ASSIGNMENT

Assignment

Assignment

Act of Parliament

The Act of Parliament is a change in the law originating in Parliament and called a statute. Before an act receives the royal assent and becomes law it is a bill. The US equivalent is an act of Congress. An act of Parliament may be public (of general effect), local, or private. The body of English statute law comprises all the acts passed by Parliament: the existing list opens with the Statute of Merton, passed in 1235.

The Act of Parliament in the constitutional law of the UK, a Bill that has passed through all its stages and received the royal assent, thus becoming statute and law. Bills are introduced in parliament either by a government minister or an unofficial (or private) Member presenting it at the Clerks' table. It has a first reading, which is purely formal, and the Bill is only a dummy- a sheet of paper with the Bill's title on it and the Member's name. The second reading is a discussion on the principles of the Bill. At this stage it can be sent to a second reading committee for this discussion. If it is an opposed Bill, it has to go before the House of Commons on one of the days set down for that sort of business. The next stage is the committee stage. It is at this stage that details and amendments are discussed. The Bill then proceeds to its report stage, when the Bill is reported to the House. At this stage or at the committee stage the kangaroo procedure can be adopted. This is a power vested in the Speaker, or chairman, to select which clauses are debated and to select the others for a simple vote, and it is done to save time. The Bill then has a third reading, which is normally formal but which may involve a debate. Thereafter the Bill proceeds to the House of Lords. A similar procedure to that in the House of Commons is followed in the Lords. Once clear of the Lords the Bill becomes law on the granting of the Royal assent.

How an act of Parliament becomes law

First reading of the bill: The title is read out in the House of Commons (H of C) and a minister names a day for the second reading

The bill is officially printed

Second reading : A debate on the whole bill in the H of C followed by a vote on whether or not the bill should go on to the next stage

Committee stage :A committee of MPs considers the bill in detail and makes amendments

Report stage: The bill is referred back to the H of C which may make further amendments.

Third reading: The H of C votes whether the bill should be sent on to the House of Lords.

House of Lords: The bill passes through much the same stages in the Lords as in the H of C. (Bills may be introduced in the Lords, in which case the H of C considers them at ...