Acts of Parliament

Acts of Parliament are the text of laws passed by the legislative body of the United Kingdom which is the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Acts of Parliament begin as a bill then pass through a legislative process.

Legislative Process

The Legislation process for the United Kingdom is one of simplicity. Legislation begins in either the House of Commons or House of Lords and is proposed by a sitting member. The bill will then be proposed in that respective house in which it will go through several readings. The first reading is when the legislator of the bill presents the bill to the house and gives an overview of the bill. After the First reading the house will move into the second reading on the bill which is the debate section in which the house will be open for debate on that piece of legislation. Once the reading the second reading is complete the house moves to the third reading in which the vote will be held. Voting is a simple matter of either Aye, Noe or Abstain. To get the bill passed it must get a majority in the vote. For MPs within parties they might be expected to following a Whip System that provides them with voting instructions.

When the vote has been completed in one house (either House of Commons or House of Lords) it will then move to the other house. In the other house a debate and vote will also be held on the legislation. If the bill passes both houses then it will move to Royal Assent. Passing Royal Assent the piece of legislation will go into immediate effect.