Parliament makes laws through a legislative process in which proposed legal changes are introduced as Bills, debated, examined, amended and ultimately approved. In the United Kingdom, Parliament is the principal legislature and consists of the House of Commons and House of Lords. A Bill is a proposal for a new law or for changing an existing law, whereas an Act of Parliament is legislation that has completed the parliamentary process and received Royal Assent.
Most major Bills are introduced by the Government, although individual MPs and members of the House of Lords can also introduce Bills. The Government normally has substantial influence over the legislative agenda, but Parliament itself must consider and approve legislation. This distinction is important because Government proposes and administers many laws, while Parliament performs the formal legislative function.
Before a Bill is formally introduced, a proposed law may develop through policy work, consultation, draft legislation, expert advice, public debate and consideration of existing law. Government proposals may arise from election manifesto commitments, changing social conditions, technological developments, court decisions, public pressure, emergencies, inquiries, Law Commission recommendations or other policy needs. Consultation can involve professional organisations, charities, businesses, pressure groups and members of the public.
A Green Paper may invite views while policy is still being developed, while a White Paper may set out more developed proposals. Some proposals are published as draft Bills so that Parliament can conduct pre legislative scrutiny before formal introduction. These stages are not mandatory for every Bill, so the route into Parliament can vary according to the type and circumstances of the proposed legislation.
Once introduced, a Bill normally passes through several stages designed to allow Parliament to consider both its general purpose and its detailed wording. First Reading is principally a formal introduction and normally involves little or no substantive debate. Second Reading is the stage at which the general principles and purposes of the Bill are debated.
If the House agrees that the Bill should proceed, it normally moves to committee stage, where its provisions are examined in considerably greater detail and amendments can be proposed. Report Stage provides another opportunity to examine the Bill and consider amendments. Third Reading provides a final opportunity for the House to consider the Bill in its completed form before it proceeds to the other House. These stages create several opportunities for legislators to identify problems, challenge government proposals and alter the wording of proposed legislation.
A Bill normally has to be considered by both Houses of Parliament. It can begin in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, although there are important constitutional differences concerning financial legislation and the respective powers of the two Houses. The House that receives the Bill first considers it through its parliamentary stages before it is sent to the other House. The second House then considers the Bill and may propose amendments.
If amendments are made, the Bill can return to the first House for consideration. This process can involve repeated exchanges between the Houses, commonly known as parliamentary ping pong, until both Houses agree on the same text. The requirement for agreement between the Houses provides an additional stage of legislative examination and means that the final wording is not necessarily identical to the wording initially introduced.
Committees are particularly important because legislation can contain highly technical provisions that cannot be examined adequately through general debate alone. In the Commons, general committees can consider Bills in detail and examine proposed amendments. Parliamentary committees can consider evidence, technical consequences and practical implications, while members can propose changes to particular clauses or schedules. The Lords also provides detailed examination, and its committee and report stages can involve extensive consideration of amendments.
Legislative scrutiny therefore operates at several levels, including political debate about the principle of a proposal, detailed examination of its wording, consideration of evidence and attempts to identify unintended consequences. Amendments may clarify provisions, remove problematic clauses, change administrative arrangements or alter the scope of proposed powers. Not every amendment succeeds, and the eventual legislation represents the wording agreed through the parliamentary process rather than simply the original government proposal.
Parliament also makes law through different forms of legislation. Primary legislation consists principally of Acts of Parliament and establishes new legal rules or changes existing statutory law. Secondary legislation consists of legal instruments made under powers delegated by primary legislation. Statutory instruments are the most common form of secondary legislation and allow ministers or other authorised bodies to fill in technical details, commence provisions, establish procedures or make specified changes within powers granted by an Act.
Secondary legislation therefore does not mean that ministers possess an unrestricted independent law making authority. Its legitimacy and scope normally depend upon an enabling Act that specifies what can be delegated and what procedures must be followed. Parliament has procedures for scrutinising delegated legislation, although these procedures differ from the full legislative process for primary legislation.
The parliamentary process also reflects the distinction between legislation and executive administration. Parliament debates and approves laws, while ministers and government departments are responsible for implementing and administering much of the resulting legal framework. A Government Bill may therefore originate from executive policy making, but it does not become an Act merely because ministers support it. Parliamentary approval is required.
Government normally controls a substantial part of parliamentary legislative time, which gives it considerable practical influence over the number and type of Bills considered, especially when it has a working majority in the Commons. Nevertheless, MPs and Lords can debate proposals, propose amendments, reject provisions and require ministers to defend their policies. Private Members Bills provide another route through which individual parliamentarians can seek legislative change, although their opportunities and chances of progression differ from those of government legislation.
The final stage is Royal Assent. Once both Houses have agreed the same version of a Bill, it is formally submitted for Royal Assent by the monarch. When Royal Assent is given, the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and therefore part of primary legislation. The modern process is governed by constitutional conventions, parliamentary procedure and legislation rather than by the monarch independently deciding which policies should become law. Parliament therefore combines representation, deliberation, scrutiny, amendment and formal enactment.
The process is designed to transform a policy proposal into an authoritative legal text after multiple stages of parliamentary consideration. Not every proposal succeeds, and a Bill can be amended substantially, delayed or prevented from becoming law. The precise process also varies for different categories of legislation and between the UK Parliament and the devolved legislatures, which possess law making powers in specified areas.
