Legislation and Law Reform Essay.

The Bill then moves to the House of Lords where a similar process as before is applied.  There are certain substantial differences though, involving changes to procedures and routes from before.  The Bill will have a First and Second Reading in the House as before, followed by a Committee Stage and Report Stage, then a Third Reading and finally before the Bill is made into an Act it will have to obtain Royal Assent.  The notable differences between the processes in each of the Houses are, in the House of Lords the Committee Stage of Public Bills are normally taken on the floor of the Lords, not in a standing or a select committee.  Also, there are no provisions restricting the House of Lords debate.  The Lords rarely vote over any of the readings of a Government Bill to reject it; they only discuss amendments for it.  

Once the Bill leaves the Lords it must, if amended return to the House of Commons for consideration.  The Commons then have three choices for the amendments, to agree to them, to substitute them with amendments of their own, or they may simply disagree with them completely.  If the Commons choose to alter or disagree to the Bill it is sent back to the Lords for assessment.  The Lords may then either comply with the new amendments or enforce their own.

If the Bill remains unaltered it may pass straight from the House of Lords for Royal Assent.  This is where the Queen must assent to the Bill after both Houses have passed it.  Once the Bill has been given Royal Assent it then becomes an Act, it is printed by Her Royal Majesty’s Stationary Office and added to the annual series of Public and General Acts.            

b.) (i) Using the Source and other examples and explain and compare ‘Public Bills’ and ‘Private Members’ Bills’.

        A draft piece of legislation is called a Bill.  The Bill passes through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords before obtaining a Royal Assent before becoming an Act of Parliament.  Bills are categorised into three main types Public, Private and Private Members’ Bills, these types are distinguishable by their intent.  Public Bills involve issues directly concerning the welfare and interests of the public as a whole; Private Bills on the other hand are mainly concerned with the benefits the law can make to a particular individual, firm or organisation.

Public Bills involve attempts by the governing party to meet the declarations stated in their manifestos.  These Bills affect the whole of society because of their content and direction.  The success of these Bills is heavily affected by the number of M.P’s the particular party has in Government.  Civil servants specialising in the issues highlighted in the Bill usually draft them.  The Bill is normally introduced by the Secretary of the State or a relevant minister, and predominantly involves specific areas of importance such as Education, Health and Crime.  A Public Bill has a considerable amount of Government backing, contrasting with Private Members’ Bills which have very limited Government backing and support.  ‘Private Members’ Bills are often defeated at Second Reading, but Government almost never fall at this stage since they are invariably subject to a three-line whip obliging the ruling party’s M.Ps to support them.’ 

Private Members’ Bills are non-political Bills, unlike Public Bills, and are devised by backbenchers (M.P’s not in Government) they usually consist of certain measures that will have affect over a particular organisation or group of people.  ‘It is difficult for a private member’s Bill to succeed unless it has the backing of the government.’  These Bills have a much lower success rate as they are given a very limited discussion time, only on Friday afternoons but also because of the unpredictable process to give backbenchers the chance to comprise and enforce their Bills.  For instance, the Bill backbenchers names are put into a hat.  From this twenty are chosen and approximately only six of the twenty manage to become Acts.  

Private Members’ Bills are not seen to represent a significant enough area of law; this is why only a limited number of them are eventually passed.  Some of the main Private Members’ Bills passed have been; The Abortion Act 1967 and The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965.

(ii) Explain the terms ‘Green Paper‘ and ‘White Paper’.

        The legislative process between the creation of a Bill and the passing of an Act is long and tiring.  The stages between the beginning and the end are complicated and repetitive.  Certain stages though, are significant steps to the making of legislation and are key phases of the lengthy process.

        Two of these stages are the creation the ‘Green Paper’ and the ‘White Paper’.  A ‘Green Paper’ is the consultation paper.  It allows interested parties to form their own opinions surrounding the possible introduction of a new Act.  A ‘Green Paper’ is the first stage in the process of public consultation and involves the distribution of contributions to the relevant Government department from the interested parties.  ‘Sometimes – particularly if their intentions are uncertain, or if they wish to gather informed opinion or ‘test the water’ – ministers issue a consultative paper (known as a Green Paper)’.  The Government then has an opportunity to confront opinions of those interested and consider any suggested amendments from the groups involved.  This early consultation allows the legislation to become better defined and assembled before it proceeds through the remainder of the law-making process.  The suggested amendments will allow the particular Government Department to reassess the aspects and issues contained in the paper.

        Once the consultation stage is completed a ‘White Paper’ is issued.  ‘In addition or instead, they may publish of legislative intent, (a White Paper).’ This is the revaluated and improved version of the previous paper.  It allows a more focused and specialised debate to form, thus offering much more stable and precise proposals to be discussed.  Ultimately, a bill loosely based upon the suggestion in this paper will be introduced for Parliamentary consideration.        

d.) Consider whether any of the following individuals are suffering from a “…physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long-term effect on ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities…” so as to fall within the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

1. Rachel, who has suffered severe brain damage in a car crash.
2. Monica, who is a cook and has developed a painful skin irritation, which causes her hands to crack and blister.
3. Phoebe, who is a guitarist and is developing profound deafness in one ear.

A “…physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long-term effect on ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities…” would involve the long-term discontinuation and prevention of any basic tasks such as cleaning, working or walking.  Where any person is being deprived of the ability to carry out these things they are potentially labelled disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.  

Rachael, having suffered severe brain damage as a result of a car crash would most definitely qualify as disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.  This is because with her injuries and resultant effects, her major limbs or/and organs may have been affected causing long-term damage and the inability to carry out everyday tasks.  The brain damage suffered would have irreversible effects and cause irreparable damage to most of her body.

Monica, on the other hand would not qualify as disabled as her injuries, a painful skin irritation, causing her hands to crack and blister would only pose a problem for her everyday activities, including her job as a cook, during the short term.  Her injuries would not form a definition of disability unless the impairment were permanent with substantial medical evidence suggesting that the irritation was to worsen progressively causing the loss of capability to perform simple everyday tasks.  This would be very unlikely considering the circumstances of her complaint.

Phoebe, a guitarist developing profound deafness in one ear would most probably qualify as being disabled due to the extent of her injury.  Phoebe’s situation would cause certain disputes over the definition of disabled because the level of disability and the actual effect over her life as a whole would need to be analysed.  Many would suggest that because Phoebe’s livelihood is solely reliant upon her musical talents and her impairment is long-term she must qualify as disabled.  Others may argue that day-to-day tasks would not include musical activities and so leave Phoebe outside the definition.

This particular Act is one of controversial dispute and requires careful attention to assess the level of disability and the effects of this disability on the everyday life of the sufferer.  The ‘long-term’ aspect of the definition leaves the Act open to dispute because ‘long-term’ effects can be defined differently according to the difference of opinion of the concerned and the impact this period of time has upon the overall quality of life of the sufferer.