A consolidation bill is a bill introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the intention of consolidating several Acts of Parliament and/or Statutory Instruments into one Act. Such bills simplify the statute book without significantly changing the state of the law,^[1][2] and are subject to an expedited Parliamentary procedure. Consolidation bills are introduced in the House of Lords which, by convention, has primacy in these matters. The Lords has the only substantive discussion on the bill, at its second reading, before the bill is sent to a joint committee of both Houses which may propose amendments to it. Subject to this, the Lords' third reading and all readings in the House of Commons are usually formalities and pass without debate.^[1] A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not been ratified, adopted, or received assent. ... The Houses of Parliament, as seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... In Westminster System parliaments, an Act of Parliament is a part of the law passed by the Parliament. ... Statutory Instruments (SIs) are parts of United Kingdom law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary approval before becoming law. ... In Westminster System parliaments, an Act of Parliament is a part of the law passed by the Parliament. ... The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... Parliamentary procedure is the name given to the set of rules governing the decision-making process used by a deliberative assembly. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Wiktionary has a definition of: Primacy Primacy is the state or condition of being prime or first, as in time, place, rank, etc. ... Reading is a mechanism by which a bill is introduced to, and approved by a legislature. ... A Joint Committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a Select Committee consisting of members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

An example of a consolidation bill is the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000,^[3] which consolidated into a single Act parts of sentencing legislation previously spread across twelve separate Acts.^[4] In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ...

Most consolidation bills are proposed in the first instance by the Law Commission,^[4][5] and it is this prior consideration that gives rise to the expedited process afforded to these bills.^[5][6] Every consolidation bill proposed by the Law Commission has been passed by Parliament.^[7] The Law Commission is an independent body set up by Parliament in 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and recommend necessary reforms. ...

Categories of consolidation bills

There are five categories of bill that qualify as consolidation bills:^[8]

1. Bills which only re-enact existing law.
2. Bills which consolidate previous laws with amendments, proposed in response to recommendations from the Law Commission.
3. Bills to repeal existing legislation, again prepared by the Law Commission.
4. Bills to repeal various obsolete or unnecessary parts of existing legislation.
5. Bills which make corrections and minor improvements to existing legislation, prepared under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949.

The first three categories now account for almost all consolidation bills.^[8] A repeal is the removal or reversal of a law. ...

External links

• The Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills
• The Law Commission
• The United Kingdom Parliament

See also

• Legislation
• United Kingdom legislation

Legislation (or statutory law) is law which has been promulgated (or enacted) by a legislature or other governing body. ... United Kingdom legislation comes from a number of different sources. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Parliamentary Stages of a Government Bill (PDF) 7–8. House of Commons Information Office (March 2003). Retrieved on 2006 June 15.
2. ^ Glossary - Parliamentary Jargon Explained. United Kingdom Parliament Website. Retrieved on 2006 June 15.
3. ^ Elizabeth II (2000, c. 6). Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. The Stationery Office Limited. ISBN 0-10-540600-7. 
4. ^ ^{a b} About Us. The Law Commission. Retrieved on 2006 June 15.
5. ^ ^{a b} Statutory Law and Parliament - Legislative Procedure in the House of Commons. UK Law Online. Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds (October 1998). Retrieved on 2006 June 15.
6. ^ House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution (2006-06-08). Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill - Report With Evidence (PDF), London: The Stationery Office Limited, p.32. 
7. ^ Stuart Bridge (2003). Working For Better Law: The Role of the Law Commission. Retrieved on 2006 June 15.
8. ^ ^{a b} Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords. The Stationery Office (2005). Retrieved on 2006 June 15.