1.
The British Parliament
British,
Parliament has been regarded as the earliest of the modern Parliaments and as
such called Mother Parliament. It has borne deep imprints on the Parliamentary
procedure of modern legislatures.
2.
Two houses of the Parliament
The
British parliament is consisting upon two houses; The House of Commons and the
House of Lords.
3. Legislative Functions of the House of Commons
The
prime function of the House of the Commons is legislation, which may be
described as under:
a.
Drafting of Bills
Nearly
all government Bills are drafted by Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury, a
staff of barristers or solicitors in the Treasury whose office was constituted
in 1869.
b.
Classification of Bills
A
project of law during its passage through Parliament is called a Bill, and s
its subdivisions are called clauses. Bills are classified into three kinds:
i. Public
Bills
Public
Bills i.e. measures affecting the community at large or altering the general
law. A public Bill applies by description to all persons subject to the
authority of Parliament or to certain classes of such person.
ii.
Private Bills
Private
Bills, i.e. measures dealing with local or personal matters, such as a Bill
giving special powers to a local authority or altering a settlement.
iii.
Hybrid Bills
Hybrid
Bills, i.e. Bills which, 'although they are introduced as public Bills affect a
particular private interest in a manner different from the private interest of
other persons or bodies of the same category or class.
c.
Ordinary procedure on Public Bills
Most
kinds of public Bills may originate either in the Commons or the Lords, but
there are certain classes of Bills, such as Money Bills and Bill's dealing with
the representation of the people, which by parliamentary custom or
constitutional convention may originate only in the Commons.
i.
introduction of Bills
A
member, whether a Minister or unofficial member, introduces a Bill by
presenting it at the table or by motion for leave to introduce it, in either
case after giving notice.
ii. Five
stages
The
five stages through which a Bill passes in the legislative process in the
Houses are: (i) first reading, (ii) second reading, (iii) committee stage, (iv)
report (or consideration of amendments) stage, and (v) third reading.
i. First
reading
The
Bill is ordinarily presented in "dummy," i.e. a sheet of paper on
which is the name of the Member, and the title of the Bill. The "first
reading" is purely formal.
ii. Second
reading
Section
19 of the .Human Rights Act 1998 requires the Minister in charge of a Bill in
either House before the second reading of a bill to make a statement to the
effect that in his view the provisions of the Bill are compatible with the
Convention rights, a written statement t9 this effect must also be published.
iii.
Committee stage
The
great majority of Bills which pass the second reading will stand committed to a
particular- Standing Committee, unless the House otherwise orders. The other
options are: a Committee of the Whole House; splitting the Committee stage
between a Committee of the Whole House and a Standing Committee; a joint
Committee of the two Houses; an ad ho Select Committee.
The
committee stage is the time for discussing details and proposing amendments.
The Bill is taken clause by clause, and amendments are moved in the order in
which they come in the clause.
Selection
of amendments
In
order to save time, Standing Orders give to the Speaker on the report stage, or
Chairman of Committee, the power to select certain new clauses or amendments
for discussion. The rest are voted on without debate.
iv.
Report Stage
The
Bill as amended in Committee is then "reported" to the House. It may,
with certain restrictions, be further amended as in Committee. It is not
unusual for the Government to table numerous amendments at this stage, some
representing undertakings given in Committee.
v. Third
reading
After
the Bill has been considered on report, it is put down, for "third
reading." If there is a debate on third reading, it is on general
principles and only verbal amendments can be moved.
d. Procedure
in the Lords
The
procedure on legislation in the House of Lords resembles generally the
procedure in the Commons, although it has greater flexibility.
e. Royal
Assent
When
a Bill has been passed by both House, or passed by the Commons under the
Parliament Acts, it is ready to receive the Royal Assent.
f.
Private Members' Bills
Public
Bills may be introduced by private Members. Private Members do not introduce Bills
authorizing expenditure, because these require a financial resolution with a
recommendation from the Crown.
i.
The Ballot
There
are always more private Members wishing to introduce Bills than there is Parliamentary
time available. At the beginning of each session a Ballot is held and the 20
successful members have priority to introduce a Bill in the time made
available.
ii.
Ten Minute Rule
A
private Member who has not won a place in the ballot can take advantage of the
"Ten Minute Rule," whereby motions for leave to introduce Bills may
be set down at the commencement of public business on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
4. Executive Function of the House of Commons
Since
there is no separation of powers in the British System. Therefore, the House of
Commons performs not only legislative functions but also executive functions
which may be mentioned as under:
a. Prime
Minister and the Cabinet
The
Prime minister is the head of the executive in Great Britain. Being the leader
of the majority party in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister assumes the
role of leader of the House. As leader of the Houses, the Prime Minister enjoys
certain privileges on the floor of the House.
i.
Formation of govt.
The
primary functions of the Prime Minister are to form a government, and to choose
and preside over the Cabinet. He gives advice to his ministerial colleagues on
matters before they come to the Cabinet, and he is the main channel of
communication between the Cabinet and the Sovereign, with whom he has a weekly
audience. He advises the Sovereign on dissolution.
ii.
As Cabinet Chief
As
head of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister supervises and coordinates the work of
different Ministers. He performs a pivotal role in the formation and working of
the Cabinet. His opinion carries weight in the Cabinet meetings and as such he
can resolve the differences among the ministers.
5. Modern functions of the House of Lords
In a
unitary state a Second Chamber is generally though desirable in order to admit
into the legislature persons with special kinds of experience or representing
ethnic, religious or other minorities, and also to provide opportunity for
second thoughts about policy and legislation. As the country has not written
constitution, if we had a unicameral legislature our governmental system and
laws would be at the mercy of a majority of one in the House of Commons, and
moreover the House of Commons Could prolong its own life indefinitely.
The
functions and powers of the House of Lords in recent years may be considered as
under;
a.
Pre-legislative scrutiny
The
scrutiny of draft Bills by parliamentary committees is a new function for both
Houses of Parliament. Joint committees consisting of members of both Houses
were appointed in 1998-99 to consider Government Bill. The Lords and the
Commons each established a select committee to consider the draft Freedom of
Information Bill 1999.
b.
Revision of Public Bills sent from the Commons
The
House of Lords spends over half its time revising Bills from the Commons. The
importance of this function arises from the lack of time available in the
Commons to debate legislative proposals.
c.
The delaying of legislation
Although
of constitutional importance, the power possessed by the Lords to delay the
enactment of legislation has been less significant than its role in revising
legislation. The power of the House of Lords to delay legislation is regulated
by constitutional convention and parliament Acts 1911 and 1949.
d. The
initiation of public legislation and private members' bills
One
role of the House of Lords has been described as the initiation of
"non-controversial" legislation. It is true that law reform measures
and consolidation bills, bills giving effect to international agreements to
which the United Kingdom has become a party and other issues which do not
involve matters of party political controversy will start their legislative
passage in the House of Lords.
e.
Scrutiny of private bills
The
House of Lords perform important function of scrutiny of private bills.
f.
Scrutiny of delegated legislation
In
October 1994 the House of Lords affirmed its unfettered consideration. In
February 2000 the Greater London Authority (Election Expenses) Order came
before the Lords and was rejected.
g. Scrutiny
of Executive
Debates
in the Lords do not affect the fate of governments, the practice being to
"move for papers" and then to withdraw the motion rather than press
it to a vote.
Questions
to Ministers are of less significance than in the House of Commons. There are
few ministers in the Upper House.
Four
oral questions (Starred Questions) only may be asked each day for half an hour
at the start of business. Questions may be tabled up to a month ahead, and are
allocated on a "first come first served" basis.
h.
Full and free discussion of large and important questions
The
House of Lords, by virtue of the wide and varied background of its members,
particularly since the introduction of life peerages, and its 'freedom from the
constraints of party discipline provides a place where controversial issues of
any kind may be debated.
i. Select
committees
The
House of Lords has the power to appoint select committees to examine any matter
which in the opinion of the House requires investigation. Until the 1970s such
committees were concerned with the running of the House, but from that time the
House began to use select Committees to scrutinize public policy.
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