Parliamentary counsel

Last updated August 24, 2023

Parliamentary counsel are lawyers who prepare drafts of legislation to be passed 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 (established in 1869 under the title of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel) while the Scottish Government's Parliamentary Counsel Office drafts legislation for the Scottish Parliament, the (Northern Irish) 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, the federal government has an Office of Parliamentary Counsel, and so does each State and Territory.

The job of a parliamentary drafter is to draft the detailed form of proposed laws, in a way that will accurately reflect the intentions of the politicians who are promulgating them, without leaving loopholes or producing perverse results.^[1] This is a difficult task, and the pursuit of exact and watertight legislation has often resulted in obscure and convoluted language. Such language has been criticised both by government bodies such as the committee under Sir David Renton that reported in 1975 (and recommended drafting which was more based on principles than specific details to address every possible situation).

In parliamentary discussion, the drafter is rarely, if ever, referred to by name, but only as an office. However, the post has been held by a number of distinguished lawyers, for example Bernard O'Dowd in Australia, John Ferguson McLennan specialising in Scots law (which though enacted entirely in the UK parliament from 1707 until 1999, is distinct from English law), and William Philip Schreiner in South Africa.

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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.

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

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

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Parliamentary Counsel Office may refer to:

A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries, it is a collegiate decision-making body with collective responsibility, while in others it may function either as a purely advisory body or an assisting institution to a decision-making head of state or head of government. Cabinets are typically the body responsible for the day-to-day management of the government and response to sudden events, whereas the legislative and judicial branches work in a measured pace, in sessions according to lengthy procedures.

The Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons, also known as the McKay Commission, was an independent commission established in the United Kingdom to consider issues arising from devolution in the United Kingdom and their effect on the workings of the House of Commons. In the statement made by the government when setting up the commission, it referred to the West Lothian question, a term coined in 1977 to refer to anomalies existing in the pre-devolution government of the UK.

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.

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]

The preparation of legislation (1975). Cmnd. 6053 (The report of the Renton Committee).
Zander, M. (2004). The law-making process, 6th edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-60989-5

External links

Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel
Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (United Kingdom).
Office of Parliamentary Counsel (Australia).

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[1] 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]

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