Law and Order in Great Britain
Why do we need laws? We all depend on other people. Even those who live alone depend on others to provide them with heat, light and other services. They generally accept that these services can only be provided if they obey the rules and pay their bills. Those of us who live as part of a group, perhaps a family, find that we have to follow unwritten rules which tell us how we should behave towards the other members of our group. At the college your timetable provides one set of rules telling you which lesson you should be in at a given time. The fire regulations are a different set of rules which could save your life. As well as belonging to a group at home, college or work, we all belong to a national group and have to obey the national rules known as laws. How does the Parliament make Laws? Every year the Parliament passes about 100 Laws directly by making Acts of Parliament. The Parliament sometimes passes a very general law and leaves a minister to fill in the details. Using the powers given to them by the Parliament
ministers become lawmakers themselves. No new law can be made by the Parliament unless it has completed a number of stages in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Queen also has to sign a Bill to show that it has been given the Royal Assent (a formality). Only after the Royal Assent it becomes a new law or Act of Parliament. Before this it is called a Bill. Bills can begin in the House of Lords or the House of Commons, so they can pass through Parliament in one of two ways:
l. Commons Bill => ACT
=> 2. Lords
=> 3. Queen
АСТ
l. Lords
=>2. Commons
=> 3. Queen
There are two main sorts of Bill: Private Bill and Public Bill. Private Bills deal with local matters and individuals. Public Bills deal with matters of public importance. Important Bills are usually sponsored by the Government. One example of a Government Bill is the Sea Fish (Conservation) Bill of 1992–1993 which affects the amount of time that fishing boats may spend at sea. Although a rather old example, it illustrated well how a Government Bill became an Act of Parliament. This particular Bill was introduced into the Commons by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. This stage is called First Reading. It gives MPs notice that soon the Bill will be coming for discussion. The text is then printed and read by Members in time for the important Second Reading, Here the main purpose of the Bill is explained by the Minister of State responsible for fisheries, and the Bill is debated by the House. The House then votes to decide whether the Bill should continue its passage through Parliament. The Bill continues to its Committee Stage where eighteen Members from both Government and Opposition discuss it in detail, considering
many possible changes (amendments). This is followed by Report Stage when the committee reports back to the rest of the House. At the Third Reading stage the House decided to pass the Bill as a whole. The Bill cannot be changed at this stage — it is either accepted or rejected. Once a Bill has passed its Third Reading in the Commons, one of the Clerks at the Table carries the Bill to the House of Lords.
The House of Lords has the job of reviewing Bills received from the Commons. A different group of people can often see something in a completely different way. The House of Lords often makes changes to Commons Bills. Once both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill, then it has to go to the Queen for the Royal Assent. After receiving the Royal Assent the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. Even after an Act has received the Royal Assent, it may not come into force straight away.