Project X Release Day 13th. A peek at how Law is Made

eXtasy

But tonight... Oh my God, tonight... Tonight, Morgan wasn’t gorgeous, Morgan was... He was... There was no word to describe what he was. He was leaning against the fireplace with a glass of brandy in his hand, wearing the tightest pair of leather trousers I’ve ever seen. Not only were they tight, but they were split up the sides and laced, showing off a good two inches of skin on each side.

If that wasn’t enough to make me shiver, his top half was encased in a close-fitting, soft leather waistcoat over a white linen shirt.  The crisp whiteness set off the inky blackness of his hair, which was loose around his shoulders. He’d even outlined his eyes in black eyeliner. It made the green more vivid than ever. Shit, he was every girl’s wet dream. He even had me feeling suddenly hot and uncomfortable under that vibrant, electric stare.

Matthew thought Morgan Bentley was a bastard. He held on to that belief for a long time. Then things started to happen, little things that started to change his mind. This wasn't one of them.

Blurb

Matthew and his friend Cory are thrilled to attend one of the most prestigious universities in the UK. On their pre-entry visit, they met Morgan Bentley and his stuck-up friends. Matthew takes an instant dislike to the arrogant, conceited, self-obsessed, beautiful, intelligent and charismatic boy. Throughout the next year, Matthew harbours his dislike, never missing the opportunity to complain to his best friend, Cory, what a bastard Morgan is.

Then, an unexpected turn of events catapults Matthew, Morgan and Cory into a nightmare, and all the things Cory had said, about Matthew’s true feelings about Morgan, come crashing down on his head and he realises that what he thought was hatred and anger was, in fact, growing attraction and begrudging admiration. But when the deadly nature of the elusive Project X is revealed it seems their budding romance is doomed before it begins, as one of them is unlikely to get survive.

How are Laws Made

 New laws are made by Parliament and are termed ‘primary legislation’ because this is the first place to look when you want to know what the law on any particular matter is. I say ‘the first place’ because you can’t rely on what’s written in an act to tell you what a court is going to say on your case.

This is because there are a number of ways of making ‘secondary laws’, such as common law and legal interpretation. None of the other methods actually make new law, but are just interpretations of primary legislation. That’s not to say they don’t change, or at least bend the meaning or application and need to be studied carefully together with the Acts of Parliament (called statute) to work out what the law actually says.

So, how is an Act of Parliament made? Usually this is a process that happens over time, although they are sometimes rushed through if there are serious matters to be dealt with. I have to say that these ‘fast track’ laws are often badly drafted. They’re not well thought out and they often have effects that were never intended.

The first step is to identify an issue that needs to be dealt with by a law. Sometimes these come from specific events, for example the gun laws that were passed after the Hungerford massacre in 1987 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungerford_massacre Sometimes they come from political manifestos (the statement of intent put out by political parties before elections), and sometimes they come out of committees, studies or parliamentary questions.

Once the issue has been identified a proposal is made. These can come from all kinds of sources, for example a political party, public enquiries, lobbyists and campaign groups. No matter where it comes from, it will need the backing of a government minister, who will champion the cause as the law follows its path through parliament.

Before laws are drafted they are set out in a ‘green paper’, which is an initial outline of an idea. A ‘white paper’ might also be drawn up, which is a firmer statement of intent. The proposer/minister, then sends the proposal to experts, interest groups and people likely to be affected by the plans who are asked to make comments. Sometimes panels or commissions are set up to consider the plan.
These commissions can take weeks or even months to carry out their enquiries and report.

Once the consultation stage is over, a final draft of the ‘white paper’ is drawn up and is then put forward to the next stage which is a cabinet committee. Basically, the government minister(s) who back the proposal seek to persuade their colleagues to support it before it goes to the committee which is made up of ministers from all political parties, and chaired by a senior member of the cabinet.

If the cabinet committee approves the plan, it’s then put to the Legislation Committee. It will not usually be the only proposal put through at any one time, and the Legislation Committee chooses which ones they want to put forward. The plan is then drawn up into a ‘bill’ by highly specialised lawyers.

All the bills the government intends to put forward are announced in the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament, after the summer recess.

The bill then goes to either the House of Lords or the House of Commons and goes through a series of steps

• First Reading – when it’s simply read out.
• Second Reading – in the House of Commons, the MP’s discuss and debate the bill, and vote at the end. In the House of Lords they don’t vote.
• Committee Stage - the bill is carefully considered in great detail by a committee of MP’s, or the Lords. Any changes have to be formally proposed and voted on.
• Report stage – The approved bill is sent back to the House where further changes can be suggested.
• Third Reading – A further debate and final amendments can be introduced.
• Approval by the opposite chamber – if the bill started in the House of Lords it goes to the House of Commons. If it started in the House of Commons it goes to the House of Lords. It then goes through the same stages all over again. Both houses have to agree on the final bill.
• Finally, the bill goes to the Queen for the Royal Assent. Once that’s given the bill becomes an Act and is law.


In practice, some of these steps are often skimmed over or rushed, and it needs to be mentioned that many of the people responsible for the law making process very much have an individual/group/governmental agenda and may be out of step with the best interests of the country or particular demographics within it.

I hope you enjoyed your peep into some of the things Morgan and Matthew learned about at university.

Projext X will be formally released on Monday so check in then for some fun, some snippets and a giveaway.