CHAPTER 11 THE CREATION OF AN ACT OF

PARLIAMENT

CHAPTER 11
CREATION OF AN ACT OF
PARLIAMENT

LECTURER: N. NEWAZ KARIM (ACCA AFFILIATE)

 CHAPTER 11 THE CREATION OF AN ACT OF
PARLIAMENT

People elect their representatives through general elections to sit in the parliament and talk about
issues of public importance. In many countries, there are single house-based parliament, like
Bangladesh. However, in many other countries, there are double house based parliaments to ensure
a better check and balance of the powers of the parliament. The British Parliament consists of
House of Commons and House of Lords and is considered as a role model of democracy
throughout the world.

One of the major powers of the parliament is the power to enact laws. Acts made by parliament
are easily accessible and are made in a democratic manner which is thought to look after public
interest in a better manner compared to other sources of law.

A legislation made in the parliament can be a completely new one to cater to the changes in the
society. For example, Digital Security Act and acts related to E-commerce are much needed now.

Moreover, legislations can be made to add clauses to the common law to make it practical in
relation to the time.

Furthermore, through a legislation passed in the parliament, an old legislation which is not
required now, can be abolished and also, new clauses can be added to the existing law so that it can
serve the purpose of today’s world. For example, the Sale of Goods Act 1893 was amended in Sale of
Goods Act 1979.

THEORY OF CODIFICATION & CONSOLIDATION

Codification: When all laws of one subject is taken under a single act, that is called codification. For
example, in the sale of goods act 1979, all provisions about sale of goods were given. Parliament can
make amendments to the old laws if they seem necessary.

Consolidation: When two or more old laws are gathered together in a piece of legislation, that is
called consolidation. In consolidation, the old laws are not changed but brought under a single
umbrella.

LECTURER: N. NEWAZ KARIM (ACCA AFFILIATE)

 CHAPTER 11 THE CREATION OF AN ACT OF
PARLIAMENT

THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

The British Parliament consists of House of Commons and House of Lords. The members of House
of Commons are elected by people in general elections, which is held in every five years under the
Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 and by-elections are held if any MP retires or dies within the term.
Every member of the House of Commons is known as Member of Parliament (MP).

On the contrary, the House of Lords is made up of experts from different areas nominated by the
Prime Minister for life and there are maximum 92 hereditary peers, which means that lordship
passed to the heirs after the death of the person who actually got the award, which does not happen
in case of life peers nominated by the Prime Minister. In November 1999, rights of most of the
hereditary peers were abolished on the logic that in a modern society, such an important
responsibility should not be based on heirs of lords in the past only. Most of the members of House
of Lords are politicians who retired from the House of Commons.

The RESPONSIBLE MINISTER may issue a Green Paper consisting of the proposal for amendment
of law and allow parties to express their opinion on the proposal. In this way, the Government can
get the view of all classes of people as social workers and intellectuals can also express their views,
which forms a mature consideration.

The White Paper, issued after considering the Green paper, consists of firm proposal of the
Government to amend acts or create a new act. The proposed act is then drafted by the lawyers in
the civil service on the basis of the Green paper and White paper and directions given by the
Government.

When the draft made by the lawyers in the civil service is published, that is called a BILL. The
draftsmen face difficulties in making the draft as it has to fulfill the wishes of the Government
within the timeframe given by the Government and also has to be clear, unambiguous and
comprehensive in terms of wordings so that it can be applied in the court without any confusion.

Bills can also be brought by individual MPs, which are private bills are known as BALLOTS. The
chance of a ballot becoming a law is very low but some important acts like The Abortion Act 1967,
making abortion legal in Britain and The Marriage Act 1994, allowing marriage in any registered
place, not only in the office of the registrar, were passed through private bills.

Under the 10-minute rule, a MP can talk 10 minutes about the private bill brought by him. Although
this is rarely successful, some important acts have been passed through this process as mentioned
in The Bail (Amendment) Act 1993.

LECTURER: N. NEWAZ KARIM (ACCA AFFILIATE)

 CHAPTER 11 THE CREATION OF AN ACT OF
PARLIAMENT
The Process of Passing a Bill

The process of turning a bill into act is a lengthy one. Bills can start proceedings either in House of
Commons or in House of Lords except Finance Bill, which must start proceedings in House of
Commons.

Draft

First Reporting (House of Commons)

Second Reporting (House of Commons)

• Committee Stage
Then • Report Stage

• Third Reading (House of Commons)

Next • Same Procedure (House of Lords)

• Royal Assent
Next • Enactment

LECTURER: N. NEWAZ KARIM (ACCA AFFILIATE)

 CHAPTER 11 THE CREATION OF AN ACT OF
PARLIAMENT
In the FIRST READING, the name and main aims of the bill are read out and no discussion and
votes take place.

In the SECOND READING, the debate occurs on the principles behind the bill. This is known as the
main debate among the MPs and each and every MP trying to speak must do so with the permission
of the honorable speaker. Then there will be a ‘Aye’ or ‘Nah’ vote on it. If the majority cannot be
determined, then there will be formal voting and majority must support it to progress it any
further.

In the THIRD STAGE, there will be an standing committee on the bill, consisting of 16 to 50 MPs,
who are nominated from each party proportionate to the seats in the House of Commons won by
each party so that the opposition and other parties can take part in it but in case of finance bill, the
full house becomes the committee.

If the committee brings any amendment to the bill, then they will report back to the house and
there will be votes on the amendments again. Only the amendments accepted by the majority of
MPs will be kept. There are chances of further amendments proposed by MPs and those will also be
kept if they win in the vote.

In the House of Commons, the Third Reading is a formality and there will be votes only but debates
will happen only if 6 MPs request on it. If there is no amendment proposed by the committee, then
the bill directly comes to third reading. But in House of Lords, there are examples of amendments
made in the third reading, which is very uncommon in case of House of Commons.

After passing all the stages in the House of Commons, the bill goes to House of Lords and follows the
same procedure in that house as stated for House of Commons. The House of Lords can send the
bill back to the House of Commons with amendments proposed and if the House of Commons does
not agree to it, they send it back to House of Lords. To avoid this ping pong game and save time, The
Parliament Act 1911 and 1949 were passed which limits the power of the House of Lords in
sending the bill back to the House of Commons as the acts say that if the bill is sent back by the
House of Lords, then it will be passed if it is restated in the next parliamentary session and the
House of Commons agree to it as they are elected representatives of people whereas the House of
Lords is made up of people who are nominated in various ways, not elected.

In passing War Crimes Act 1991, European Parliamentary Election Act 1999, Sexual Offences
(Amendment) Act 2000, Hunting Act 2004- this process was used to bypass the House of Lords.

After the Monarch approves a bill, it becomes an act of parliament. The Monarch does not see the
full text of the bill, rather she knows the short tile only according to the Royal Assent Act 1967. In
1707, Queen Anne refused to assent to the Scottish Militia Bill and that is the last time of such
indecent.

To sum up, it can be said that although the system of passing laws in parliament ensures the
application of democracy and parliamentary supremacy, by which an act of parliament can
completely overrule any custom, precedent, delegated legislation or any other act of parliament on
the logic that the MPs are elected as representative of people and they should have the power to
decide about laws, this system is time consuming.

LECTURER: N. NEWAZ KARIM (ACCA AFFILIATE)

CHAPTER 11 THE CREATION OF AN ACT OF
PARLIAMENT

THANK YOU

LECTURER: N. NEWAZ KARIM (ACCA AFFILIATE)