Disadvantages of Parliamentary Law-Making

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  • Disadvantagesof Parliamentary Law-Making
    • Undemocratic
      • HoL and Queen aren't elected, arguably HoL shouldn't have power to delay bills that have been approved democratically in HoC.
        • MPs are persuaded to vote with their political party rather than their own wishes of constituents. Government with large majority may be able to introduce any legislation it pleases - only answerable to the electorate every 5 years.
    • Government Control
      • Government has a majority of MPs in HoC, can vote out any private members' bill (PMB)  that doesn't fit its political agenda. Very little parliamentary time is allocated to PMB, very few enacted each year.
        • Government is arguably too powerful, able to bypass HoL by invoking Parliament Acts. (E.g. Hunting Act 2004) Any law desired by Government may be passed despite the HoL's objections.
    • Slow
      • Slow process, bill has to go through many readings and stages in both Houses. It takes many months which isn't appropriate when important laws need to be made quickly.
        • Royal Assent now seen as a formality, some argue that this stage is pointless and holds up the process.
    • Dated process, language and statistics
      • When drafting bills, parliamentary spokesman use words and phrases that could be ambiguous or unclear. This means it's up to judiciary to decide how to adapt the Act.
        • Language used in Acts is often incomprehensible to people.
          • Report also suggested the structure of many acts were illogical (no clear connections between Acts dealing with the same topics, no obvious sequence).

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