It is through laws that policies of government are laid down for implementation. It does however have many constitutional roles to fulfil such as the power of the purse, oversight, foreign policy and legislation. It can be argues that Congress does fulfil its constitutional roles as it may deliver effective over sighting, legislation, money bills, representation and foreign policy that may provide good checks and balances. However, most would argue that Congress may not carry its roles effectively thus leading to poor scrutiny (sometimes over scrutinising) which leads to ineffective fulfilment of constitutional roles. The principle organ of the US state is to legislate, represent and scrutinise the other, safely separated, branches of the government.
If the president decides to veto the bill, the Senate and House still has the ability to overrule the president’s decision. In general, the process is quite a lengthy one. It takes time, focus and good decision making to determine the validity of any bill. Sources: "Constitutional Topic: How a Bill Becomes a Law - The U.S. Constitution Online -
Famously quoted by Lord Scarman in Duport Steels Ltd v Sirs (1980) : “Parliament makes and unmakes the law, the judges duty is to interpret and to apply the law, not to change it to meet the judge’s idea of that justice requires.” Earlier examples of the application of the literal rule is the case of Whiteley v Chappell (1868) and also R v Harris (1836) where the court strictly follows the literal rule throughout the case proceedings. Advantages of the literal rule includes that it encourages precision in drafting, brings certainty and also to withhold the parliamentary sovereignty. However this rule might inevitably lead to absurdity in more than one
Smaller groups will look at specific policy issues and legislation in detail. There are different committees with different roles e.g. offering advice, producing reports and altering legislation. Parliament has the responsibility to pass new legislation. The majority of new laws or changes to existing laws come from government but the can also come from MP’s, Lords or even a member of the public.
This independence derives from the constitution as the founding fathers suggested Congress was to be “the central element of the new political system” allowing Congress to perform checks and balances on a powerful executive. Congress is the branch of government closest to the people and the framers of the Constitution intended it to be the most powerful. Although, in the nineteenth and twentieth century, Congress has decreased in importance as the powers of the presidency expanded. Constitutionally it was given three main powers, all of which remain important today. First, all legislative power is vested in the house of reps and the senate, and within this broad function, Congress is given special powers to appropriate monies, raise armies and regulate interstate commerce.
Further, delegated legislation can be used to make technical changes to the law, such as altering sanctions under a given statute. Also, by way of an example, a Local Authority have power given to them under certain statutes to allow them to make delegated legislation and to make law which suits their area. Delegated legislation provides a very important role in the making of law as there is more delegated legislation enacted each year than there are Acts of Parliament. In addition, delegated legislation has the same legal standing as the Act of Parliament from which it was created. Criticism Delegated legislation is not without its criticisms.
“We often say that we are looking for the intention of Parliament, but that is not quite accurate. We are seeking the meaning of the words which Parliament used” Per Lord Reid in Black Clawson Int v Papierwerke Waldhof Aschaffenburg (1975) AC 591 In light of Lord Reid’s quote, analyse how the judiciary interpret Acts of Parliament. Parliaments passed statutes every year and the meaning of the law in these statutes should be clear and explicit but this is not always achieved. Although legislations are composed by Parliament, it is left to the courts to interpret provisions and give meaning to them. Statutes are drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel who are a group of individuals who are skilled in law, however some legislation are still obscure and words are found to be ambiguous and it is for the judge to discover the intentions of Parliament.
Confederation and Constitution Both the article of Confederation and the New Constitution of 1787 had their strength and weaknesses. The article of Confederation has given the state a lot of power, which will lead to the New Constitution. Many believe that was the right thing to do, in the next paragraph we will compare the strength and weakness of both and also look in details why they had to go with the New Constitution of 1787. The article of Confederation was first adopted on November 15, 2007 by the United States. The thirteen states had to make some ratification of it and that didn’t occur until March 1, 1781.
Its origins traced to the King’s council which essentially was an assembly of advisers to the King which also decided on appeal cases. This assembly, under one house, together with the crown made up what was known as the Parliament. The separation of the house into two houses as we know it today, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, occurred during the fourteenth century, although some scholars believe that the houses were separate since its origin. Functions of the houses at the time as juxtaposed with today were different. At the time, the Lords gave advice to the King, while the Commons consented to the King’s proposals.
The Magna Carta acknowledged some of the basic human rights such as property rights, protection from over taxation, and the rights of due process. Essentially, the Magna Carta was the beginning stages for our modern democracy, a document that would start limiting the power of the king and expressing the freedom of men. The government is divided into three bodies within the Constitution: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. The first article in the Constitution focuses on the establishing of Congress, which immediately shows the authors' view on the significance of the representative side of government. Congress would compose of elected officials from all states, and have the power to propose and pass laws.