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The Scottish Parliament is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood. The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms under the additional member system: 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 6 May 2021, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality.
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government is the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government of Ireland. It is part of the office of the Attorney General of Ireland. It drafts bills which the Government intends to introduce in the Oireachtas. Although the Oireachtas as the legislature has formal authority to enact legislation, in practice the government whip rarely allows substantive amendments to bills to be made in the Dáil or Seanad; thus the Parliamentary Counsel's role is crucial.
The Scottish Government is the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution.
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers, who attend cabinet meetings, and deputy ministers who do not, and also of a counsel general. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the Senedd, who selects ministers and deputy ministers with the approval of the Senedd. The government is responsible for tabling policy in devolved areas for consideration by the Senedd and implementing policy that has been approved by it.
The Privy Council Office is the central agency of the Government of Canada which acts as the secretariat to the Cabinet of Canada – a committee of the Privy Council for Canada – and provides non-partisan advice and support to the Canadian ministry, as well as leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of government.
PCO may refer to:
Parliamentary counsel are lawyers who prepare legislation that it is proposed to pass into law. The terms Parliamentary drafter, Parliamentary draftsman, legislative drafting officer and legislative counsel are also widely used. These terms are used in relation to the United Kingdom parliament in Westminster, and other parliaments and assemblies based on the Westminster system. The official title, and organisation, of the parliamentary counsel varies between legislatures. For example, those who draft government legislation for the UK parliament form the Parliamentary Counsel Office while the Scottish Government's Parliamentary Counsel Office drafts legislation for the Scottish Parliament, the Office of the Legislative Counsel drafts legislation for the Northern Ireland Assembly and the (Welsh) Office of the Legislative Counsel performs the same role in relation to the Senedd. In the Republic of Ireland, there is an Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to Government. In Australia, each state, territory and the federal government has an Office of Parliamentary Counsel.
The Access to Information Act or Information Act is a Canadian Act providing the right of access to information under the control of a federal government institution. As of 2020, the Act allowed "people who pay $5 to request an array of federal files". Paragraph 2. (1) of the Act ("Purpose") declares that government information should be available to the public, but with necessary exceptions to the right of access that should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government. Later paragraphs assign responsibility for this review to an Information Commissioner, who reports directly to parliament rather than the government in power. However, the Act provides the commissioner the power only to recommend rather than compel the release of requested information that the commissioner judges to be not subject to any exception specified in the Act.
The High Court of Sindh is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest Court of Appeal for Sindh in civil and criminal matters, the Court was the District Court and the Court of Session in Karachi.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, commonly referred to as the Health Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the Health and Social Care Directorates and NHS Scotland.
The work of the Scottish Government is carried out by Directorates, each headed by a Director. The Directorates are grouped into a number of Directorates-General families, each headed by a Director-General. However, the individual Directorates are the building blocks of the system. The Directorates are further broken down into "Divisions" and then by teams. Divisions usually consist of 25-50 people. There is no direct correspondence between the political responsibilities of the Ministers in the Scottish Government and the Directorates, although in some cases there is considerable overlap. The Directorates are also responsible for a number of government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Some government work is also carried out by Executive Agencies such as Transport Scotland, who sit outside the Directorates structure, but are also staffed by civil servants
The Parliamentary Counsel Office is New Zealand's law drafting office. It drafts New Zealand Government Bills and Legislative Instruments. It publishes all New Zealand Bills, Acts, and Legislative Instruments in print and on the New Zealand Legislation website.
In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
In the Commonwealth realms, Queen's Consent is a convention whereby ministers and parliament allow the monarch to exercise consultative and veto powers over laws affecting the prerogatives or the interests of the relevant crown. In the United Kingdom, this extends to matters affecting the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall; for the latter, Prince's Consent must also be obtained. The Scottish Parliament adheres to the same requirement of consent, under the name "Crown consent". While consent as such is always granted, and is a formality, the consent procedure has been used to allow the monarch to vet legislation before the parliaments of both the UK and Scotland.
Private acts are laws in the United Kingdom which apply to a particular individual or group of individuals, or corporate entity. This contrasts with a public general Act of Parliament (statute) which applies to the nation-state. Private acts can afford relief from another law; grant a unique benefit or, grant powers not available under the general law; or, relieve someone from legal responsibility for some allegedly wrongful act.
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is responsible for drafting all government Bills that are introduced to Parliament. Established in 1869, the OPC has been part of various departments and is currently part of the Cabinet Office. Led by Elizabeth Gardiner, the First Parliamentary Counsel and Permanent Secretary, the OPC consists of 60 members of staff, 47 of whom are lawyers and 13 of whom are support staff. The lawyers who work in the office are referred to as Parliamentary counsel or Parliamentary draftsmen.
Parliamentary Counsel Office may refer to:
The Scottish Government Finance and Corporate Services Directorates were a set of directorates of the Scottish Government. They were responsible for delivering ministerial support, human resources, legal services and procurement to the other directorates. In December 2010 these functions were taken on by the Governance and Communities Directorate and the Finance Directorate.
The Scottish Government Finance Directorates are a group of civil service Directorates in the Scottish Government created by a December 2010 re-organisation.
The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is an Australian Commonwealth government agency established under the Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970 (Cth) within the Commonwealth Attorney-General's portfolio. OPC drafts all government Bills that are introduced into the federal Parliament, legislative instruments made by the Governor-General, and a range of other delegated legislation. It also manages the Federal Register of Legislation to provide access to authorised, up-to-date versions of Commonwealth laws.
References
- ↑ McCluskie QC, John Cameron, "Who Wrote This Bill? The Life and Work of Scottish Parliamentary Counsel", Scottish Parliamentary Review, Vol. I, No. 2 (Jan, 2014) [Edinburgh: Blacket Avenue Press]
