Bill (law)

Last updated January 02, 2024

A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to significantly change an existing law.^[1] A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and has been, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law by the legislature, it is called an act of the legislature , or a statute . Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon.

Usage

The word bill is mainly used in English-speaking nations formerly part of the British Empire whose legal systems originated in United Kingdom common law, including the United States. The parts of a bill are known as clauses, until it has become an act of parliament, from which time the parts of the law are known as sections.^[2]

In nations with a Napoleonic law (including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal), a proposed law may be known as a "law project" (Fr. projet de loi), which is a government-introduced bill, or a "law proposition" (Fr. proposition de loi), a private member's bill. For example the Dutch parliamentary system does not make this terminological distinction (wetsontwerp and wetsvoorstel being used interchangeably).

Preparation

Bills generally include titles, enacting provisions, statements of intent, definitions, substantive provisions, transitional clauses, and dates which the bill will be put into effect.^[3] The preparation of a bill may involve the production of a draft bill prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature.^[4] In the United Kingdom, draft bills are frequently considered to be confidential.^[5] Pre-legislative scrutiny is a formal process carried out by a parliamentary committee on a draft bill.^[6]

In the Parliament of India, the draft bill is sent to individual ministry relating to the matter. From there the bill goes to the Ministry of Law and Justice and then is passed on to the Cabinet committee which the prime minister heads.

Pre-legislative scrutiny is required in much of Scandinavia, occurs in Ireland at the discretion of the Oireachtas (parliament) and occurs in the UK at the government's discretion.^[7]

In the Parliament of Ireland under Poynings' Law (1494–1782) legislation had to be pre-approved by the Privy Council of Ireland and Privy Council of England, so in practice each bill was substantively debated as "heads of a bill", then submitted to the privy councils for approval, and finally formally introduced as a bill and rejected or passed unamended.^[8]

Introduction

In the Westminster system, where the executive is drawn from the legislature and usually holds a majority in the lower house, most bills are introduced by the executive (government bill). In principle, the legislature meets to consider the demands of the executive, as set out in the Queen's Speech or speech from the throne.

Mechanisms exist to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills, but they are subject to strict timetables and usually fail unless a consensus is reached. In the US system, where the executive is formally separated from the legislature, all bills must originate from the legislature. Bills can be introduced using the following procedures:

Leave: A motion is brought before the chamber asking that leave be given to bring in a bill. This is used in the British system in the form of the Ten Minute Rule motion. The legislator has 10 minutes to propose a bill, which can then be considered by the House on a day appointed for the purpose. While this rule remains in place in the rules of procedure of the US Congress, it is seldom used.
Government motion: In jurisdictions where the executive can control legislative business a bill may be brought in by executive fiat.

Legislative stages

Bills are generally considered through a number of readings. This refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature. While the bill is no longer read, the motions on the bill still refer to this practice.

India

In India, for a law to be made it starts off as a bill and has to go through various stages:

There will be "first reading" of the bill where minister takes leave from the house and introduces title and objectives of the bill. Here, no discussion or voting takes place. And then the bill is published in Gazette of India .
After this there is a "second reading" of the bill, where the bill receives its final shape.
The bills first go through the 'stage of general discussion' where the bill is referred to select committee/joint committee for detailed scrutiny through a motion.
Under 'committee stage' the bill is scrutinized in detail in the committee and a report is submitted in the respective house.
Under 'consideration stage' the bill is discussed in detail in the house and is voted upon.
Then under "third reading" the bill is voted upon as a whole and if majority of the house present and voting favours the bill, then the bill is considered passed and is authenticated by presiding officer.
The bill is then passed to the other house for its consideration.
And if both houses agree, the bill reaches the president where he can assent, withhold assent, return for consideration and can also sit on the bill.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, a proposed new law starts off as a bill that goes through seven stages of the legislative process: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading, opposite house, and royal assent. A bill is introduced by a member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons or by a member of the House of Lords.

There will be a first reading of the bill, in which the proposition in the bill is read out, but there is minimal discussion and no voting.

A second reading of the bill follows, in which the bill is presented in more detail and it is discussed between the MPs or Lords.

The third stage is the committee stage, in which a committee is gathered. This may include MPs, Lords, professionals and experts in the field, and other people who the bill may affect. The purpose of this stage is to go into more detail on the bill and gather expert opinions on it (e.g. teachers may be present in a committee about a bill that would affect the education system) and amendments may be brought.

After this is the report stage, in which the entire house reviews any and all changes made to the bill since its conception and may bring further amendments.

The fifth stage is the third reading of the bill, in which the full bill is read out in the house along with all amendments and is given final approval by the House.

The next stage is where the bill is handed over to the opposite house for approval. (If it started in the House of Commons it will be handed to the House of Lords and vice versa.) Here the bill will go through the same process as before, with amendments able to be brought. If amendments are brought, the bill will again be handed to the opposite house, going through the same process, which repeats until both houses arrive at an agreement on the bill. (In the rare circumstance that the two houses cannot agree, the House of Commons has the final say since it is an elected body, whereas the House of Lords is not).

Once the bill is finalised, it will move to the final stage, royal assent , when the monarch signs or otherwise signifies approval for the bill to become law. Theoretically, the monarch could refuse assent to a bill, but no monarch has done so since Queen Anne in 1708, and the royal veto has fallen into disuse. Once the assent is granted, the law comes into effect at the date and time specified within the act; if this is not specified within the act, it comes into effect at midnight on the same day it is granted royal assent.

Enactment and after

Where a piece of primary legislation is termed an act, the process of a bill becoming law may be termed enactment. Once a bill is passed by the legislature, it may automatically become law, or it may need further approval, in which case enactment may be effected by the approver's signature or proclamation.

Approval

Bills passed by the legislature usually require the approval of the head of state such as the monarch, president, or governor to become law.^[9] The refusal of such an approval is typically known as a veto .

Exceptions are the Irish Free State from the abolition of the governor-general in December 1936 to the creation of the office of president in December 1937, and Israel from its formation until today, during which period bills approved by the Oireachtas and Knesset respectively became/become law immediately (though, in Israel's case, the laws are ceremonially signed after their passage by the president).

In parliamentary systems, approval of the head of state is normally a formality since the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead. The exercise of the veto is considered a reserve power and is typically only used in rare circumstances, and the legislature can usually override the veto by a simple majority vote. However, in most cases, the executive – a cabinet of ministers responsible to parliament – takes a veto by the head of state into account.^[10]

In presidential systems, the head of state is also the chief executive, and the need to receive approval can be used as a political tool by them. The legislature is only able to override the veto by means of a supermajority vote.

In some jurisdictions, a bill passed by the legislature may also require approval by a constitutional court. If the court finds the bill would violate the constitution it may annul it or send it back to the legislature for correction. In Ireland, the president has discretion under Article 26 of the Constitution to refer bills to the Supreme Court. In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court has discretion to rule on bills.

Some bills may require approval by referendum. In Ireland this is obligatory for bills to amend the constitution; it is possible for other bills via a process that has never been used.

Afterwards

A bill may come into force as soon as it becomes law, or it may specify a later date to come into force, or it may specify by whom and how it may be brought into force; for example, by ministerial order. Different parts of an act may come into force at different times.

An act is typically promulgated by being published in an official gazette. This may be required on enactment, coming into force, or both.

Numbering of bills

Legislatures may give bills numbers as they progress.

Australia

Bills are not given numbers in Australia and are typically cited by their short titles. They are only given an act number upon royal assent.

Brazil

In Brazil, bills originating in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are numbered sequentially, prefixed with "PL" (Projeto de Lei) and optionally suffixed with the year they were proposed, separated by a slash, as in PL 1234/1988. Until 2019, each house used a different numbering and naming system, but the system was unified by a 2018 joint act by the secretaries of both houses.^[11]

Before the 2019 unification, the Senate numbered bills starting at the beginning of each year,^[12] while the lower house numbered bills starting at the beginning of each legislature.^{[ citation needed ]} This meant that bills sent from one house to another could adopt two or more different names.

Ireland

In the Irish Oireachtas, bills are numbered sequentially from the start of each calendar year. Bills originating in the Dáil and Seanad share a common sequence. There are separate sequences for public and private bills, the latter prefixed with "P". Although acts to amend the constitution are outside the annual sequence used for other public acts, bills to amend the constitution are within the annual sequence of public bills.^[13]

Philippines

In the Philippines, all bills passed into law, regardless of whether they were introduced in the House of Representatives or the Senate, are numbered sequentially beginning with the first Republic Act that became law on July 15, 1946. There have been 11,646 Republic Acts as of January 21, 2022.^[14]^[15] All laws passed by Congress, once given presidential assent, become law and are given a sequential number and are prefixed with "Republic Act" or "R.A." for short. They are also given a secondary sequential number by the chamber they are introduced in. Aforementioned numberings restart every three years after the formation of a new Congress.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Coroners and Justice Act in 2009 started as Bill 9 in the House of Commons. Then it became Bill 72 on consideration by a public bill committee; after that it became House of Lords Bill 33. Then it became House of Lords Bill 77, returned to the House of Commons as Bill 160, before finally being passed as Act 29.^[16]^[17] Parliament recommences numbering from one at the beginning of each session. This means that two different bills may have the same number. Sessions of parliament usually last a year. They begin with the State Opening of Parliament, and end with prorogation.

United States

In the United States, all bills originating in the House of Representatives are numbered sequentially and prefixed with "H.R." and all bills originating from the Senate begin with an "S.". Every two years, at the start of odd-numbered years, the Congress recommences numbering from 1, though for bills the House has an order reserving the first 20 bill numbers and the Senate has similar measures for the first 10 bills. Joint resolutions also have the same effect as bills, and are titled as "H. J. Res." or "S. J. Res." depending on whether they originated in the House or Senate, respectively.

This means that two different bills can have the same number. Each two-year span is called a congress, tracking the terms of Representatives elected in the nationwide biennial House of Representatives elections, and each congress is divided into year-long periods called sessions.^[18]

Related Research Articles

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster in London. Parliament possesses legislative supremacy and thereby holds ultimate power over all other political bodies in the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. While Parliament is bicameral, it has three parts: the sovereign (King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. In theory, power is officially vested in the King-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is de facto vested in the House of Commons.

A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the Legislature or the State Legislature, while in 19 states the legislature is called the General Assembly. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the General Court, while North Dakota and Oregon designate the legislature the Legislative Assembly.

The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2(2) of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that the two Acts are to be construed as one.

A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto powers are also found at other levels of government, such as in state, provincial or local government, and in international bodies.

An act of parliament, as a form of primary legislation, is a text of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction. In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament begin as a bill, which the legislature votes on. Depending on the structure of government, this text may then be subject to assent or approval from the executive branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal assent</span> Formal approval of a proposed law in monarchies

Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in others that is a separate step. Under a modern constitutional monarchy, royal assent is considered little more than a formality. Even in nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein and Monaco which still, in theory, permit their monarch to withhold assent to laws, the monarch almost never does so, except in a dire political emergency or on advice of government. While the power to veto by withholding royal assent was once exercised often by European monarchs, such an occurrence has been very rare since the eighteenth century.

A private member's bill is a bill introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in which a "private member" is any member of parliament (MP) who is not a member of the cabinet (executive). Other labels may be used for the concept in other parliamentary systems; for example, the label member's bill is used in the Scottish Parliament and the New Zealand Parliament, the term private senator's bill is used in the Australian Senate, and the term public bill is used in the Senate of Canada. In legislatures where the executive does not have the right of initiative, such as the United States Congress, the concept does not arise since bills are always introduced by legislators.

Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect.

A pocket veto is a legislative maneuver that allows a president or other official with veto power to exercise that power over a bill by taking no action, thus effectively killing the bill without affirmatively vetoing it. This depends on the laws of each country; the common alternative is that if the president takes no action a bill automatically becomes law.

The Scotland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government. It was one of the most significant constitutional pieces of legislation to be passed by the UK Parliament between the passing of the European Communities Act in 1972 and the European Union (Withdrawal) Act in 2018 and is the most significant piece of legislation to affect Scotland since the Acts of Union in 1707 which ratified the Treaty of Union and led to the disbandment of the Parliament of Scotland.

"Elective dictatorship", also called "executive dominance" in political science, is a phrase describing the state in which a typical Westminster system state's parliament is dominated by the government of the day. It refers to the fact that the legislative programme of Parliament is determined by the government, and government bills virtually always pass the legislature because of the nature of the majoritarian first-past-the-post electoral system, which almost always produces strong government, in combination with the imposition of party discipline on the governing party's majority, which almost always ensures loyalty.

The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first independent Irish Parliament officially recognised outside Ireland since the historic Parliament of Ireland which was abolished with the Acts of Union 1800.

In law, coming into force or entry into force is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this transition. The point at which such instrument comes into effect may be set out in the instrument itself, or after the lapse of a certain period, or upon the happening of a certain event, such as a proclamation or an objective event, such as the birth, marriage, reaching a particular age or death of a certain person. On rare occasions, the effective date of a law may be backdated to a date before the enactment.

The granting, reserving or withholding of royal assent was one of the key roles, and potentially one of the key powers, possessed by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. Until it was granted, no bill passed by the Oireachtas could complete its passage of enactment and become law.

This is a brief description of the lawmaking procedure in India.

A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.

The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (LRRA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted to replace the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 (RRA). The Act was and remains very controversial, because of a perception that it is an Enabling Act substantially removing the ancient British constitutional restriction on the Executive introducing and altering laws without assent or scrutiny by Parliament, and it has been called the "Abolition of Parliament Act".

An act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, London.

Royal Succession bills and acts are laws or pieces of proposed legislation to determine the legal line of succession to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. The bill's passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.

References

↑ "Bills". UK Parliament. 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
↑ "Clauses - Glossary page". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
↑ Kealy, Sean. "African Parliamentary Knowledge Network Legislative Handbook: Using Evidence to Design and Assess Legislation" (PDF).
↑ Hilaire Barnett. Constitutional and Administrative Law. Second Edition. Cavendish. 1998. Page 537.
↑ Bradley and Ewing. Constitutional and Administrative Law. Twelfth Edition. Longman. 1997. Page 718.
↑ "Glossary page — Pre-legislative scrutiny". UK Parliament. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
↑ "Pre-legislative scrutiny (PLS) by parliament" (PDF). Spotlight. Oireachtas.
↑ Kelly, James (2006). "The making of law in eighteenth-century Ireland : the significance and import of Poynings' law". In Dawson, Norma (ed.). Reflections on Law and History: Irish Legal History Society Discourses and Other Papers, 2000–2005. Irish Legal History Society. Vol. 17. Four Courts Press. pp. 259–277. ISBN 9781851829378.
↑ "UK Parliament - Bills". Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
↑ Barber, Tony (20 January 2006). "Berlusconi embarrassed by presidential veto" . Financial Times . London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
↑ "Congresso adota nova forma de numerar projetos de lei". Senado Federal (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 September 2023.
↑ "Como funciona a numeração de projetos no Senado". Senado Federal (in Brazilian Portuguese). 31 January 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
↑ For example, the list of Oireachtas bills for 2002 includes numbers 31 and 32 (constitutional amendments) 45 and 47 (originating in Seanad) 46 (originating in Dáil) and P1 (private).
↑ "Republic Acts | Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
↑ "Republic Act No. 11646 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
↑ "Coroners and Justice Bill 2008–09". Archived from the original on 13 February 2010.
↑ "Coroners and Justice Act 2009" (PDF). Office of Public Sector Information. 12 November 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
↑ "GovTrack: Search Legislation in Congress". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 30 March 2009.

External links