Handling a legislative emergency

Hansard Society gives evidences to the Lords Constitution Committee

Dr Ruth Fox, Director the Parliament & Government Programme, recently appeared before the House of Lords Constitution Committee inquiry on emergency legislation.

Whether it’s the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 which facilitated the nationalisation of Northern Rock or the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, emergency legislation has often been controversial.

The inquiry is exploring the constitutional implications of emergency legislation and the procedural changes that might be necessary in order to improve parliamentary scrutiny and provide safeguards against abuse when legislation is rushed through Parliament.

In her evidence, Dr Fox said that the emergency legislation passed during the last 30 years was varied in subject matter, importance and urgency, and no simple definition would be easily achieved. However she identified common origins for urgent legislation such as court judgements, flawed original legislation, and treaty agreements.

The Committee also considered how parliamentary procedure functions in the case of emergency legislation. Dr Fox argued that when the government is seeking to fast track a bill through Parliament, it should be allow for greater flexibility in the parliamentary timetable to permit as much time for scrutiny as possible. In many instances when emergency legislation has been put forward by government, additional days for Parliament to consider bills could have been granted and sitting times could have been extended. She also reiterated the Hansard Society’s long-standing recommendation for the establishment of a Business Committee to manage the timetabling of legislation in a more transparent and accountable manner.

Dr Fox argued that given the limitations on scrutiny inherent with any fast-track passage through Parliament, it is vital to have formalised post-legislative scrutiny arrangements. The Hansard Society’s suggestion would be to establish a Joint Emergency Legislation Review Committee, composed of members of both Houses, who would examine any emergency legislation passed by Parliament at a set time after Royal Assent to assess whether it needed to be revisited. The Committee would compel the government to give its assessment of the impact of the legislation and seek the views of parliamentarians on it, before deciding whether it should be reconsidered through new primary legislation or renewed in its existing form through delegated legislation.

You can hear an audio recording of the evidence session on the Parliament website. The Hansard Society also provided written evidence to the inquiry, which can be found here.

Update: The Committee has now issued its report. Click here for more.