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Chapter 1

Legislation

Act of Delegated
Parliament Legislation legislation

Act of Parliament

Parliament consists of:

 The House of Commons

 The House of Lords

 The Monarch

In order to become an Act of Parliament, a Bill must go through the following stages
in both Houses:

 first reading – the name of the Bill and the its proposer is read out

 second reading – debate takes place on the principles of the Bill and it is then
voted upon

 committee stage – a smaller number of MP's consider the wording of the Bill.
This stage can last several months depending on the contentiousness of the Bill

 report stage – the Bill as amended by the Committee is reported back to the full
House

 third reading – the Bill is read for the final time.

At the end of this process in both Houses, the Bill must receive the Royal Assent.

Note that an Act does not necessarily come into force immediately. Its provisions
may take effect on a piece-meal basis. An example is the Companies Act 2006.

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