The passage of constitutional bills in parliament

Abstract

This article considers the parliamentary legislative processes applicable to what are generally known as ‘constitutional bills’, a species of legislation which is likely to occupy much of parliament's time in the next few years following the election of a Labour government in May 1997. As there is no formal definition of ‘constitutional bill’, the genesis and operation of existing relevant practice and conventions are examined, as are early developments in the new parliament. Attention is focused on the Commons committee stage; use of the guillotine; the legislative stages in the House of Lords, and the application of delegated legislation. Statistics are provided on the parliamentary passage of a number of such bills since the War, some of which demonstrates the extent to which actual practice has not always reflected conventional descriptions of the passage of constitutional legislation in parliament.