Private Member Research Articles

Parliamentary Procedure under Theresa May: Nothing Has Changed?

Abstract During the premiership of Theresa May, parliamentary procedure in the UK was scrutinised, criticised and challenged to an extent unprecedented in recent years. This put intense pressure on the ‘rules of the game’ governing parliamentary politics. This article thus aims to answer three questions. First, what were the pressures on parliamentary procedure in this period? Secondly, what were their consequences? Thirdly, how can these consequences be explained? The article addresses these questions by describing challenges to the House of Commons’ rules regarding agenda control, proxy voting and private members’ bills. It also describes the procedural changes resulting from these challenges and evaluates their significance. Finally, it considers how far these changes support the expectations of existing literature on parliamentary rule changes. Overall, the article shows that procedural reform during Theresa May’s premiership was minimal. Despite some temporary informal innovations, the formal rules of the Commons remained almost entirely unchanged. During this period, therefore, Britain’s parliamentary rules were challenged extensively but changed very little.

What Drives Women’s Substantive Representation in Muslim-Majority Countries? Lessons from Turkey

Although a voluminous literature has studied the substantive representation of women, these studies have largely been confined to advanced democracies. Similarly, studies that focus on the relationship between Islam and women’s rights largely ignored the substantive representation of women in Muslim-majority countries. As one of the first studies of its kind, this article investigates the role of religion in the substantive representation of women by focusing on a Muslim-majority country: Turkey. Using a novel data set of 4,700 content coded private members’ bills (PMBs) drafted in the Turkish parliament between 2002 and 2015, this article synthesizes competing explanations of women’s representation in the Middle East and rigorously tests the implications of religion, ideology, critical mass, and labor force participation accounts. The results have significant implications for the study of gender and politics in Muslim-majority countries.

‘Useless approvals’. Italian bicameralism and its decisional capacity

ABSTRACT In bicameral parliaments, upper chambers amend the bills that have been passed by lower chambers, and sometimes bills that are passed in one chamber never become law and just ‘die’ in the other. Why does one chamber fail or refuse to anticipate what the other will do? What can lead the political actors in one chamber to ‘waste’ their time and resources on a bill that will be never approved as law? How can we explain the variations in the number of such ‘useless’ approvals? This article helps answer these questions by focusing on ‘useless approvals’ in the Italian parliament (1979–2018). Italy offers an ideal setting to analyse this phenomenon, with two houses holding the same powers but characterised by varying degrees of political incongruence over time. We found that differences in preference between the two chambers positively affect the chances of useless approvals, above all for private members’ bills.

Carácter no vinculante de la solicitud de tramitar una iniciativa por el procedimiento de lectura única e inexistencia de un uso parlamentario acerca de la potestad del Pleno para decidir, sin intervención de la Mesa, sobre la tramitación que deba darse..

El Pleno del Tribunal Constitucional acuerda desestimar un recurso de amparo frente a los acuerdos de la Mesa del Congreso de los Diputados que rechazaron la tramitación por el procedimiento de lectura única de una proposición de ley. El Tribunal Constitucional, por un lado, establece que la Mesa no queda vinculada a la solicitud, y que puede no proponer al Pleno, dentro del margen de actuación que le da el art. 150 RCD, y, por otro lado, confirma que, no cabiendo aplicar la doctrina de los usos parlamentarios, la Mesa no pierde una competencia que le es propia por el mero hecho de no ejercitarla, y que el Pleno no tiene una potestad para decidir, sin mediar acuerdo de la Mesa.

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Balancing Victims' Rights and the Insanity Defence

Under s 23 of the Crimes Act 1961, defendants in New Zealand that are deemed insane at the time of committing the actus reus of an offence are able to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. As the defendant cannot be found criminally responsible for their actions, they are not punished with a criminal record or prison sentence. However, due to public safety concerns, those acquitted under the insanity defence are usually required to undertake compulsory mental health treatment and are therefore dealt with under the health system, in lieu of the criminal justice system. Due to this, victims of those found not guilty by reason of insanity are not afforded the same rights as victims that fall under the ambit of the criminal justice system. With the current focus on victims’ rights following the Te Tangi o te Manawanui Recommendations for Reform as part of the H paitia te Oranga Tangata Safe and Effective Justice initiative, attention is also being focused on improving the experience for victims of those found not guilty by reason of insanity. The recent drawing from the ballot of the Rights for Victims of Insane Offenders Private Member's Bill and the publicity surrounding Wendy Hamer’s victims’ rights petition has highlighted the need to discuss this issue. Using cases from New Zealand, Canada and Australia, this paper considers why reform is needed and considers how the rights and interests of victims of defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity can be strengthened, whilst still ensuring the overarching rationale of the insanity defence is protected. A number of suggested reforms intended to improve victims’ rights are found to be inappropriate due to the fact they undermine the key rationales of the defence: treatment, not punishment; community safety; and the medical nature of decision making. The paper recommends and concludes that strengthening service rights and providing specialised assistance will provide a better system for victims of those found not guilty by reason of insanity without undermining the working of the defence itself.

MOKONE V ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND OTHERS (2018): MANIFESTATION OF EXECUTIVE-MINDED JUDICIARY IN BOTSWANA

This is a theoretical paper that seeks to shine the light on the concept of executive-minded judiciary in Botswana. In order to delve deeper into the meaning of the word, the paper traces its origin by reference to other jurisdictions. The paper argues that executive-mindedness is inimical to independence of the judiciary. It is argued that independence of the judiciary stands at the heart of a democracy like Botswana. Judges must not only demonstrate independence but also that they are accountable to the public. The paper does not claim that the judiciary in Botswana is not independent or irresponsible. To the contrary, Botswana is respected globally for its commitment to the rule of law and independence of the judiciary, which is constitutionally entrenched. Rather, the argument is that Botswana must not only retain its record but must step up efforts to improve this and be vigilant at all times to retain integrity of the judiciary. A country like South Korea, with a fiercely independent judiciary, especially its Constitutional Court, is a model to benchmark on. To further enhance integrity in the Botswana judiciary, as the Law Society of Botswana and other parties have requested, action is needed to remove the secrecy that clouds the appointment of judges at both the High court and the Court of Appeal. Transparency is needed in the recruitment and appointment of judges. Public hearings and or publications of portions of deliberations of the Judicial Service Commission would help achieve this openness. As the Court of Appeal has washed its hands on this matter, it is the executive branch that must move for the amendment of the constitution to achieve this. Alternatively a private member’s bill should be tabled. That will put Botswana’s democracy on a higher pedestal. The paper uses the case Mokone v Attorney-General and others (2018) to illustrate the manifestation of executive-mindedness. It argues that remarks uttered in the obiter by Justice Brand not only showed a leaning towards the executive but also have a potential chilling effect on press freedom. The press in this matter had not behaved responsibly, it is admitted, but the judge went overboard as well.

Constitutional Law and Abortion in Saskatchewan:The Freedom of Informed Choice (Abortions) Act

AbstractThis paper reviews the history of Bill 53, theFreedom of Informed Choice (Abortions) Act. A private member’s bill introduced in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly in 1985, Bill 53 would have imposed additional consent requirements on women seeking abortions. After concerns about its constitutionality were raised, the Bill was referred to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, which found it fell outside provincial jurisdiction. This paper explores the connection between Bill 53 and its more well-known cousins, Morgentaler and Borowski, and examines judicial and political decision-making in the early Charter era.

Gender and parliamentary activity

Does gender matter in the daily work in parliaments? Scholars have inconclusive answers to this question. Using fresh data with a recently developed activity scale, I analyze female legislators' activity levels compared to those of men in three democracies: the US, UK and Israel. While legislation exists in all of them, they differ from each other in their electoral system and the availability of other non-legislative tools. The results show that country matters. US legislators are more active than Israeli or UK legislators. Second, gender matters with regard to the use of some parliamentary tools. Unlike their UK and Israeli counterparts, American female representatives are more active than male legislators, and deliver more one-minute speeches. Furthermore, female legislators make more one-minute speeches than male legislators and pass more private member bills. The study makes three contributions to the literature. First, it demonstrates that activity can and should be assessed using both separate measurements and one scale, because each measurement provides insights into different aspect of the legislators' behavior. Second, gender plays a role in the activity of legislators. Third, combining two theoretical fields—representation and activity—shows the connection between descriptive representation and legislators' activity.

What can be done to improve higher education quality and graduate employability in Nigeria? A stakeholder approach

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it identifies the extent to which Nigerian higher education institutions (HEIs) enable the development of graduate skills and employability. Second, it outlines the roles of the major stakeholders in higher education and suggests ways to improve graduates’ knowledge, employability and skills. The study is based on a qualitative design incorporating interviews with representatives of public and private organizations, education agencies and members of non-governmental organizations in Nigeria. The data were analysed thematically to ascertain the perceptions of key stakeholders. The findings reveal that there is a minimal collaboration between HEIs and industry and many HEIs in Nigeria lack the necessary pedagogy, funding and infrastructure to carry out the teaching of employability skills. Several practical and policy implications arise from the study regarding improving graduate employability in Nigeria – in particular, the need to create a culture and environment that are conducive to HEI–industry–government collaboration and the need to design the curriculum to enable the teaching of employability skills.

Ordenamiento territorial en cuestión: orden y contraespacio en el norte de Misiones, Argentina

El objetivo de este artículo es problematizar la cuestión del ordenamiento territorial, entendido usualmente como instrumento de política pública que propone solucionar problemas y conflictos territoriales, a la par que define un modelo territorial deseable. Esa problematización se realiza a partir de pensar el ordenamiento como una dimensión intrínseca a la producción del espacio, que regula y normaliza la apropiación y uso de este en función de un cierto orden, siempre disputado. Se analizan dos situaciones empíricas en la provincia de Misiones (Argentina) que suelen plantearse desde el ámbito estatal como “problemas de ordenamiento territorial”: la producción de espacios habitacionales en situaciones de informalidad de la tenencia de la tierra y las tensiones entre conservación de la naturaleza y actividades productivas. El trabajo se sustenta en la sistematización de información primaria (proveniente de entrevistas a referentes de organizaciones públicas, privadas y sociales) y secundaria (bibliografía especializada y documentos institucionales), relevada en trabajos de campo. La investigación muestra distintas prácticas y sentidos de orden a través de los cuales el ordenamiento se despliega, tanto desde las políticas estatales (habitacionales, zonificaciones, educación ambiental, reconversión productiva, entre otras) como de la población local, en una relación orden/desorden compleja e indisociable. Ideas destacadas: artículo de investigación que problematiza el ordenamiento territorial, en cuanto dimensión intrínseca a la producción del espacio. Se analizan dos casos: producción de espacios habitacionales informales y tensiones entre conservación de la naturaleza y actividades productivas. Se muestran distintas prácticas y sentidos de orden en políticas estatales y de la población local.

Proposed legislation on enduring powers of attorney for healthcare decisions and living wills: A legal lifeboat in a sea of uncertainty?

Medical advances have created a range of life-saving or life-prolonging treatments that enable life to be extended artificially. The South African National Health Act provides that a patient has the right to refuse treatment: therefore, in circumstances where they have capacity, they may refuse or request the withdrawal of treatment. Where they lack capacity, the decision will have to be made by partners or family members on their behalf. This raises complex ethicolegal questions around who may act on their behalf, the nature of the decisions they may take and how they should make such choices. In recent years, there has been advocacy for the signing of living wills (an advance health directive setting out a patient’s wishes should they lack capacity in the future). However, to date there is still no legal certainty regarding such documents. Recently, a draft private member’s Bill was gazetted for public comment. It is envisaged that the Bill will be introduced into the National Assembly at some point in 2019 as an amendment to the National Health Act. However, it is unclear when this will occur. If passed, it will ensure the full legal recognition of living wills, and enable patients to enter into a durable power of attorney for healthcare decisions, in terms of which they give another person the authority to make health decisions on their behalf. This article sets out the current ethicolegal position regarding decision-making on the withdrawing or withholding of patient care. It describes the contents of the draft Bill, and evaluates the extent to which it will address current gaps in the ethicolegal framework.

Putting the Dutch Child Labour Due Diligence Act into Perspective

In May 2019, the Dutch senate adopted a private member’s bill introducing a due diligence obligation for companies bringing goods or services onto the Dutch market with respect to the use of child labour in their supply chains. The aim of this article is to place this Child Labour Due Diligence (CLDD) Act in the national and international legal context and to discuss its relevance for the broader debate on international responsible business conduct (IRBC) in global value chains. The article shows that the CLDD Act introduces a due diligence obligation in this context that is new to Dutch law, as is the public law supervisor that is to be tasked with its enforcement. However, it does nothing to broaden the possibilities for access to remedies for victims of child labour beyond those already in existence. The article also shows that when compared with 2017 the French Duty of Vigilance Law, which is the only other mandatory due diligence law to have been adopted so far, the CLDD Act stands out in several respects. It is overshadowed, however, by the European parliament’s recent adoption of an ambitious outline for a future EU due diligence directive. Nonetheless, in view of the fact that it remains unclear for now whether the future EU directive on this topic will display the same level of ambition as the current proposal, the CLDD Act will remain relevant from an international perspective also for some time to come.

February–May 2019

The Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill, originally introduced by Tim Loughton MP as a private Member's bill in the Commons, received Royal Assent on 26 March and came into force two months after it was passed. Section 1 empowers the Secretary of State to amend by regulations the Marriage Act 1949 to provide for a central register of marriages in England and Wales ‘which is accessible in electronic form’. Section 2 requires the Secretary of State to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 so that opposite-sex couples become eligible to form a civil partnership in England and Wales – and the amending regulations must be in force no later than 31 December 2019. Section 3 requires the Secretary of State to report on whether the law should be changed to allow the registration of pregnancy losses which cannot be registered as stillbirths under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 and section 4 requires the Secretary of State to make arrangements for the preparation of a report on whether, and if so how, the law should be changed to enable or require coroners to investigate stillbirths.

Long-Term Weight Loss Maintenance on a Nutrient-Dense, Plant-Rich (NDPR) Diet

Background: Obesity increases risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer; a healthy weight reduces these risks, however weight loss efforts are prone to failure. Developing methods to promote weight loss maintenance is an important public health goal. We report on weight loss maintenance in individuals who followed a nutrient-dense, plant-rich (NDPR) diet. NDPR guidelines focus on increasing micronutrient density and avoidance of processed, highly palatable foods.
 Methods: Patients of a private family medical practice and members of a NDPR diet internet community (2273) completed an online survey providing information on length of time following a NDPR diet and body weight at several time points.
 Results: In respondents with pre-diet BMI ≥ 25 who had been following a NDPR diet for at least 2 years, those who reported adhering to NDPR guidelines in at least 80% of meals lost significantly more weight than those reporting lower adherence. Weight lost during year 1 was maintained at 2 and 3 years, and in respondents with initial BMI in the obese range (≥ 30), those losses were significantly greater in respondents who reported at least 80% adherence compared to 50-79% (56 lb. vs. 34 lb.) at 3 years. Between 1 year and 3 years, a low rate (19%) of weight regain ( ≥ 5 lb.) was reported among respondents 80-100% adherent to NDPR guidelines.
 Conclusions: Weight loss and maintenance for a period of 3 years was observed in this self-selected group, and respondents who reported 80-100% adherence lost significantly more weight than those who reported 50-79% adherence to NDPR guidelines. Individuals achieved substantially greater weight loss than that commonly observed in weight loss intervention studies. An intervention study, which would provide further insight into the influence of the NDPR guidelines on weight loss and maintenance, is warranted.

The UK Politics of Overseas Voting

AbstractThe enfranchisement of non‐resident citizens has always been controversial in the UK, where for historical reasons, voting rights are not as closely associated with citizenship as elsewhere. The introduction of ‘overseas’ voting in the 1980s by the Conservatives was contested by Labour as a form of ‘international gerrymandering’ since expatriates were widely assumed to be disproportionately wealthy and therefore more likely to vote Tory. Expatriate campaigners have been increasingly vocal in denouncing the ‘electoral injustice’ of the ‘fifteen‐year rule’ which disenfranchises them after fifteen years abroad, and the exclusion of so many from the EU referendum highlighted their cause. A recent private member's bill proposing ‘votes for life’ for UK expatriates aimed to meet their demands to abolish the time restriction, now considered anachronistic. But their arguments were hijacked by historically embedded attitudes and disputes driven by party politics, ending in a dramatic and bewildering filibuster which this paper elucidates.

Vehicles of opposition influence or agents of the governing majority? Legislative committees and private members’ bills in the Hungarian Országgyűlés and the Israeli Knesset

ABSTRACTIn this article, we assess the role and the strength of the legislative committee system of two legislatures: the Hungarian Országgyűlés and the Israeli Knesset, by looking at the fate of private member bills over the past four legislative cycles (1998–2014 in Hungary and 2006–2019 in Israel). We find that Israeli committees allow opposition PMBs to succeed at a significantly higher rate than Hungarian committees do, even though the formal properties of the two committee systems are very similar: during the examined period, more than one-fifth of the laws that were passed by the Knesset were initiated as opposition sponsored PMB, whereas the corresponding number in the Országgyűlés was only one per cent. The central reason for this unexpected divergence in the success rate of opposition sponsored PMBs, in spite of a favourable institutional setting shared by the committee systems of the two parliaments, may lie in the different degrees of party concentration in the two legislative party systems.

Personalized politics and weakened parties—an axiom? Evidence from the Israeli case

Personalization of politics describes a process in which the power of individual politicians rises, ostensibly at the expense of the parties. This is manifested, among other ways, by the manner in which politicians use parliamentary tools. In this study, we focus on one such tool, the private member bill, assessing whether its use necessarily expresses personal behavior, which weakens the party, as suggested in the literature—or not. To test this, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the way Israeli legislators use private member bills in the Knesset, which is regarded as an indicator of personalized politics. We found that partisan-oriented behavior can be found even when using such a highly personal tool. This suggests that personalized politics does not always weaken the party. We also examined under which conditions Knesset members demonstrate partisan-oriented behavior while using private member bills. Testing institutional party-level variables revealed that MKs from parties with exclusive candidate selection methods, opposition parties, and small parties are more likely to exhibit such behavior.

Tackling Voyeurism: Is The Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 A Wasted Opportunity?

AbstractThe Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 amended the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to introduce a new offence that would seek to tackle so‐called ‘upskirting’. Whilst it originated as a Private Members Bill, it was quickly taken over by the Government following a backbench blocking manoeuvre. The Act ostensibly seeks to fill a loophole that exists within the law and to protect the sexual autonomy and inherent dignity of women. Instead, I will argue, the legislation deals with a niche area and is a wasted opportunity. Parliament chose to kick the issue into the long grass, from where it will be difficult to recover, with parliamentary time likely to be scarce over the coming years.

Assessing the parliamentary activities of UK MPs

The goals of this paper are threefold: (1) to investigate whether Akirav’s legislative productivity scale first developed in Israel can be used in the UK; (2) to determine whether it is better to analyze parliamentary activities separately or consider the use of all of the parliamentary tools available; and, (3) to examine Mayhew’s electoral connection in the UK. We define and measure legislative productivity as the number of parliamentary questions asked, early day motions presented, and private members’ bills initiated by individual MPs in the UK parliament. In addition, we assess the effectiveness of their legislative activity by the number of private members’ bills that passed. We found that UK MPs behave in a manner similar to other parliamentarians in other countries with respect to the variation in their use of parliamentary tools and ultimately, their legislative productivity, defined in terms of their activity, and their effectiveness. In addition, in accordance with previous studies, individual differences such as gender and institutional explanations such as being a member of the government or the opposition and seniority explain differences in productivity levels.

Comparison of the Business Ethics Practices of Private and Public Organizations in South Korea

This study investigated differences in business ethics (BE) between members of private- and public-sector organizations in South Korea. The primary data were collected by means of a survey conducted in 2014 and 2015. Our focus was on the respondents’ perceptions regarding: 1) their responsibility toward various stakeholders, 2) ethical conflicts, 3) decisions relating to ethics, 4) the promotion of an ethical environment in their organizations, 5) unethical practices, 6) the reporting of unethical practices, 7) the evolution of ethical standards, and 8) behaviors in situations involving unethical conduct. We found that, in most cases, respondents from the private and public sectors responded in similar ways. The most significant differences between the two groups were that, first, in making (un)ethical decisions, respondents from public organizations preferred personal ethics over institutional interests more often than those from private organizations, while the latter reported having observed unethical practices more often. Further, respondents from public organizations tended to view more optimistically the changes in ethical standards over the past ten years. When it came to reporting unethical practices, the respondents’ managerial status seems to have been a more significant factor than the private or public status of the organizations at which they were employed. Lastly, within the group of respondents from the public sector, the views of those associated with state-owned-enterprises (SOEs) tended to be distinct from those associated with other types of enterprises.