Parliamentary Law Making – Part 1 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Parliamentary Law Making – Part 1

Influences on

P

arliament Slide2

Parliamentary Law Making

Split into 3 parts:

Influences on Parliament

How Parliament makes laws

Parliamentary SupremacySlide3

Possible Questions

Knowledge and Understanding:

Describe the influence of pressure groups on Parliament (10 marks)

Describe the influence of the media on Parliament (10 marks)

Describe the influence of the Law Commission on Parliament (10 marks)

Evaluation:

Briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the influence of pressure groups on Parliament (10 marks)

Briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the influence of the media on Parliament (10 marks)

Briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the influence of the Law Commission on Parliament (10 marks)Slide4

Questions

Knowledge - All 3 of these points for sound:

General description and meaning (incl. different types)

How, when and whom they can influence (differences of different types)

Examples of successful and unsuccessful campaigns

Evaluation Question

If asks for advantage and disadvantage – 2 of each, supported by examplesSlide5

Pressure Groups - general

Groups of people with a shared interest in getting the government to change the law in certain areas

Sectional/Interest Pressure Groups

–

further the interests of their own particular

section of society.

T

rade unions (e.g. National Union of Teachers) and professional associations (e.g. British Medical Association)

Cause Groups

–

promote a particular

idea or belief

. E.g. Greenpeace, Amnesty International

Insider Groups

–

have direct contact with government ministers and MPs (a lot of sectional groups)

Outsider Groups

–

don’t have access to decision makers and have to resort to direct action to promote their cause (e.g. Fathers4Justice)Slide6

How, When and Whom they can influence

Sectional

Major sectional groups like professional associations can be very influential as they

represent large or powerful groups

whose support the government needs to gain or retain.

Often

wealthy

and can afford to employ research staff and mount extensive publicity campaigns.

Likely to be

consulted

before Government introduces a bill affecting their interests.

Insider

Likely to be involved in drafting of a bill and may be consulted by ministers

Methods used by Pressure Groups:

Lobbying MPs which may result in consultations (insider)

Direct action - marches, demonstrations and strikes (outsider/cause)

P

etitions, publicity campaigns with adverts in the media, promotional literature,Slide7

Examples of how they can influence Parliament

Sectional:

E.g.

–

ban on smoking in public places

in July 2007 partly the result of lobbying by the British Medical Association

Cause:

E.g.

– RSPCA – a long established charity that has considerable support amongst British public – has campaigned for animal welfare legislation for many years using methods such as leafleting and multimedia advertising – promoted the Animal Welfare Bill which was passed as an Act in 2006 which requires owners to provide their pets with food, water, shelter, veterinary care and freedom to move about

E.g.

- Stonewall (outsider group) – successful campaign resulted in Parliament passing the Civil Partnerships Act in 2004 and legalising gay marriage in 2012

Individuals:

E.g.

Mary Whitehouse headed a campaign against child pornography which led to government introducing the

Protection of Children Act 1984

E.g.

Jamie Oliver was successful in promoting healthier meals in schools – TV series devoted to the cause which gained him support from many sectional groups e.g. National Union of Teachers and British Medical Association – in 2006 the Department for Education issued The Education (Nutritional Standards for School Food) Regulations containing similar provision to those suggested by Jamie Oliver.

In Response to Specific Events:

S

ometimes set up as a result of a tragic event.

E.g.

The Snowdrop Campaign – set up after the

Dunblane

massacre in 1996 – resulted in Parliament banning the private ownership of most types of handgunsSlide8

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pressure Groups

Advantages

Give the public and minorities a voice. Act as a safety valve for frustrations

e.g.

pro-hunting and anti-Iraq war protests

Help MPs keep in touch with what people think –

e.g.

pressure from environmental groups persuaded government to change car tax regulations to favour smaller more fuel-efficient cars and pressure from anti-smoking group ASH and doctors’ groups led to ban on smoking in public places in 2007

Raise public awareness of issues –

e.g.

Fathers4Justice successful through a variety of stunts in raising awareness of plight of fathers denied access to children after a divorce

Members have considerable expertise and can suggest detailed and well-thought-out law changes. Many groups have draft Bills ready for backbench MPs to introduce

Disadvantages

They are inevitably biased in favour of their interest or cause - campaigns may not represent an objective, balanced argument -

e.g.

Fathers4Justice rarely recognise that courts are genuinely attempting to achieve the best outcome for the children

Some large groups which represent powerful organisations are very influential and it is difficult for smaller groups to match their influence –

e.g.

Environmental groups claim the strength of the road lobby and airline industry means new roads and airport extensions are difficult to fight

Methods some groups use can be a problem –

e.g.

strikes and protests can cause disruption. Tactics of Fathers4Justice have been criticised. Methods can be criminal

e.g

. - members of Countryside Alliance broke into House of Commons as part of campaign in favour of fox hunting. Animal activists who damage scientific laboratories that experiment on animals

Groups may only represent a minority view when they are successful at changing the law –

e.g

. this was argued when the death penalty was abolished in 1966Slide9

Questions on Media

Knowledge - All 3 of the following:

What is the media?

How the media influences Parliament

Examples of the media influencing

Parliament

Evaluation Question

If asks for advantage and disadvantage – 2 of each, supported by examplesSlide10

What is the Media?

Television

Radio

Newspapers

Internet

Can represent public opinion and influence public opinion

All play a powerful role in bringing issues to the attention of the government

Media can also be used by pressure groups to highlight their interest or causeSlide11

How Media can influence Parliament

C

ampaigns, regular articles, features,

E.g. Daily Mail – often run headlines on immigration or asylum issues to try and achieve tighter controls

E.g. The Sun – consistently campaigns against what it sees as the growing influence of the EU on British life

Investigative Journalism

Panorama (TV programme) – often draws attention to abuses or scandalsSlide12

Examples of how Media has Influenced Parliament

News of the World - Name and Shame Campaign

– following the murder of Sarah Payne by a paedophile, it published details of known paedophiles. This forced the government to take action because the population was becoming increasingly alarmed by the revelations and there was also the worry of people being harmed by the public led to

Child Sex offender Disclosure Scheme

– People can apply to police to find out if an identified person who has contact with children is on Sex Offenders Register (police can refuse)

Daily Telegraph – Politicians Expenses Exposure

- played an important part in bringing about reform of the MPs expenses rules when it published details in 2009 showing what expenses some MPs were claiming. Led to

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

which limits what Politicians can claim expenses for and oversees their claims. Also led to several resignations of worst offenders.Slide13

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Plays a powerful role in

brining issues to the attention of Parliament or government

and can force it to act – e.g. Daily Telegraph and MP expenses and News of the World and register of sex offenders

Coverage in newspapers and television/radio can

raise the public profile of an issue and add weight to public opinion

– this makes the government feel pressured to make legislative reforms – government is ultimately answerable to the electorate and fears losing favour with the public as this could lead to defeat in an election

Can

help the success of pressure groups

– e.g. Snowdrop campaign was publicised in the Daily Mail and television channels which helped them share their concerns with the government and the public

Disadvantages

Ownership

of British newspapers and other branches of the media is in the hands of a relatively small number of individuals

Newspapers often adopt views that reflect those of their owners

– e.g. Rupert Murdoch who owns The Sun, The Times, the Sunday Times and Sky television – has used these to project his own views, particularly his strong opposition to the EU

Concern about

the link between the media and politicians

– e.g. the appointment of Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor, as David Cameron’s director of communications in 2007 and the social contacts between David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks when she was editor of News of the World

Newspapers are in business to make a profit and will

publish material that will sell copies

- have a tendency to create panics by drawing attention to and often exaggerating issues, such as activities of paedophiles. Media may sometimes whip up public opinion, which can result in unwise legislation – arguably the case with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991Slide14

Questions

Knowledge - Any 3 of:

What the Law Commission is and its aims

Codification (including example)

Consolidation (including example)

Repeal (including example)

Process of Law Commission

investigations

Evaluation Question

If asks for advantage and disadvantage – 2 of each, supported by examplesSlide15

What is the Law Commission and what is its aim?

Established by the

Law Commission Act 1965

Permanent

and

independent

A full-time staff headed up by

five Commissioners

Chairperson is a High Court Judge – responsible for promoting the work of the Commission and is its public face and voice

Other four members are from the legal professions and academic lawyers

All staff are legally trained

Aims - S3(1) Law Commission Act 1965

– role of Commission is to “keep under review all the law” – includes codification and consolidation, repealing obsolete law, simplification and modernisation of lawSlide16

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament –

Codification

Codification is

bringing together all of the law (both statutory and judgement)

on a particular topic into a single Act of Parliament

Draft Criminal Code was published in 1989

but has never become law

Commission has gradually accepted that its initial plans were over-ambitious and that codification of smaller areas is preferable

More recently, the Commission has selected areas of law and clarified them hoping to codify them at a later date

E.g.

The Land Registration Act 2002

and the

Fraud Act 2006

have been reformed in this waySlide17

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament –

Consolidation

Drawing together all the statutory provisions

relating to a particular area into one Act

About 5 Consolidation Bills produced each year

E.g. –

Education Act 1996

and

The Powers of Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000Slide18

How the Law Commission Influences Parliament –

Repeal

Recommends the

repeal of obsolete statutes

– removing laws that have no further use

Important to remove these Acts as they make research of the law more time-consuming and cause confusion

Statute Law (Repeals) Bill in 2012

recommended the repeal of nearly 800 old lawsSlide19

The

Process

of Law Commission Investigations

Commission has topics

referred to it by government departments

, or

may select a topic of its own

, which will be considered after the government has

approved

Pressure

to investigate an area of law may also come from other sources – e.g.

Criminal Attempts Act 1981

was a result of a Law Commission report prompted by academic pressure

Process:

Research

of the issue

Produce a working paper setting out the current law, the problems, and suggestions for reformConsultations with anyone interested in commenting on the issueProduce a report including a

draft BillGovernment decides whether to introduce the draft Bill into Parliament and implement the recommendationsE.g. – legislation which has resulted from this process includes the

Law Reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act

1996Slide20

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

A

permanent non-political full-time body

and can investigate any area of law it believes to be in need of reform –

independent of the Government

Produces

draft Bills

ready for Parliament to introduce –

reduces the workload for ministers

Responsible for many

sensible changes to the law

– e.g.

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977

, the

Fraud Act 2006

and the abolition of the

‘Year and a Day’ ruleCan undertake extensive research and engage in wide consultation

so its recommendations for law reform are well informed and this

helps avoid problems with the application of the law

Disadvantages

Parliament has often ignored the Commission’s proposals

- only about two thirds of its proposals have been implemented – often because governments cannot find time in the legislative programme for non-urgent law reform – e.g.

reform of the law on non-fatal offences

– recommended by the Law Commission in a report in 1993 and accepted by the Labour government of 1997 who produced a draft Bill in 1998 but they never implemented it

Further

lack of power

shown by the fact that

Government does not need to consult with the Commission on any new laws

Investigates as many as 20-30 areas at the same time

– may mean that each investigation is not as thorough as one carried out by a Royal Commission or a Commission of Inquiry