European Union Law is law that is made by the European Union. Since the UK joined the EU the UK is bound by these laws and any Acts made by UK Parliament must not conflict with any EU Laws. An example of an EU Law is the Equal Treatment Directive (76/207/EEC).
- Common law is law made by the Judiciary’s decisions in cases they have heard, although it can be amended or repealed by the UK Parliament. It is made up of substantive law, which are rules about how people should behave, and procedural rules, which are rules of how things should be done. Common law should have both certainty, to allow people to know what behaviour is acceptable, and flexibility, to allow it to respond to changing times. This means common law provides room for judicial creativity.
To create certainty, Judges must follow precedent when deciding cases (stare decisis meaning ‘let the decision stand’). A decision of the highest appeal court in England and Wales, The Supreme Court, is binding on every other court in the Hierarchy, and they must follow its decisions. An example of common law is Murder, as there is no written Act of Parliament making murder a criminal offence, however it is a common law because of the courts and their previous decisions.
The Judiciary develops common law with every judicial decision it makes. When a judge makes a decision that agrees with past precedent, it reinforces the precedent and ensures it remains fixed in common law.
However, when a judge makes a decision different to that of past precedent it alters common law for future cases. This creates the flexibility for common law. The judiciary should never make its own laws as such, however, a court may overrule, distinguish or depart from past precedent. This shows it may change law to move with the times or if a case has a different set of circumstances to that of the case that sets precedent.
Although the primary role of the Judiciary is to apply the existing law into the case being decided, it could be argued that it plays a large role in the making of common law due to the flexibility of the common law system.
- Westminster Parliament is the supreme law making body in the UK. It is made up of the House of Commons, whose members are elected into office by the public, and the Houses of Lords, whose members are selected for service by the Prime Minister. The laws produced by them are called Acts of Parliament also known as Statutes or Acts.
The law making process at the Westminster Parliament begins with a bill, which is a proposal for a new law and may originate from many sources such as, a national emergency, the Law Commissions or a Private Members’ Bill.
A national emergency or crisis may encourage a bill to be presented, such as the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001 that led to the Animal Health Act 2002 which was aimed to protect any future outbreaks.
The purpose of the Law Commission is to make recommendations for legislation to be reformed or abolished if they are no longer relevant, or reduce unnecessary Acts in a given area.
Private Members’ Bills are introduced by individual Members of Parliament and can be on any subject.
Three types of bill are; a Public Bill, which deals with matters affecting the public generally and are introduced by a Government Minister; a Private Members’ Bill, which also deals with matters affecting the public generally, however is introduced by a Member of Parliament who is not a minister; a Private Bill, which is deals with matters affecting only a minority of people, introduced by the group concerned.
A bill must pass through several stages before becoming an Act of Parliament. The first stage is called the ‘First Reading’, lets Members of Parliament know there is a bill coming up for discussion. The title of the bill is read out and copies are printed, then there is a vote in the House it has been proposed in on whether that House wish to consider the bill further.
The next stage, known as the ‘Second Reading’ is when the purpose of the bill is explained and the general principals are debated. Another vote is then taken for the bill to progress further.
The Committee Stage, gives a committee of between 16 and 50 Members of Parliament (usually with an interest in or knowledge of, the subject in the bill) a chance to examine the bill in detail.
The Report Stage reviews any amendments (made by the committee) in the House in which the bill started. The amendments are debated and then accepted or rejected and further amendments may be made.
Once the Report Stage is complete there is a final vote on the bill, known as the ‘Third Reading’. Following which the bill is passed to the other House for them to go through the above stages, starting again with the first reading.
After the bill has passed through the other House it returns to the House in which it began, for review of any amendments that may have been made by the other House. It may be reviewed, returned and reviewed several times before both Houses of Parliament agree on the content.
Once an agreement has been made, the bill is ready for Royal Assent from the Crown. In some circumstances a bill can be allowed for Royal Assent even without the agreement of the House of Lords if the House of Commons agrees it for a second time as the House of Lords is not an elected body and its purpose is to refine and add law rather than to oppose that of the elected House of Commons.
An example of a bill that became an Act of Parliament without the agreement of the House of Lords is the Hunting Bill in 2004, which subsequently became the Hunting Act 2004.
When the bill has received Royal Assent it becomes an Act of Parliament.
This seems to be a satisfactory process for making law, as the UK public get to elect the Members of Parliament that they feel has the best values, by way of a vote, to run the country. The stages that the bill must go through are very extensive and allow for lots of scrutinising.
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Bibliography
Units 1-5, Block 1 Rules and rule making, W100 Rules, rights and justice, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Acts
Animal Health Act 2002
Criminal Justice Act 2003
Hunting Act 2004
Scotland Act 1998
Suicide Act 1961
European Union Legislation
Equal Treatment Directive (76/207/EEC)