Government Response to the Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill
Title | Government Response to the Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill PDF eBook |
Author | Great Britain. Ministry of Justice |
Publisher | |
Pages | 56 |
Release | 2009 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9780101769020 |
This response to the Joint Committee is published on the same day as the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. This Bill is the result of the process of deliberation that started with the publication of the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, and adopts a number of the proposals set out there
The Government's Response to the Report of the Public Administration Select Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill
Title | The Government's Response to the Report of the Public Administration Select Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill PDF eBook |
Author | Great Britain. Lord Chancellor's Department |
Publisher | |
Pages | 21 |
Release | 2009 |
Genre | Constitutional law |
ISBN | 9780101768825 |
This response to the Public Administration Select Committee is published on the same day as the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. This Bill is the result of the process of deliberation that started with the publication of the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, and adopts a number of the proposals set out there
Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill
Title | Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill PDF eBook |
Author | Bernan |
Publisher | The Stationery Office |
Pages | 452 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 9780104013502 |
The draft Bill and White Paper were included in Cm. 7342-I,II,III (ISBN 9780101734226) which follows the Green paper issued in July 2007, Cm. 7170 (ISBN 9780101717021) and various other Governance of Britain papers
HL Paper 166-I / HC Paper 551-I House of Commons / House of Lords Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill: Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, Volume I
Title | HL Paper 166-I / HC Paper 551-I House of Commons / House of Lords Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill: Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, Volume I PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | The Stationery Office |
Pages | 170 |
Release | |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9780104013441 |
Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (provisions Relating to the Attorney General)
Title | Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (provisions Relating to the Attorney General) PDF eBook |
Author | Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee |
Publisher | The Stationery Office |
Pages | 68 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 9780215521262 |
This report examines the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (contained in Cm. 7342-I,II,III, ISBN 9780101734226) to see how far its provisions put into effect the recommendations of its predecessor Committee's 5th report on the constitutional role of the Attorney General (HC 306, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780215035462). The draft Bill makes no substantial change to the current situation. The Attorney General remains both chief legal adviser to the Government and a Government minister. There is no justification for giving the Attorney General power to halt investigations by the Serious Fraud Office. The Committee favours a statutory duty being placed on ministers to observe the rule of law. The accountability of the post remains limited. Public confidence in the post could be enhanced if it were to become the practice to publish all or most of the Attorney General's advice where it is referred to in support of a political case being put forward by the Government. The problem of being both legal adviser and a minister is difficult to resolve, but the Committee believes that transparency require s separating the political functions from the legal functions. The Draft Bill fails to achieve the purpose given to constitutional reform by the Prime Minister: it gives greater power to the Executive; and it does not add to transparency.
Constitutional Renewal
Title | Constitutional Renewal PDF eBook |
Author | Great Britain. Parliament House of Commons. Public Administration Select Committee |
Publisher | The Stationery Office |
Pages | 94 |
Release | 2008-06-04 |
Genre | Civil service |
ISBN | 9780215520777 |
In this report the Public Administration Select Committee makes constructive suggestions for improving the Government's proposals for put forward in the March 2008 white paper on constitutional renewal and the accompanying draft bill. At present many important ministerial powers - the 'prerogative powers' may be excercised without parliamentary approval. The Committee's aim here is to open up the secret powers of the Executive to parliamentary scrutiny and approval. The proposals for the Civil Service were welcomed and it is felt that the purpose of legislation would be to protect the core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity, impartiality - and its key characteristics - recruitment on merit and the ability to serve governments from across the political spectrum. Suggestions to strengthen the draft further in this respect were made. The Government's proposals on the other prerogative powers were felt to be disappointingly limited and felt to contain loopholes which would allow the Exectuive to bypass Parliament at their discretion. The Committee found that the Government's draft resolution on war-making powers leaves too much discretion in the hands of the Prime Minister and describe the need to seek retrospective approval for urgent military operations as the price of democracy. The Committee also found, in relation to the making of treaties, that the Government's proposed Parliamentary safeguard could be ignored at will. They also urge swift progress on legislation on the procedures for issueing passports and a wider review of the prerogative powers.
How Our Laws are Made
Title | How Our Laws are Made PDF eBook |
Author | John V. Sullivan |
Publisher | |
Pages | 72 |
Release | 2007 |
Genre | Government publications |
ISBN |