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Mass of law |
It would take the average adult over 400 years to read all the law
applicable in modern Britain (Times
Newspaper)
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11,000 criminal offences |
Speaking in Parliament Sir Menzies Campbell said the Labour Government and
Prime Minister Blair "suffer from a statutory addiction".
In 10 years since 1997, Labour passed 365 Acts of Parliament and more than
32,000 statutory instruments. In that time over 3,000 new criminal
offences have been legislated. Those were added to over 8,000 already in
the law books.
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Legislation
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Legislation
forms the principle part of the English Law, it includes Acts of
Parliament (referred to as statutes), and other law created with the authority of Parliament. .
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The Queen in Parliament |
Parliament is made up of The House of Common, The House of Lords,
and The Queen, all three collectively known as “The Queen in
Parliament”. It is important to remember that legislation is usually
created by all three and not just by the Government.
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Bicameral |
Parliament has two debating chambers the Commons and the Lords
we describe it as bicameral.
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Referendum |
On certain occasions, Parliament has held a referendum on issues of
constitutional importance (for example the continued membership of the
European Union), but these have been of an advisory character only and
have not limited Parliament’s ultimate discretion.
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"Reality check" for new law |
Eight women and four men with recent experience of inquests (unlike most politicians)
were in the Palace of Westminster on 18 October 2006 to go through the
Coroner Bill clause by clause. Another innovation was that it was written in plain English alongside the technical
statutory language.
A
draft Coroner Reform Bill was published on 12 June 2006, available
here. |
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Society changes |
As life and technology changes so the law must keep up with it, recent
examples include football hooliganism abroad and the use of mobile phones
whilst driving.
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Extracts from Proposals for English and Scottish Law
Commissions, 1965 |
"One of the hallmarks of an advanced society is that
its laws should not only be just but also that they should be kept
up-to-date, and be readily accessible to all who are affected by
them...English Law should be capable of being recast in a form which is
accessible, intelligible and in accordance with modern needs."
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The functions
of Parliament |
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Scrutinising
the Executive
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The Commons
scrutinises Government policies and the way it carries out its duties. The
famous philosopher John Stuart Mill said of the role of the Commons:
“Instead
of the function of governing, for which it is radically unfit, the proper
office of a representative assembly is to watch and control the government
Dissertations and Discussions [1859].
To further
control, the behaviour of the executive Parliament has also created a
Ministerial Code of Conduct.
MPs and peers hold the government to account by direct questions, either
written - with a written answer - or oral, on the floor of the House. Each
week the Prime Minister answers questions at “Question Time”, which often
gets media coverage.
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Parliamentary debates |
Additionally, debates are an important way of probing the executive, there
are several types of debate but most important ones concern proposed
legislation.
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Select committees |
In addition, MPs hold Investigations: often conducted by select
committees, of which there are 16, these committees are powerful bodies
and often look at how money is spent. They comprise between 10 and 18
members and can call witnesses.
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Parliament can make any law |
The
Gender
Recognition Act 2004 allows transsexual people over 18 to have an
acquired gender recognised and the legal right to live in their acquired
gender.
Once their acquired gender is recognised, transsexual
people have the right to marry in their acquired gender and be given birth
certificates that recognise the acquired gender. They may also obtain
benefits and State Pension just like anyone else of that gender.
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Size |
The largest Bill to be considered by Parliament was the Company Law
Reform Bill [HL] with nearly 1,000 sections it ran to hundreds of
pages.
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