Legislation Act 2024

PART 1: GENERAL

1     Status of Law

1. Laws shall have status in accordance with the following:
   1. The Constitution shall have the highest status of law.
   2. Primary Legislation shall have the second highest status of law.
   3. Secondary Legislation shall have the third highest status of law.
   4. Common law, consisting of interpretations and determinations by the Court, shall have the fourth highest status of law.
2. In cases where statuses of law come into conflict, the law of the higher status shall override the lower.
3. No status of law listed under this section shall apply retroactively or may have retroactive effect, meaning that they shall apply or take effect only from the moment they have been enacted as statute law in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

2     Process of legislation

1. Primary legislation shall go through the following stages:
   1. Stage 1L – The legislation has been submitted to the House of Lords, and has been presented, printed and read for the first time.
   2. Stage 2L – The legislation is read for the second time and may be debated upon in the House of Lords.
   3. Stage CL – The legislation is presented to the relevant committee in the House of Lords, which scrutinizes each provision of the bill and may propose amendments.
   4. Stage CBL – The legislation has been blocked by the relevant committee in the House of Lords.
   5. Stage AL – The House of Lords considers any proposed amendments to the legislation.
   6. Stage 3L – The legislation is presented and printed as amended, and is read for the third time, and is debated upon in the House of Lords.
   7. Stage VL – The legislation is being voted on in the House of Lords.
   8. Stage FL – The legislation has failed a vote in the House of Lords.
   9. Stage 1C – The legislation has been submitted, or sent, to the House of Commons, and has been presented, printed and read for the first time.
   10. Stage 2C – The legislation is read for the second time and may be debated upon in the House of Commons.
   11. Stage CC – The bill is presented to the relevant committee in the House of Commons, which scrutinizes each provision of the bill and may propose amendments.
   12. Stage CBC – The legislation has been blocked by the relevant committee in the House of Commons.
   13. Stage AC – The House of Commons considers any proposed amendments to the legislation.
   14. Stage 3C – The legislation is presented and printed as amended, and is read for the third time, and is debated upon in the House of Commons.
   15. Stave VC – The legislation is being voted on in the House of Lords.
   16. Stage FC – The legislation has failed a vote in the House of Commons.
   17. Stage 4 – The legislation has passed a vote in the Houses of Parliament, and is presented to the Head of State for Royal Assent.
   18. Stage 4V – The legislation has been denied royal assent, and is not law.
   19. Stage 5 – The legislation has received royal assent and is sent for constitutional review, and is statute law.
   20. Stage 5F – The legislation has failed constitutional review, and is not law.
   21. Stage 6 – The legislation has passed constitutional review, and is statute law.
   22. Stage G – The legislation has been sent to the legislative graveyard.
   23. Stage R – The legislation has been repealed.

3     The Common Frameworks

1. The Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords shall jointly be charged with keeping a document which lists a set of rules for the structure of legislation and motions called the Common Frameworks which shall be available for all employees to view.
   1. If the Common Frameworks is amended, which shall require the approval of both house speakers, the Parliament and the Supreme Court shall be informed with details about what changed.

PART 2: PRIMARY LEGISLATION AND ITS PROCESSES

1     Introduction of Primary Legislation

1. Any member of Parliament shall be empowered to introduce primary legislation to the House of Commons, and any Lord Temporal and Spiritual shall be empowered to submit primary legislation to the House of Lords.
2. Introduced pieces of primary legislation shall enter into stage 1L and 1C, depending on the house in which it is submitted, and shall remain in said stage for three (3) days, during which it may be read aloud and presented in the chamber of the respective house, before automatically moving to stage 2L or 2C.
3. Introduced pieces of primary legislation shall be called a bill and must be submitted on the website.
   1. The person who submits the primary legislation shall be the sponsor, and other members of the same house may be listed as co-sponsors.
   2. The sponsor of primary legislation shall have the power to edit the piece of legislation until it reaches stage CL or CC in the respective house.

2     Parliamentary Debates

1. Legislation in stages 2L and 3L and 2C and 3C shall be debated upon in the respective house.
   1. Debates on legislation in stages 2L and 2C shall conclude with a non-fatal vote, and upon the conclusion of the debate, the legislation shall be sent to stage CL and CC respectively.
   2. Debates on legislation in stages 3L and 3C shall conclude with a vote, and upon the conclusion of the debate, a vote shall be held among the present members of the respective house; the legislation shall remain in said stage until moved to stage VL or VC.
2. Each house of Parliament shall establish Standing Orders, to be followed by members participating in parliamentary debates.
   1. The Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords shall determine the Standing Orders of their respective houses, but members of each house may amend the Standing Orders through an Early Day Motion containing the amendment.
      1. Amendments proposed for the purpose of amending the Standing Orders 
      2. Such an amendment must be supported by five (5) members of the house and must be submitted to the Clerk of the House of Commons in the Commons and the Clerk of the House of Lords in the Lords.
      3. Such an amendment shall require a simple majority in its respective house in order to pass, and if passed, the Speaker of the respective house must amend the Standing Orders accordingly.
   2. The Speaker of the respective house may also amend the Standing Orders at their own will by majority approval of the leadership of the respective house.

3     Committee Stage

1. Legislation in stages CL and CC shall be sent to the relevant parliamentary committee of the respective house for scrutiny.
   1. Parliamentary committees shall have three (3) days to review in full any bills submitted to it, and shall by simple majority vote either move the bill to stage AL or AC or block the bill by sending it to stage CBL or CBC in the respective houses.
2. Legislation in stages AL or AC shall remain in said stage for four (4) days, and may be amended by amendments submitted by the relevant committee or members of the respective house, who may propose amendments to the legislation in question, by submitting them to Clerk of the House of Commons in the Commons and the Clerk of the House of Lords in the Lords.
   1. Amendments proposed by a committee must pass via simple majority in the committee in order to be proposed, and amendments proposed by members of the respective house must have at least five (5) supporters.
   2. Amendments shall be submitted as motions by the chair of the relevant committee lasting twenty-four (24) hours, and shall require a simple majority in order to pass.
   3. If passed, the Clerk of the House of Commons in the Commons and the Clerk of the House of Lords in the Lords must apply the amendment to the legislation; if failed, nothing shall happen.

4     Voting

1. Legislation in stages 3L and 3C shall be eligible for a vote in the respective house, and shall be put up for vote by the Leader of the House of Commons or the Leader of the House of Lords in the respective house.
   1. The Leader of the House of Commons and the Leader of the House of Lords may withhold legislation from vote for any reason they deem fit.
2. Members of Parliament and Lords Temporal and Spiritual may submit a motion to the Clerk of the House of Commons or the Clerk of the House of Lords to have the legislation put up for vote, if it has been held from voting by the Leader of the House of Commons or Lords, in their respective house.
   1. The motion shall require five (5) supporters of the respective house, and shall require a simple-majority in order to be passed, and if passed, the Leader of the House of Commons or Lords must put the legislation up for vote; if it fails, nothing shall happen.
3. Legislation shall require a simple majority in order to pass the respective house, unless another majority requirement is required for passage according to statute law.
   1. Legislation passing a vote in stage VL shall move to stage 1C, and legislation passing a vote in stage VC shall move to stage 4.

5     Royal Assent

1. The Head of State shall either give or not give Royal Assent to legislation in stage 4, and shall have five (5) days to give or refuse Royal Assent.
   1. If the Head of State gives Royal Assent, the legislation shall enter stage 5 and shall become law.
   2. If the Head of State does not give Royal Assent, the legislation shall enter stage 4V and shall not become law.
2. In the absence of a Monarch, the member of the Royal Family next in line shall hold the power of Royal Assent.

6     Constitutional Review

1. There shall be a Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords, which shall scrutinize and review all stage 5 legislation and secondary legislation with existing law and the Constitution.
   1. The Legislation Scrutiny Committee shall consist of all Lords Temporal who are employed at the United Kingdom and all Lords Spiritual, and shall be chaired by the Lord President of the Supreme Court and deputy-chaired by the Deputy President of the Supreme Court.
      1. Lords Spiritual must participate in the review, but Lords Temporal can choose to abstain from the proceedings.
      2. Lords Temporal may only serve on the committee if they have been appointed King’s Counsel.
   2. Lords Temporal and Spiritual may not partake in the proceedings of the committee if they have sponsored the legislation being reviewed.
   3. Lords Temporal and Spiritual must remain impartial during the review, which shall be a matter of discerning constitutional flaws within the legislation, not the principles or politics of the legislation.
2. The Committee shall have up to ten (10) days from the date of entering Stage 5 to review primary legislation or from the date of submission to review secondary legislation, and if time expires, the legislation shall enter Stage 6 as if passing a constitutional review.
3. The Committee may amend any legislation under its review for the sole purpose of striking incompatible provisions within the legislation, so long as it does not affect the overall implementation of the legislation, or correcting any errors in spelling or referencing.
4. The Committee may strike down any piece of legislation found which is found wholly unconstitutional, which shall be sent to stage 5F; and if doing so, the committee must include a reason why, as well as the number of votes for each determination, which must be sent to the Houses of Parliament.

PART 3: SECONDARY LEGISLATION AND ITS PROCESSES

1     Issuing Secondary Legislation

1. The power to issue secondary legislation may be granted by law to a position.
2. There shall be two (2) procedures on issuing secondary legislation, which shall be the negative and the affirmative procedure:
   1. The negative procedure allows, by statute law, the person holding the specific position to issue the secondary legislation immediately.
   2. The affirmative procedure requires, as required by statute law, the person holding the specific position, if a member of Parliament (if not a Minister of the Crown, who is a member of Parliament, to whom this is delegated), to submit a motion to approve in accordance with Section 2 of this part.
3. Secondary legislation which amends primary legislation or excuses provisions of a law shall be known as an Order, and secondary legislation which stands alone as a further rule to the law shall be known as a Regulation.
4. Secondary legislation shall immediately enter into stage 5 of the legislative process, and shall be reviewed in the manner prescribed in Part 2, Section 6 of this Act.

2     Motion for Approval: Secondary Legislation

1. If approval is required for the issuance of secondary legislation, the relevant person may submit a motion for approval or the Leader of the House of Commons may submit it for them.
2. Motions for approval shall require a simple majority approval, unless otherwise required, and if the motion for approval is passed, the secondary legislation which is approved may be submitted; if the motion for approval is not passed, the secondary legislation may not be submitted.

3     Repealing Secondary Legislation

1. A person who has the power to issue secondary legislation may also repeal secondary legislation issued under the same power to issue secondary legislation.
2. Secondary legislation may also be repealed via primary legislation.
   1. A piece of secondary legislation shall be repealed by primary legislation upon reaching stage 5, but the nullification shall become void if the primary legislation is declared unconstitutional.
3. The House of Commons may initiate a secondary legislation repeal process through a prayer motion to nullify and repeal secondary legislation.
   1. Any member of Parliament may, within four (4) weeks from the issuance of the secondary legislation, request a motion prayer to be submitted by the Clerk of the House of Commons, who must submit the motion if the requirements are fulfilled.
   2. The prayer motion must be supported by at least five (5) other verified members of Parliament and must contain a detailed explanation as to why the secondary legislation is being nullified and repealed.
   3. The vote on the nullification resolution shall last forty-eight (48) hours and must be passed by at least an 80% affirmative majority of all votes cast, excluding abstentions, and if successful, the piece of primary legislation shall be repealed.
   4. Only one (1) piece of secondary legislation may be nullified and repealed per prayer motion.

PART 4: MOTIONS

1     Censure Motions

1. Censure motions may be submitted by members of parliament or Lords Temporal and Spiritual in their respective houses to their respective Speaker with the support of at least ten (10) members of the house.
2. Censure motions may censure an individual or a group, and shall be the highest form of reprimand without any official consequences.
3. Censure motions shall require a two-thirds majority in the respective house in order to pass.

2     Early Day Motions

1. Early Day Motions may be submitted by members of parliament or Lords Temporal and Spiritual in their respective houses with the support of at least five (5) members of the house to the Clerk of the House of Commons or Lords.
   1. Ministers of the Crown may not submit or support such a motion, but may vote on them.
2. Early Day Motions shall be non-fatal motions which shall express the view of the house on a particular matter.
3. Early Day Motions shall require a simple majority in the respective house in order to pass.

3     Carry-over Motions

1. Carry-over Motions may be submitted by members of parliament or Lords Temporal and Spiritual with the support of five (5) members of the respective house to the Clerk of the House of Commons or Lords.
2. Carry-over motions, if passed, shall revive legislation which has been sent to stage G or stages CBL and CBC in the respective house.
   1. Legislation revived from stage G shall be sent to the stage it was in before it was sent to stage G, and legislation in stages CBL and CBC shall respectively be sent to stages AL and AC.
   2. If the motion fails, nothing shall happen.
3. Carry-over motions shall require a simple-majority in the respective house in order to pass.

4     Regret Motions

1. Regret Motions may be submitted by Lords Temporal and Spiritual, with the support of at least five (5) members of the house, to the Leader of the House of Lords.
2. Regret motions shall be non-fatal and have no effect if passed, but shall express the dissent of the House of Lords in the issuance of a piece of secondary legislation.
3. Regret motions shall require a simple majority in the House of Lords to be passed.