THE STAGES OF A PARLIAMENTARY BILL
The passage of legislation is the House of Commons primary function.Almost all legislation proceeds from the majority party in the Commons, which forms the government and specifically the Cabinet; the latter is composed of senior ministers chosen by the prime minister from members of his party in the House of Commons. The government's main work in the Commons is to implement the legislative program on which it fought and won the last general election. It becomes law only when it comes into effect after being made an Act of Parliament by the House of Commons and the House of Lords and receives the Royal Assent.
A Bill may either be public or 'private'.
A public Bill is one that is introduced by the Government or by a member of either the House of Commons or the
House of Lords, and applies to the whole country.
Parliament often considers as many as 60 public Bills during a session and in is unable to process all of them
If a general election takes place and a new government is formed from another political party, a Bill promoted
by the old government will be discontinued, unless the new government is in favour of it. Any public Bill not given
the Royal Assent at the end of the year's session of Parliament is automatically dismissed.
A private Bill is introduced by an outside body or individual to alter or increase their powers. For example, a LOCAL AUTHORITY must promote a Private Bill if it wants to alter a service or start a new one. A Bill may be introduced into either House, except that all finance Bills originate in the House of Commons.
Parliament can delegate some of its powers by passing
Acts that only outline the principles of a law. The Acts simply enable a minister, government department or a local
authority to make its own rules and orders - known as
STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS - to carryout that law.For example, many Acts that cover a service provided by a local authority
merely require the authority to make its own plan to carry out that service.
The House of Lords rarely holds up legislation passed by the Commons, its most useful functions is the revision of bills that have not received a sufficiently detailed formulation in the House of Commons and bills that are not controversial will, with a minimum of debate, pass through . The House of Lords powers are defined in the Parliament acts of 1911 and 1949. Under the Parliamentary Act of 1911, all bills specified by the speaker of the House of Commons as money bills become law one month after being sent for consideration to the House of Lords, with or without the consent of that house.Under the 1949 act public bills not receiving the approval of the House of Lords can become law provided that they are passed by two successive parliamentary sessions and that a period of one year has elapsed between the bill's second reading in the first session and its third reading in the second session.
After a Public or Private Bill has received its third reading in the second House, it receives the Royal Assent and becomes an Act of Parliament and is the law. Royal Assent is no longer given by the sovereign in person in Parliament , the British sovereign will almost automatically agrees to any bill passed, The Speakers in each House now simply inform members that the Royal Assent has been given. In theory, it is still possible for the Queen to refuse to give her consent to a Bill, but that has not happened since 1707.
Acts of Parliament are not subject to judicial review, Parliament is able to control the rules and orders made
by outside bodies, simply by repealing the Act it has passed. The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, a committee
of both Houses, inspects all statutory instruments. If the rules have not been approved by Parliament, they may
be challenged in a court on the ground that they are 'ultra vires', beyond the powers that the Act of Parliament
intended.
