Details Title: Australian Legislation Description: initiation of legislation, types of bills & acts, how deadlocks & disagreements are resolved, how a bill becomes law, strenghts & weaknesses of legislation, supervision of legislation, etc Total Flash Cards: 26 Created: 06/03/2008 01:10:33		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Law Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term Roles of Parliament Definition Make laws on behalf of community. Is the sovereign law-making body. Has power to make laws, repeal existing ones, and override or complement case law made in courts although no parliament can override HCAs interpretation of constitution. Has power to delegate law-making powers to delegated authorities. Term Initiation of Legislation Definition Made democraticaly by representatives of the people.  Mostly initiated by political parties - they gain votes by promising to make or oppose specific laws if elected. Electoral mandate - after winning elections parties claim to have mandate (approval) from the ppl to impliment policies that were the subject of their campaign Term Pressure Groups Definition Special interest groups formed to persuade governments & parliaments to pass specific legislation Government deps. & agencies - advise their ministers on legislations to pass Investigative committees; Parliamentary Committees - both houses have them, they make reccomendations on how to deal with matters Executive Committees - made by gov, comprised of experts in the field under review, report directly to gov Term Court decisions (as form of pressure groups) Definition Statutes can be amended/enacted by parliament in response to court decisions. Parliament responds in 2 ways; Remedial Legislation - legislation that overrides case law created by a superior court because parl believes its a bad law Complementary Legislation - legislation passed to codify a legal rule created by a court so it can be uniformly applied, not just in case before court eg Native Title Act 1993 Term Definition of a Bill Definition  A proposed new law drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel which is presented to Parliament for debate and enactment Term Definition of an Act Definition A bill which has passed both houses in exactly the same form and has been assented by the Queen's representative. Doesn't become a law until proclaimed by Queens representative and published in Gazette Term Public Bill Definition A bill which has been proposed and drafted by the government to achieve a specific function in which all members of the community will be bound when it becomes law Minister of govnmnt inroduces bill into parl & steers passage through all reading stages of debate Term Private Member's Bill Definition Initiated by MP who isnt a minister. Often controversial issues Term Ordinary Public Bill Definition A bill which does not impose a tax or authorise spending. Can be originated in either house of parl & provides for the ordinary legislative functions of parliament Term Original, Amending, Repealing, Consolidating Bills (all types of ordinary public bills) Definition Original - proposes a new law Amending - changes part of existing act (keep up to date with social/technol. change) Repealing - terminates existing Act Consolidating - repeals a number of acts and combines them into one statute (makes it more accessible) Term Supply/money bill Definition money bills must originate in house of reps & cannot be amended by senate (s53) supply bills finance services of government Federal Govnmnt cannot spend public monies unless supply bill has been passed through parliament, been assented and proclaimed (s83) upper houses shouldnt block passage of these bills according to responsible govnmnt Term Parliamentary Deadlock Definition Defined in s57 House of reps passes a bill twice Senate rejects bills twice with 3 months between each rejection must occur in the same tenure of parliament Occurred once with supply bills before Whitlam was sacked 1975 Term Hostile Senate Definition occurs when Government doesnt control majority of seats in Senate minority parties and independents form alliance with opposition to reject governments bills Term Disagreement Definition Definition Disagreement between two houses Senate obstructs passage of a public bill but deadlock conditions in s57 have not yet been satisfied Term Resolving deadlocks/disagreements in SA parliament Definition Abandonment - Government abandons bill until a better time Manager's conference - Conference of 5 members from each house meets outside parl & discusses deadlock - most common aprroach,usually effective Double Dissolution - not a viable option - govnmnt must get majority in Legislative Council to pass deadlocked bill Term Commonwealth Parliament - resolving disagreements Definition Compromise - House of Reps negotiate and come to a compromise Abandonment - Complete abandonment of unpopular bills Double Dissolution - Section 57 Term Double Dissolution Mechansim - Commonwealth Parliament Definition Stage 1: Deadlock occurs - Gov threatens Senate with general election Stage 2: The people elect all Members of the House and all 76 senators (cant occur within 6 months before federal election Stage 3: only occurs if gov is re-elected. House passes bill again. Senate rejects/amends Stage 4: PM advises GG to convene a joint sitting of the House &Senate. They all sit in H of R if absolute majority of Members & Senators pass the bill, It is assented and proclaimed law Cant be used with supply bills as government cant go for three months without money   Term Pre-parliament stage of law making Definition Drafting by Office of Parliamentary Counsel Government approval Draft is considered and approved by Legislation Committee of the Cabinet Term Parliament Stage of Law Making - Originating House - House of Reps Definition Initiation by minister responsible for steering passage through parliament 1st Reading of Bills full title 2nd Reading - Minister outlines broad principles & intent of legislation Committee of the Whole - Speaker leaves chair & house. Chairman of committees presides. Debated clause by clause, minister questioned 3rd Reading - Speaker returns, formal stage of debate, clerk reads long title Transmission to Senate Term Parliament Stage - Reviewing House - Senate Definition First reading, second reading, committee of the whole, third reading GG assents bill to become an Act of Parliament Assent is published in the Government Gazette Term Post Parliament Stage Definition Proclamation - Minister advises GG when to proclaim act Act becomes law when proclamation is published in the Government Gazette Term Disadvantages of Legislation Definition Minority groups left out because of majority rule Time consuming and expensive Conflicting laws between state and commonwealth etc Term Advantages of Legislation Definition Representative govnment - elected mps Parliament remains sovereign Lengthy process makes it near impossible for passing of invalid legislation Term Parliamentary supervision Definition Bicameral scrutiny - scrutinised by both houses Parliamentary system - holds government accountable, senate commitees test validity sunset provision - review of legislation after a certain period of time Term Executive Supervision Definition Responsible government - Ministers held directly accountable to parliament for the administration of legislation within their portfolio Administrative tribunals expose weaknesses in legislation that governments need to address Office of the Ombudsman investigate complaints regarding decisions made by government authorities Public scrutiny and access to legislation Term Judicial supervision Definition High Court has power to declare legislation invalid if it is ultra vires the constitution Statutory Interpretation courts can interpret statutes to resolve disputes, this can cause parliament to amed the statutes