Legislation

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Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. [1] Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to as "legislation" while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to outlaw, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare, or to restrict. It may be contrasted with a non-legislative act by an executive or administrative body under the authority of a legislative act. [2]

Contents

Overview

Legislation to design or amend a bill requires identifying a concrete issue in a comprehensive way. [3] When engaging in legislation, drafters and policy-makers must take into consideration the best possible avenues to address problem areas. [4] Possible solutions within bill provisions might involve implementing sanctions, targeting indirect behaviors, authorizing agency action, etc. [5]

Legislation is usually proposed by a member of the legislature (e.g. a member of Congress or Parliament), or by the executive, whereupon it is debated by members of the legislature and is often amended before passage. Most large legislatures enact only a small fraction of the bills proposed in a given session. [6] Whether a given bill will be proposed is generally a matter of the legislative priorities of the government.

Legislation is regarded as one of the three main functions of government, which are often distinguished under the doctrine of the separation of powers. Those who have the formal power to create legislation are known as legislators; a judicial branch of government will have the formal power to interpret legislation (see statutory interpretation); the executive branch of government can act only within the powers and limits set by the law, which is the instrument by which the fundamental powers of government are established. [7]

The function and procedures are primarily the responsibility of the legislature. However, there are situations where legislation is made by other bodies or means, such as when constitutional law or secondary legislation is enacted. Such other forms of law-making include referendums, orders in council or regulations. The term legislation is sometimes used to include these situations, or the term primary legislation may be used to exclude these other forms.

Public participation in legislation

All modern constitutions and fundamental laws contain and declare the concept and principle of popular sovereignty, which essentially means that the people are the ultimate source of public power or government authority. The concept of popular sovereignty holds simply that in a society organized for political action, the will of the people as a whole is the only right standard of political action. It can be regarded as an important element in the system of checks and balances and representative democracy. Therefore, the people are implicitly entitled even to directly participate in the process of law-making. This role of linking citizens and their government and legislators is closely related to the concept of legitimacy. The exercise of democratic control over the legislative system and the policy-making process can occur even when the public has only an elementary understanding of the national legislative institution and its membership. Civic education is a vital strategy for strengthening public participation and confidence in the legislative process. [8]

Dead letter

The term "dead letter" refers to legislation that has not been revoked, but that has become inapplicable or obsolete, or is no longer enforced. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with others. The typical division into three branches of government, sometimes called the trias politica model, includes a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. It can be contrasted with the fusion of powers in monarchies, but also parliamentary and semi-presidential systems where there can be overlap in membership and functions between different branches, especially the executive and legislative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legislature</span> Deliberative assembly that makes laws

A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State legislature (United States)</span> Legislature of a U.S. state

In the United States, a state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legislatures of the United Kingdom</span> Parliamentary bodies of the United Kingdom and its component jurisdictions

The legislatures of the United Kingdom are derived from a number of different sources. The parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body for the United Kingdom and the British overseas territories with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each having their own devolved legislatures. Each of the three major jurisdictions of the United Kingdom has its own laws and legal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senedd</span> Devolved parliament of Wales

The Senedd, officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and Senedd Cymru in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees to certain taxes, and scrutinises the Welsh Government. It is a bilingual institution, with both Welsh and English being the official languages of its business. From its creation in May 1999 until May 2020, the Senedd was known as the National Assembly for Wales.

A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to significantly change an existing law. 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.

King-in-parliament is a constitutional law concept used within Commonwealth realms that refers to the Crown in its legislative role, acting with the advice and consent of the parliament. Bills passed by the houses are sent to the sovereign or their representative, for royal assent in order to enact them into laws as Acts of parliament. An Act may also provide for secondary legislation, which can be made by executive officers of the Crown, although subject to the simple approval or dissallowance by parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly</span> Unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory

The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Square, close to the centre of the city of Canberra.

Delegated legislation or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom is law that is not enacted by a legislative assembly such as the UK Parliament, but made by a government minister, a delegated person or an authorised body under powers given to them by an Act of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delegation (law)</span>

In contract law and administrative law, delegation is the act of giving another person the responsibility of carrying out the performance agreed to in a contract. Three parties are concerned with this act - the party who had incurred the obligation to perform under the contract is called the delegator; the party who assumes the responsibility of performing this duty is called the delegatee; and the party to whom this performance is owed is called the obligee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union legislative procedure</span> Procedures for the adoption of legislation in the European Union

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Evidence-based legislation (EBL) refers to the practice of using the best available scientific evidence and systematically collected data in the formulation and drafting of laws by legislatures. Rooted in the broader movement towards evidence-based practices, EBL incorporates various elements such as evidence gathering, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, stakeholder assessments, expert input, cost-benefit analyses, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

<i>R (Jackson) v Attorney General</i> UK House of Lords case

R (Jackson) v Attorney General [2005] UKHL 56 is a House of Lords case noted for containing obiter comments by the Judiciary acting in their official capacity suggesting that there may be limits to parliamentary sovereignty, the orthodox position being that it is unlimited in the United Kingdom.

For the government of India, Part XI of the Constitution of India – consists of Articles on Relations between the Union and States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Act of Parliament (UK)</span> Primary legislation in the United Kingdom

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

A model act, also called a model law or a piece of model legislation, is a suggested example for a law, drafted centrally to be disseminated and suggested for enactment in multiple independent legislatures. The motivation classically has been the hope of fostering more legal uniformity among jurisdictions, and better practice in legislative wording, than would otherwise occur; another motivation sometimes has been lobbying disguised under such ideals. Model laws can be intended to be enacted verbatim, to be enacted after minor modification, or to serve more as general guides for the legislatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Separation of powers in the United Kingdom</span>

The concept of the separation of powers has been applied to the United Kingdom and the nature of its executive, judicial and legislative functions. Historically, the apparent merger of the executive and the legislature, with a powerful Prime Minister drawn from the largest party in parliament and usually with a safe majority, led theorists to contend that the separation of powers is not applicable to the United Kingdom. However, in recent years it does seem to have been adopted as a necessary part of the UK constitution.

Legal interpretation in South Africa refers to the juridical understanding of South African legislation and case law, and the rules and principles used to construct its meaning for judicial purposes. Broadly speaking there are three means by which and through which South African scholars and jurists construe their country's statutory law: linguistics or semantics, common law and jurisprudence. Although statutory interpretation usually involves a personal predisposition to the text, the goal is generally to "concretise" it: to harmonise text and purpose. This is the final step in the interpretative process. Statutory interpretation is broadly teleological, comprising as it does first the evaluation and then the application of enacted law.

Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive or judicial bodies. It also holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation and so it is not bound by written law or by precedent.

Primary legislation and secondary legislation are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democracies. Primary legislation generally consists of statutes, also known as 'acts', that set out broad principles and rules, but may delegate specific authority to an executive branch to make more specific laws under the aegis of the principal act. The executive branch can then issue secondary legislation, creating legally enforceable regulations and the procedures for implementing them.

References

  1. See Article 289(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
  2. Wim Voermans (December 2009). "Is the European Legislator after Lisbon a real Legislature?". Legislacao Cadernos de Ciencia de Legislacao. 50: 391–413 [402]. Within the category of legal acts provided for by the TFEU, a distinction is made between legislative acts and non-legislative acts. Legislative acts are decisions adopted under the ordinary or special legislative procedure (Article 289(3) of the TFEU) and non-legislative acts are decisions that are adopted pursuant to delegation or for the purpose of implementing a legislative act (Articles 35 See Article 288 of the TFEU, last 290 and 291 of the TFEU)
  3. Kealy, Sean. "African Parliamentary Knowledge Network Legislative Handbook: Using Evidence to Design and Assess Legislation" (PDF).
  4. Kealy, Sean. "African Parliamentary Knowledge Network Legislative Handbook: Using Evidence to Design and Assess Legislation" (PDF).
  5. Kealy, Sean. "African Parliamentary Knowledge Network Legislative Handbook: Using Evidence to Design and Assess Legislation" (PDF).
  6. Senate.gov
  7. https://db0nus869y26v.cloudfront.net/en/Legislation [ bare URL ]
  8. Vértesy, László (2017-01-10). "The Public Participation in the Drafting of Legislation in Hungary". Central European Public Administration Review. 14 (4). doi: 10.17573/ipar.2016.4.06 . ISSN   2591-2259.
  9. Dead Letter