The House of Lords

To spread legislative workload more evenly between the two Houses a sizeable proportion of all Bills begins in the House of Lords. By convention the Lords do not reject legislation on matters which were in the Government's manifesto (election pledge). The Act of 1949 provides that any Public Bill passed by the Commons in two successive parliamentary sessions and rejected both times by the Lords, may be presented for the Royal Assent, even though it has not been passed by the Lords. The Lords, therefore, can only delay the passage of a Public Bill, they cannot reject it.

The Lords cannot make changes to a Money Bill (although it can delay Money Bills for one month). It is the House of Commons which is elected by the public that should make the decisions on the amount of taxes people have to pay and the like.

The stages of a Bill in the House of Lords are pretty much the same as those in the House of Commons.

Any changes made to a Bill in the House of Lords have to be considered in the House of Commons, for which purpose they are taken back to the lower chamber. The Commons normally accept most of the Lords’ amendments which are non-controversial. At times a Bill can go to and fro for a while, a process known as “ping-pong”, until an agreement can be reached. If the two Houses are unable to compromise, the Commons will eventually get its way by reintroducing the Bill the following year.

The Royal Assent

Once both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill, it has to go to the Queen for the Royal Assent. No monarchs since the sixteenth century have signed Bills themselves. Queen Ann became the last monarch to reject a Bill in 1707.

These days the Queen signs a document which commands certain Lords to inform the members of both Houses that the Royal Assent has been given. Though the Queen always knows which Bills she is consenting to, it is unlikely that she reads through the contents of every Bill before giving the Royal Assent because she is aware of the fact that both Houses of Parliament have already considered the Bill very carefully. However, most important Bills are sure to be mentioned in some of her weekly meetings with the Prime Minister.

Once a Bill has received the Royal Assent it becomes an Act of Parliament.

Bill And Law

In the British Parliament a bill is usually produced by the Government, and discussed in the House of Commons. Then it goes to the House of Lords. Finally, it receives the Royal Assent (it is signed by the Queen) and becomes law.

Analyse the chart.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14