How laws are made

Primary Legislation

Government Legislation

Most legislation [an estimated 90%] starts as a result of Government Policy and starts life as a Public Bill. Usually set out in either a Party’s Manifesto at a General Election or in the Queen’s Speech at the beginning of every Parliamentary Session.

It can also be in response to public demand [E.g. Dangerous Dogs Act] or a national emergency.

Private Members Bills

Additionally, around 10 MPs are able to introduce Private Members Bills as a result of their name being drawn in the lottery at the beginning of a Parliamentary Session. In practice these Bills very rarely become legislation. [A notable exception was the 1957 law abolishing the death penalty].

Once the Government has decided to introduce a new law or amend an existing one the process is as follows:

Consultation Stage:

1. A Green Paper is published for consultation by MPs and the public. [Not actually green] It will have a time limit for responses.
2. A White Paper follows. This contains firmer proposals reached after comments made during the first consultation phase have been considered.

The Bill Stage:

New legislation can be introduced in either Chamber of the House [Commons or Lords] often to fit in with the Parliamentary time-table. Generally speaking, all Bills follow the same procedure in both Chambers.
A record of these stages is reported in the relevant issue of Hansard. A guide to the current stage of bills can be found in the House of Commons Weekly Information Bulletin.

1. 1st Reading: Proposed legislation is formally introduced. There is no Debate at this stage.
2. 2nd Reading: The Bill will be debated by the full Chamber of the House. Votes may be taken on controversial clauses.
3. Standing Committee/Report Stage: A small committee [usually about 18 Members] then considers the Bill line by line. Amended versions are published. Once this stage is completed, the Bill returns to the Chamber for the Report Stage and further debate
4. 3rd Reading: MPs have a further chance to debate the Bill.
   The Bill now passes to the other Chamber and the process is repeated.
5. Royal Assent & Publication: once the Bill has successfully completed its Parliamentary passage it is signed on behalf the Queen [i.e. given Royal Assent (RA)] and becomes an Act. It will now be published both in paper form and electronically. A recent development has been the publication of Explanatory Notes along with the Act. All new Acts are given a chronological Chapter (Cap.) number.

Secondary or Delegated Legislation

In addition to Primary Legislation there is Secondary or delegated legislation. This is mostly in the form of Statutory Instruments (SIs) [sometimes called Orders] but can also be a Code of Practice, a Circular or a Bye-Law.

Unlike Primary Legislation, Secondary Legislation is not subject to detailed Parliamentary scrutiny, although many are laid before Parliament for information. This makes them a speedier, more flexible and adaptable form of legislation.

Secondary legislation is usually:-

• either a Commencement Order bringing an Act or part of an Act into force;
• or a way of giving more detailed information on how an Act or part of an Act is to be implemented, enforced or amended. Power is delegated to a minister or other authority in these cases.

Statutory Instruments are numbered chronologically from January to December. Recently, around 3,500 have been published each year.
The citation for Statutory Instruments is: SI 2006/1229