Parliament facts for kids
A parliament is a type of legislature.
The most famous parliament is probably the one in the United Kingdom, which is sometimes called the "Mother of all Parliaments". The word "parliament" comes from the French word parler, which means a talk.
The Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, was founded earlier (930 AD), so it is the oldest legislature in the world still existing. However, the Althing did not function as a legislature for four centuries, and its role as a primary legislature is modern.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is split into three separate parts, the House of Commons (the lower house), the lords (the upper house) and the Monarch. Most legislative power is concentrated in the House of Commons. It is made up of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs). These people are elected by the people of the United Kingdom to represent them in the House of Commons. The leader of the political party who commands a majority of MPs is usually made the Prime Minister, but not the Head of State, a position reserved for the Sovereign. The House of Commons starts most Bills, the remainder originating in the House of Lords, and decides rates of taxation as a result of election by the other hereditary peers and two other hereditary peers who have ceremonial jobs in the House of Lords. They are the Earl Marshal who is always the Duke of Norfolk and the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Marquess of Cholmondeley. The House of Lords has the power to reject Bills, except Money Bills (tax bills), and make the House of Commons reconsider them. If the House of Lords vetoes a bill twice or delays a public Bill for more than one year then the House of Commons can force the Bill through under the terms of the Parliament Acts, unless it originated in the House of Lords. The monarch (now HM Queen Elizabeth II) is the sovereign in a constitutional monarchy and, theoretically, is the fount of all power in the United Kingdom. Bills must receive the Royal Assent before becoming Acts of Parliament and the monarch is responsible for summoning, proroguing and dissolving Parliament, normally upon the advice of the incumbent Prime Minister. It is now very rare for a monarch to object, but the sovereign still retains this prerogative for use if necessary.
Contents
How a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament
Bills may start their passage in either the House of Commons or House of Lords
Pre-legislative Scrutiny: Joint committee of both houses review bill and vote on amendments that government can accept or reject. Reports are influential in later stages as rejected committee recommendations are revived to be voted on.
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First Reading: No vote occurs. Bill is presented, printed, and in private members' bills, a Second Reading date is set.
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Second Reading: A debate on the general principles of the bill is followed by a vote.
Committee Stage: A committee considers each clause of the bill, and may make amendments.
Report Stage: An opportunity to amend the bill. The House consider clauses to which amendments have been tabled.
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Third Reading: A debate on final text as amended. In the Lords, further amendments may be tabled at this stage.
Passage: The bill is then sent to the other House which may amend it.
First Reading: Same procedures
Second Reading: Same procedures
Committee Stage: Same procedures
Report Stage: Same procedures
Third Reading: Same procedures
Passage: The bill is then returned to the original House.
Pre-legislative Scrutiny: To consider all amendments.
The bill is then processed for Royal Assent, if accepted, the bill becomes an Act.
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Making new law Types of bill Bill procedure First reading Second reading Commons committee stage Lords committee stage Report stage Third reading Passage through the other House Royal assent Delegated legislation | |
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Other parliaments
Other parliaments have copied the UK and work similarly. They have three levels - a lower house which makes the law, an upper house which reviews the law (Decides if they like it or not, and suggest changes to it), and a head of state who is mostly for show and who starts and ends each year of parliament. The Prime Minister is almost always the person whose party has the most seats, but if the lower house does not think he is doing a good job they can call a vote of no confidence and ask him to leave his job as Prime Minister or have an election.
The word "parliament"
Sometimes people use the word "parliament" to describe a legislature, even if it is not a real parliament. A "parliament" is a type of legislature which has a Prime Minister.
Similar to a congress
A parliament is a lot like a congress but a congress cannot ask the head of the government to leave his job. Also, a congress runs for a number of years according to the country's constitution, but a parliament can be stopped as long as enough members agree. Elections are held after this happens.
Countries that have Parliaments
- Australia
- Canada
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- India
- Israel
- Italy
- Malaysia
- Pakistan
- Romania
- Russia
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
Related pages
Images for kids
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The facing benches of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom are said to contribute to an adversarial style of debate.
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The House of Representatives of Japan
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The Federal Assembly of Switzerland
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A 1215 edition of Magna Carta, as featured on display at the British Library
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The statue of Oliver Cromwell, as it stands outside the House of Commons at the Palace of Westminster
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Iceland's parliament house, the Alþingishúsið, at Austurvöllur in Reykjavík, built in 1880–1881, home of one of the oldest still-acting parliaments in the world
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The Art Deco-styled session hall of the Parliament House of Finland
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The First Sejm in Łęczyca. Recording of laws. A.D. 1180
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The debating chamber of the reconvened Scottish Parliament from the public gallery
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The Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament
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The centre block of the Parliament of Canada Building in Ottawa
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The National Diet Building in Tokyo, Japan
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frameless
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Parliament of Åland
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See also
In Spanish: Parlamento para niños
