Thelegislatures of the United Kingdom are derived from a number of different sources. TheParliament of the United Kingdom[1] is the supremelegislative body for theUnited Kingdom and theBritish overseas territories with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each having their own devolved legislatures. Each of the three majorjurisdictions of the United Kingdom (England and Wales,Scotland andNorthern Ireland) has its ownLaws andlegal system.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom can enactprimary legislation for the whole of the United Kingdom. In addition, theGeneral Synod of the Church of England and thePrivy Council can do so in certain limited cases.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the UK Parliament, the British Parliament, the Westminster Parliament or "Westminster", is the supreme legislative body for the United Kingdom and for English Law. It alone possesseslegislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is theSovereign of the United Kingdom, currently KingCharles III. Its seat is thePalace of Westminster inWestminster,London.
The United Kingdom Legislation may take the form ofActs, passed directly by Parliament, orStatutory instruments, made under the authority of an Act of Parliament by either agovernment minister or by theKing-in-Council. The latter are generally subject either to parliamentary approval (affirmative procedure) or parliamentary disallowance (negative procedure). The majority of Acts considered in the UK are defined as public general acts, or 'Acts of Parliament' as they will have progressed and gained approval as a Bill through both House of Commons and House of Lords, and have gained Royal Assent from the Monarch.
Local and Personal Acts of Parliament are presented to Parliament as a result of sponsored petitions. These are processed through committees to enable relevant or affected parties to challenge or change the proposed Act.Prerogative instruments, made by the Sovereign under theroyal prerogative are another source of UK-wide legislation.[2] The UK Parliament is responsible for all matters relating to defence and all foreign affairs and relations with international organisations, particularly theUnited Nations, theCommonwealth and theEuropean Union.
With there being no devolved legislature inEngland the UK Parliament is the supreme body for its governance, legislation, public bodies and local government.
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is an elected chamber consisting of 650 members, known asMembers of Parliament (MPs). They are elected using thefirst past the post system, in single-memberconstituencies. From the2024 general election 543 will be elected fromEngland, 57 fromScotland, 32 fromWales and 18 fromNorthern Ireland.
The House of Commons is now considered to be the supreme chamber of Parliament.
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is an unelected chamber with all members to the House of Lords being appointed. As of August 2018, there are 793 members known as "Peers". The House of Lords no longer has the same powers as the House of Commons under theParliament Acts 1911 and 1949, especially when it comes to blocking general legislation and the passing of financial legislation.
TheScottish Parliament is the national,unicameral legislature ofScotland, located in theHolyrood area of the capital,Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood",[3] is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known asMembers of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Of these 73 MSPs are elected usingfirst past the post in single member constituencies and a further 56 MSPs are elected using theD'Hondt method, a form of party-list proportional representation in eight additional member regions with each region electing 7 MSPs.
The Scottish Parliament was convened by theScotland Act 1998, which sets out its powers as adevolved legislature. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament – the areas in which it can makelaws – by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to theParliament of the United Kingdom: all matters that are not explicitly reserved are automatically the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.[4] The British Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws.[5] The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12 May 1999.[6]
TheScottish Statutory Instruments made by theScottish Government are another source of legislation. As with Statutory Instruments made by the British government, these are generally subject to either approval or disallowance by the Scottish Parliament
TheSenedd (Welsh Parliament;Welsh:Senedd Cymru) has the power to make legislation in Wales. The parliament was created by theGovernment of Wales Act 1998, which followed areferendum in 1997. It is a democratically elected body with 60 members known asMembers of the Senedd (MSs). Of these 40 MSs are elected usingfirst past the post in single member constituencies and a further 20 MSs are elected using theD'Hondt method, a form of party-list proportional representation in five additional member regions with each region electing 4 MSs.[7]
The Senedd had no powers to initiateprimary legislation until limited law-making powers were gained through theGovernment of Wales Act 2006. Its primary law-making powers were enhanced following a Yes vote in thereferendum on 3 March 2011, making it possible for it tolegislate in the 20 areas that are devolved without having to consult theUK Parliament, nor theSecretary of State for Wales.[7] The Senedd may delegate authority to enact legislation through Welsh Statutory Instruments. Under theWales Act 2017 the Senedd came into line with Scotland and Northern Ireland and moved to a reserved powers model.
The Northern Ireland Assembly is thedevolved legislature ofNorthern Ireland which is a democratically elected body comprising 90[8] members known asMembers of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The 90 MLAs are elected using thesingle transferable vote across the 18Westminster Parliamentary constituencies with each constituency electing 5 MLAs. It was established in 1998 as part of theGood Friday Agreement which was approved by the public inreferendums which were held in both Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland.
It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitlyreserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint theNorthern Ireland Executive. It sits atParliament Buildings atStormont inBelfast. Legislation of the Assembly empowers the Northern Ireland Executive to issueStatutory Rules in a variety of areas.
The Assembly was dissolved on 26 January 2017 owing to a breakdown of trust which brought down both the Assembly and Executive. In January 2020,Arlene Foster resumed her post as First Minister.
The United Kingdom became a member state of theEuropean Union (EU) when it joined what was originally known as theEuropean Communities on 1 January 1973. By virtue of theEuropean Communities Act 1972,EU law applied in the UK, in effect becoming another source of UK legislation.The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, though EU law were still applicable in the UK until the end of theimplementation period on 31 December 2020.
The European Parliament (EP) is thedirectly elected parliamentaryinstitution of the European Union. Together with theCouncil of the European Union (the council) and theEuropean Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU. The Parliament is composed of 751Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world (after theParliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligiblevoters in 2009).[9]
The United Kingdom between 1979 and 2020 used to elect members to the European Parliament, of these a number were elected using theD'Hondt method, a form of party-list proportional representation in 11 former regional constituencies inEngland,Scotland andWales while inNorthern Ireland 3 MEPs were elected using thesingle transferable vote in a single national constituency. With the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU all legislation that provided for the holding of elections to theEuropean Parliament as well as the position of Member of the European Parliament (MEP) within the UK was repealed by theEuropean Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
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