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.

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

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

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

Definition of a Bill

Definition of an Act

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

Initiated by MP who isnt a minister. Often controversial issues

Original, Amending, Repealing, Consolidating Bills

(all types of ordinary public bills)

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)

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

Parliamentary Deadlock

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

Hostile Senate

occurs when Government doesnt control majority of seats in Senate

minority parties and independents form alliance with opposition to reject governments bills

Disagreement between two houses

Senate obstructs passage of a public bill but deadlock conditions in s57 have not yet been satisfied

Resolving deadlocks/disagreements in SA parliament

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

Compromise - House of Reps negotiate and come to a compromise

Abandonment - Complete abandonment of unpopular bills

Double Dissolution - Section 57

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

Drafting by Office of Parliamentary Counsel

Government approval Draft is considered and approved by Legislation Committee of the Cabinet

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

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

Proclamation - Minister advises GG when to proclaim act

Act becomes law when proclamation is published in the Government Gazette

Disadvantages of Legislation

Minority groups left out because of majority rule

Time consuming and expensive

Conflicting laws between state and commonwealth

etc

Representative govnment - elected mps

Parliament remains sovereign

Lengthy process makes it near impossible for passing of invalid legislation

Parliamentary supervision

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

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

Judicial supervision

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