parliament became more assertive concerning power and authority. Having gained more power, the struggle over which of the two houses should have more power emerged. However, this was solved following the passage of the Parliamentary Act of 1911. The act abolished the power of the Lords to amend a bill and curtailed the powers of the Upper House in the law making process (Cowley & Stuart, 2001). Consequently, it has the following powers. Executive Powers: The Parliament Act of 1911 granted the House of Lords’ members the powers to debate on matters concerning the governmental policies and to enkindle information from the administration. The decision to allow these members to debate governmental policies is because of the ability of such debates to influence the public opinion. Although some members of the Upper House are included in the cabinet, the cabinet ministers have no collective responsibility to the House of Lords (OBV, 2014). AS such, the Upper House lacks the powers of not only passing the motion of no confidence against the government but also of getting rid of the ministry from power (Keyes, 1998). Legislative Powers: The Upper House does not enjoy the exclusive legislative powers. For instance, although a non-money bill may originate from the House of Lords, it will be passed upon approval at the Lower House. On the other hand, a non-money bill originates from the Lower House after undergoing two successful sessions. The bill becomes law upon the assent of the Royal regardless of whether or not the Upper House rejects the bill (Keyes, 1998). Judicial Powers: Although the Upper House remains the highest court of appeal in Britain, not all members are active in the court. Usually, only the Law Lords are given the go-ahead to take part actively upon the house sitting as a court. Initially, the Upper House was tasked with the responsibility of making trial of impeachment cases on cases presented to it by the Lower House. However, the acceptance of the principle of ministerial responsibility limited the House of Lords from exercising those powers (Carmichael & Dickson, 1999). Financial Powers: As far as financial matters are concerned, the Upper House is quite ineffective largely because it cannot introduce the money bill. A money bill may, for instance, be introduced in the Lower House but get rejected by the Upper House. The same bill may still be presented to the Queen for assent and can become law (Keyes, 1998). The House of Commons The House of Commons, also known as the Lower House in the British Parliament is largely constituted by the representatives of the people. Composition of the Lower House This house of parliament constitutes 650 electoral seats (Parliamentary Business, n.d.). Out of the total seats of this house, England enjoys the largest number of seats i.e. 523 while Northern Ireland has the lowest i.e. 17 seats. Scotland, on the other hand, has 72 seats while Wales has 38 seats. Usually, the representatives of this house are British citizens who have attained the age of 18 years and above. However, people considered as lunatics; having criminal records and minors are not allowed to contest election. The Lower House normally has term of 5 years and can only be dissolved earlier or extended by the Queen or King upon the advice of the Prime Minister (Shell, 1998). Role and Functions of the House of Commons The Lower House is quite powerful in the Parliamentary system of Britain. Its powers extend from legislation to the Judiciary and are as follows; Legislative Powers: Both the Upper and Lower Houses are tasked with legislative powers. However, the Lower House exercises more power over legislation, and this is as a result of the passage of the Parliamentary Act of 1911. Financial Powers: The Lower House plays great role in as far as financial matters of Britain are concerned. In particular, this house of parliament is responsible for a number of things. The roles include the introduction of the money bill and the budget, discussing the bill and passing of the same before it goes to the Upper House and then to the queen for her assent. In addition, this house is responsible for allocation of funds to the different departments of government (Gay, 2003). Executive Powers: The House of Commons provides checks and balances to the ministries by ensuring that the ministers and their cabinet remain collectively accountable in their actions. In order to carry out such duties, the house is given power to conduct a motion of no confidence against any ministry that is deemed irresponsible in its actions (Cowley & Stuart, 2001). Judicial and Constituent Powers: The Parliamentary Act of 1911 gives the Lower House powers that enable them to recommend the removal of a judge. The house has the authority to investigate and punish truant judges and cases of similar magnitude. In addition, the house has powers of passing a constitutional just like any other law; consequently, this gives the house the leeway to amend the constitution. The European Parliament (EP) Unlike the British Parliament, members of the European legislature are elected by a direct collective suffrage (Palayret et al., 2008). Initially, the European institution took a long time to become established. In its early establishment, the European community which was founded in 1951 lacked an assembly. However, later governments pushed for the introduction of the assembly, and this was done (Katz & Wessels, 1999). Composition and Structure of the Parliament The European Parliament consists of 753 MEPs of whom are elected for a period of 5 years; however, the term can be renewed. The Lisbon Treaty, however, made a prerequisite for the numbers be increased to 751 (Palayret et al., 2008). In dividing the seats in Parliament, the European Union members follow a rule popularly known as “degressive proportionality.” According to the rule, the population of the member state is taken into consideration; however, this advantage decreases with a large population. Following this rule, small countries are often over-represented while large countries are disadvantaged (Corbett, 1998). Composition of the Parliament The EP is divided into four main categories as follows. The Presidency: The President is overall in charge of all the work that is performed by the EP and its different organs. The president gets assistance from his 14 vice-presidents. According to the law, the president serves a two-and-half year’s term which can be renewed. Some of His duties include managing parliamentary activities, chairing of plenary sessions and being the representative of parliament in external relations (Peterson & Shackleton, 2002). The Conference of Presidents: This is the topmost political body of the EP. The aim is to bring together the presidents of the different political groups that form parliament (Palayret et al., 2008). The purpose of the conference of presidents is comprehensive. It includes planning the work and legislative program and playing an intermediary role in the associations of the parliament with other community institutions and developing countries among others (Rittberger, 2005). The Bureau: This division of the parliament consists of president the European Parliament together with his vice-presidents with its main task being that of monitoring. The bureau is largely responsible for resolving issues pertaining to administration and organization of the parliament. In addition, the Bureau is responsible for establishing the estimates of the parliamentary budgets (Katz & Wessels, 1999). The Secretariat General: This category consists of the 5,000 civil servants that usually recruited by holding competitions across the countries that form part of the union to work directly for the EP. They include among others the parliamentary assistants and translators (Peterson & Shackleton, 2002). The Parliamentary Structure For effective preparation of the EP’s work for the plenary session, the MEPs are structured into permanent committees with each committee being specialized in particular field. There are 20 permanent committees together with two special committees, and both are composed of between 24 and 76 MEPs. In Parliament, the sitting arrangement of the MEPs is that they sit in accordance to their political allegiances as opposed to their national delegation (Peterson & Shackleton, 2002). A total of seven groups is recognized in the EP parliament including Group of the European People’s Party and Group of Green Free Alliance just to mention a few. In the Parliament, the European People’s party forms the majority and is closely followed by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. In the course of sitting, usually the parties create a group with a minimum number of 25 MEPs and are a requirement that at least one-quarter of the members come from the member states. Prior to the voting process, the various groups are presented reports from the select parliamentary committees from where they propose amendments (Peterson & Shackleton, 2002). The Role of the European Parliament The EP plays a crucial role, and this has been strengthened gradually because of the adoption of different treaties including the Lisbon Treaty. The Parliament serves three critical roles including legislative competency, budgetary power, controlling, and monitoring of the democratic process. Legislative Competency: The EP largely takes part in the adoption of the legislation of the community. The recently signed Lisbon Treaty provides a decision-making procedure in the course of the community legislation adoption. In addition, the Treaty extended the area of competence to 45 new legislative areas (Corbett, 1998). Budgetary Power: The European Parliament in collaboration with the Council is responsible for drafting and implementing the yearly budget of the European Union. Following the changes informed by the Lisbon Treaty, the Commission is not only in charge of preparing the budget plan, but also its presentation to both the council and parliament (Corbett, 1998). Control and Monitoring the Democratic Process: The EP plays a significant decisive role about the investiture of the European Commission (Palayret et al., 2008). Its leader is usually nominated, and the European Parliament that sits at the proposal council does his approval. Depending on its wisdom, EP can also call a motion of censure to interdict the Commission should it fail to deliver on its mandate. With regards to control, the EP is given the powers to investigate the Council and the commission by way of either asking questions or receiving petitions from European citizens (Corbett, 1998). Conclusion In conclusion, while the UK and European Parliaments serve the basic functions of legislation, they are remarkably different in terms of their structure and composition. These differences affect the overall working of the two parliaments. References Blackburn, R., and Kennon, A, 2003. Parliament Functions, Practice and Procedures, Thomson Sweet & Maxwell. Carmichael P., Dickson B, 1999. The House of Lords: Its Parliamentary and Judicial Roles. New York: Hart Publications. Corbett, R, 1998. The European Parliaments’ role in closer EU Integration. London: Palgrave. Cowley, P., and Stuart, M, 2001. “Parliament: A Few Headaches and a Dose of Modernisation,” Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 54. Gay, Oonagh, 2003. 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Peterson, J., and Shackleton, M. 2002, The Institutions of European Union. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Rittberger, B, 2005. Building Europe’s Parliament: Democratic Representation Beyond the Nation-State. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Shell, D.R, 1998. “Second Chambers, in World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures,” ed. Kurian, G.T. and Longley, L. Washington, D.C., Congressional Quarterly. Read More