9 Although English and Welsh legislation have often been combined, the introduction of assembly measures with a different procedure means that the Westminster Parliament now passes laws that apply only to England. This trend will intensify as the Welsh Assembly gains its own legislative powers. See Richard Rawlings, Hastening Slowly: The Next Phase of Welsh Devolution, ed. L. 824–852, 841 (2005). Members of the House of Lords are not elected and are composed of peers appointed by the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HLAC) and life peers. HLAC is an independent body created in 2000 by then Prime Minister Tony Blair. Peers possess a wide range of knowledge gained through experience gained during their professional careers, such as: in the legal or academic professions, in business, in healthcare and in various public sector functions. They use their professional experience by contributing to issues discussed in the House of Lords, such as education, health and public services. The function of the House of Lords is important because it contributes to the democratic process by reviewing and revising bills proposed by the present government, but as you will see later in this course, its power to block laws is limited by the Acts of Parliament of 1911 and 1949. Decentralization is the transfer of power from central to local government.

Since 1999, the devolution of power has taken place from the Westminster government. Some issues that were once dealt with in London are now divided between Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since devolution, we now have the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, the Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast and the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. At committee stage, the bill is reviewed and changes are usually made. The role of the committee is to examine each clause (subsection) of the bill and, if the bill was first introduced in the House of Commons, testimony may be presented by experts or external stakeholders at this stage of the committee study. There will be a chair-designate of the committee and a number of members of the committee to review the clauses. At this stage, the President may select and table an amendment which must be adopted by a majority of the members of the committee. Once all the changes have been made, the bill will be redrafted and printed. It is then sent back to Parliament for the reporting phase.

If a department has a bill that it wishes to include in the legislative agenda of a session, it must submit an offer for the bill to the Parliamentary Committee on Economics and Legislation (PBL) of Cabinet. The PBL Committee will review all applications for this meeting and make a recommendation to Cabinet on the preliminary content of the program. In determining whether to recommend that a bill be placed on an interim basis, the JPA Committee will take into account factors such as the need for the bill (and whether a similar result can be achieved through secondary or non-legislative legislation), its relationship to the government`s policy priorities, the progress made in drafting draft legislation, and whether the bill has been published in the draft for consultation. Most bills can start in the House of Commons or the House of Lords. The government will make this decision based on the need to ensure that each House has a balanced legislative agenda to consider each session. However, some bills must begin in the House of Commons, such as: a bill whose main purpose is the collection of taxes (the annual financial account is an example). Bills of great constitutional importance also begin conventionally in the House of Commons. This statement summed up the position of the Welsh Assembly as a legislative body. It was clear that the Welsh Assembly had a voice, but the script was always written by the Westminster Parliament: all laws were always made by the Westminster Parliament and then debated by members of the Assembly in the Senedd. Explain the role of the different people and entities who can initiate legislative proposals Watch this short film about how power is controlled in a democratic society. Make a few brief comments on the idea of representative democracy, government and parliament in the UK.

Explain in no more than 200 words the role of the Legal Commission and provide some information about the expiry report (succession). In 1998, the Government of Wales Act established the National Assembly for Wales as a single body. This gave the Assembly the right to create secondary legislation and have 60 members in the Assembly (AM). However, in 2006, the Government of Wales Act (GOWA) was passed by the Westminster Parliament, giving the Welsh Assembly the power to enact its own law (primary law) in a number of specific areas such as education and health. This means that laws passed in the Westminster Parliament still apply to Wales, but some matters are now transferred to the Welsh Government, which resides in the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff. Common law and legal law are used in most countries to serve justice. The importance of these laws is manifold. Laws enacted on the basis of new decisions of court judges are common law, and laws enacted by various government agencies have the force of law. For each session of Parliament, the Government will have a legislative programme constituting a plan of the bills to be considered by Parliament during that session (the period between elections is divided into sessions, and each of these sessions usually lasts about one year). In each session, other bills that are not part of the legislative agenda may be passed. Examples include emergency legislation that is necessary to address a specific problem that has arisen, or private members` bills introduced by a member who is not part of the government. The Westminster Parliament consists of two houses, sometimes called two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Most modern democratic societies have two debating chambers in their central legislative body. This is called a bicameral parliament, as opposed to a unicameral parliament that has only one legislative assembly, such as the Welsh Assembly. Theoretically, the Westminster Parliament has a third element of the legislative process: the monarch, who is called the head of state. The monarch reserves the right to veto bills by refusing Royal Assent. Royal Assent is the monarch`s signature on the bill once it has passed through all parliamentary stages. Today, Royal Assent is a mere formality performed in the name of the monarch. The monarch can give royal approval personally, but this rarely happens. Theoretically, the monarch can refuse Royal Assent, but this has not happened since 1707, when Queen Anne refused to give Royal Assent to a bill regulating the establishment of militia in Scotland. The last time a monarch personally gave Royal Assent to a bill was in 1854.

Some bills are published in the draft for consultation before being introduced. The bill can then go through a pre-legislative review procedure during which it is examined by one or more parliamentary committees. The committee will gather evidence and make recommendations to the government on the bill. These recommendations, as well as public responses to the consultation, may result in amendments to elements of the bill prior to its introduction. The publication of a bill in the draft always requires the approval of the PBL Committee, although it is usually approved by letter rather than at a meeting. Laws previously passed by the Welsh Assembly were referred to as measures rather than statutes. The measures are primary law, but still need to be approved by the monarch, just as a law receives royal approval. The introduction of a bill of assembly had the same effect as an Act passed by the Westminster Parliament.

Some restrictions are set out in Part 3 of GOWA, but otherwise the Welsh Assembly has delegated the power to legislate in certain areas. However, in 2006, the Government of Wales Act (GOWA) was passed by the Westminster Parliament, giving the Welsh Assembly the power to enact its own law (primary law) in a number of specific areas such as education and health. This means that laws passed by the Westminster Parliament still apply to Wales, but some areas are now transferred to the Welsh Government, which resides in the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff. Like Scotland, the Welsh Assembly has a duty to formulate policy and take decisions in their respective areas of competence. As in Scotland, the cabinet style is formed after an election. The newly elected members of the Welsh Assembly elect a First Minister. After election, the Prime Minister has the power to appoint an executive committee of Secretaries of Assembly, which is equivalent to a cabinet. The ministerial portfolios of this Executive Committee (the combinations of policy areas assigned to each Secretary of the Assembly) determine the areas of responsibility of the oversight committees (or technical committees) which are then formed to provide oversight of the executive. Appointments to the Board may be made by a single party or a combination of parties.