| OK, so
why an elephant? Changing the law is sometimes described
as being about as easy as moving an elephant! It can be a
slow and painful process, with many dead ends and pitfalls,
but have you ever wondered how our laws are made?
Parliament is a major source of law in the UK, and as part
of A/S Law, students need to know how Parliament makes the
law. Read the following passage of information and then click
on one of the activities beneath:
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Parliament consists of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
The House of Commons has approximately 660 Members of Parliament
(MPs) who are elected by the public in General Elections, in
which most UK citizens aged 18 and over are entitled to vote.
Once elected, MPs meet to discuss proposals to change the law
(eg to ban foxhunting). Proposals to change the law
are known
as Bills. They are discussed and debated by MPs in the House
of Commons before being passed to the House of Lords for their
agreement. A Bill must have the agreement of the House of Commons
and House of Lords before it can progress to the final stage:
the Queen must give her consent to every Bill before it can
become law. This process is known as ‘Royal Assent’ and
the reigning monarch rarely refuses to give consent to a Bill.
Only after passing through the House of Commons, the House
of Lords and receiving Royal Assent, does a Bill become an
Act of Parliament?
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