Statute Law in Britain

Revision Which are sources of English law? What is meant by common law? How can law be classified by type? How would you define public v. private law?

Complete the following: Common law is also called __________ law. Equity means ___________________. Statute law is made by _____________. EU law can _____________ national law.

Separation of powers Executive – the government Legislative - Parliament Judicial – hierarchy of courts

Parliament The highest legislative organ Constitutionally consists of the Monarch, The House of Lords and the House of Commons The Queen in Parliament represents the supreme authority within the United Kingdom

The House of Commons An elected and representative body 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) who represent their constituencies Members are elected at General Elections held every five years Members are paid a salary and an allowance

Speaker Speaker of the House of Commons presides over the House The traditional guardian of the rights and privileges of the House

Video exercise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ToKcEvq XuM&list=PL7F1AFC4FF75A3725&index=5&f eature=plpp_video

Answer the following Who sits at the Speakers’ right side? Who is Sarjeant at Arms? What is Hansard?

The House of Lords in the past In the past mainly a hereditary body Lords Temporal (hereditary peers and peeresses who have not disclaimed their peerage; life peers created by the Crown under the Life Peerages Act of 1958 and Lords of Appeal in Ordinary – Law Lords) Lords Spiritual (the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and 24 senior bishops of the Church of England)

The House of Lords today The Lords currently has around 740 Members, and there are three different types: elected hereditary Peers, life Peers (Lords Temporal) and bishops (Lords Spiritual) Unlike MPs, the public do not elect the Lords. The majority are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister or of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Elected hereditary Peers The right of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords was ended in 1999 by the House of Lords Act but 92 Members were elected internally to remain until the next stage of the Lords reform process.

Life Peers Appointed for their lifetime only, these Lords' titles are not passed on to their children. The Queen formally appoints life Peers on the advice and recommendation of the Prime Minister.

Bishops (Lords Spiritual) A limited number of 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops sit in the House, passing their membership on to the next most senior bishop when they retire.

Lord Chancellor Speaker of the House of Lords A member of the government – Minister of Justice Until 2009 presided over the judicial committee of the House of Lords

Video exercise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- wVllfyvGfU&list=PL7F1AFC4FF75A3725&inde x=6&feature=plpp_video

What did you learn about Life Peers? What is the role of the Lord Speaker? What is Woolsack?

The Monarch An integral part of the legislature Summons, prorogues (dismisses at the end of a session) and dissolves Parliament Opens new sessions of Parliament with the Royal Speech Gives Royal Assent before a Bill which has passed all the stages in both Houses becomes a law

Pressure for new laws Pressure for new laws comes from a variety of sources, mainly: Government policy EU Law Law Commission reports Reoprts by other commissions Pressure groups

Pre-parliamentary process The Government sets its legislative programme for the parliamentary session in the Queen’s Speech at the opening of Parliament Consultation – more common in recent years (The Law Commission)

Types of Bill Government Bill – introduced by the Government through the relevant Minister Public Bill – one which relates to matters that affect the public Private Bill – one which relates to the powers and interests of certain individuals or institutions Hybrid Bill – one which features both a public and a private Bill Private Member’s Bill – one introduced by a MP

Passing a Bill A Bill may be started in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, but it has to go through the same procedure in each House and pass all stages of the legislative procedure in order to become law

Legislative Procedure Principal stages (for government bills) Inspiration Formulation Drafting Parliamentary Scrutiny Voting The Royal Assent Implementation

Inspiration Ideas for a law come from a variety of sources (political parties, Government departments, interest groups, professional bodies)

Formulation Becomes the responsibility of relevant Ministers and civil servants Cabinet committees Consultation with experts, interest groups, trade associations and others likely to be affected by the legislation

Drafting Preparation of a draft bill Draft bills introduced to Parliament

Parliamentary Scrutiny First reading (no debate) Second reading (principle debated on floor) Committee stage (clause-by-clause scrutiny in Standing Committee) Report (amendments considered on floor) Third reading (final version debated) Voting

The Royal Assent The Queen has to sign the Bill Then it becomes an Act of Parliament The Statute Book Implementation – binding for all the courts in the country Interpretation leads to precedents

Repeal If a new statute is clearly contrary to the old one already in the Statute Book, the new one must clearly repeal those parts of the old statute The old statute (or its parts) are no longer valid

Vocabulary House of Commons – Donji dom House of Lords – Gornji dom Hereditary peerage – nasljedno plemstvo Constituency – izborna jedinica Bill – prijedlog zakona Repeal – opoziv zakona

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate word(s) from the list below: bill, supreme, law, legislative, elected, dissolves, hereditary, members Parliament is the ______________ organ and is constitutionally composed of the Monarch, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Queen in Parliament represents the ________________ authority within the United Kingdom. The House of Commons is an _______________ and representative body, with _________________ elected at General Elections every five years. Before 1999 the House of Lords used to be a ___________________ body. The Queen summons, prorogues and ___________________ Parliament. No ______________ can become a _________ unless the Queen gives Royal Assent.

Answer key   Parliament is the legislative organ and is constitutionally composed of the Monarch, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Queen in Parliament represents the supreme authority within the United Kingdom. The House of Commons is an elected and representative body, with members elected at General Elections every five years. Before 1999 the House of Lords used to be a hereditary body. The Queen summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament. No bill can become a law unless the Queen gives Royal Assent.

Thank you for attention!