Constitution Committee (House of Lords)
Encyclopedia
The Constitution Committee is a cross-party select committee of the House of Lords
, the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. The Committee’s remit is “to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming before the House; and to keep under review the operation of the constitution”. There is no consolidated written constitution in the United Kingdom, but the Committee has defined the constitution as “the set of laws, rules and practices that create the basic institutions of the state, and its component and related parts, and stipulate the powers of those institutions and the relationship between the different institutions and between those institutions and the individual”.
The Committee has two main functions:
When the Committee looks at a bill, it asks if the bill raises issues of principle affecting a principal part of the constitution. If the Committee thinks it does, it may request information from the minister responsible for the bill or seek advice more widely. The Committee can simply publish the correspondence with the minister, or publish a report on the bill where this is thought to be necessary or desirable. These reports inform the deliberations of the House of Lords on the bill in question.
Recent scrutiny reports have looked at the following bills:
The Committee also used to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny of Welsh Legislative Competence Orders. This function ceased following the referendum in Wales in March 2011 by which the Assembly was given power to legislate directly. Examples of scrutiny reports on Welsh Legislative Competence Orders include:
The Committee then publishes a report based on the evidence received, which makes recommendations aimed principally at the Government. The Government is obliged to produce a formal written response to the Committee’s recommendations. The report and the Government response are then usually debated in the House of Lords.
Recent inquiries have looked into:
Current ongoing inquiries are listed on the Committee's webpage
(2004–2008), and Lord Goodlad.
The membership of the Committee as of 19 January 2011 is as follows:
The Clerk is Emily Baldock.
The Committee is assisted by a Legal Adviser: Professor A.W. Bradley (2002–05); Professor Andrew Le Sueur (2006–2009); and since July 2009, Professor Adam Tomkins
, John Millar Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow
School of Law
, and Professor Richard Rawlings, Professor of Public Law at the University College London
Faculty of Laws
.
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. The Committee’s remit is “to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming before the House; and to keep under review the operation of the constitution”. There is no consolidated written constitution in the United Kingdom, but the Committee has defined the constitution as “the set of laws, rules and practices that create the basic institutions of the state, and its component and related parts, and stipulate the powers of those institutions and the relationship between the different institutions and between those institutions and the individual”.
The Committee has two main functions:
- examining public bills for matters of constitutional significance; and
- investigating wider constitutional issues.
Scrutiny
The function of the Committee is not to resist constitutional change, but to ensure that when such change takes places through legislation, this occurs as the result of a conscious decision of Parliament, reached where possible after informed debate.When the Committee looks at a bill, it asks if the bill raises issues of principle affecting a principal part of the constitution. If the Committee thinks it does, it may request information from the minister responsible for the bill or seek advice more widely. The Committee can simply publish the correspondence with the minister, or publish a report on the bill where this is thought to be necessary or desirable. These reports inform the deliberations of the House of Lords on the bill in question.
Recent scrutiny reports have looked at the following bills:
The Committee also used to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny of Welsh Legislative Competence Orders. This function ceased following the referendum in Wales in March 2011 by which the Assembly was given power to legislate directly. Examples of scrutiny reports on Welsh Legislative Competence Orders include:
- The National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Social Welfare) Order 2009 (relating to Carers)(June 2009)
- Scrutiny of Welsh Legislative Competence Orders (December 2007)
Inquiries
The Committee fulfils the second limb of its remit by carrying out longer investigative inquiries into wider constitutional issues. Once the Committee has chosen a subject, it engages a specialist adviser (an external expert in the field) and written submissions are invited. The Committee then takes oral evidence from a range of witnesses, including government ministers, and can also undertake visits.The Committee then publishes a report based on the evidence received, which makes recommendations aimed principally at the Government. The Government is obliged to produce a formal written response to the Committee’s recommendations. The report and the Government response are then usually debated in the House of Lords.
Recent inquiries have looked into:
- The Process of Constitutional Change (July 2011)
- The Cabinet Manual (March 2011)
- Money Bills and Commons Financial Privileges (February 2011)
Current ongoing inquiries are listed on the Committee's webpage
Membership
Since 2010, the Committee has been chaired by Baroness Jay of Paddington. Previous chairmen were Lord Norton of Louth (2001–2004), Lord Holme of CheltenhamRichard Holme, Baron Holme of Cheltenham
Richard Gordon Holme, Baron Holme of Cheltenham PC was a British Liberal Democrat politician.Educated at University of Oxford and Harvard Business School, Holme joined the Liberal Party in 1959, and was elected as the party's President in 1980 and 1981...
(2004–2008), and Lord Goodlad.
The membership of the Committee as of 19 January 2011 is as follows:
- Baroness Jay of PaddingtonMargaret Jay, Baroness Jay of PaddingtonMargaret Ann Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington, PC is a British politician for the Labour Party.-Background:Her father was former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, and she was educated at Blackheath High School, Blackheath and Somerville College, Oxford.Between 1965 and 1977 she held production...
(Chairman) - Lord CrickhowellNicholas Edwards, Baron CrickhowellRoger Nicholas Edwards, Baron Crickhowell, PC is a British Conservative Party politician and a former Secretary of State for Wales.-Background:...
- Lord GoldsmithPeter Goldsmith, Baron GoldsmithPeter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, PC, QC , is a former Attorney General for England and Wales and Northern Ireland. On 22 June 2007, Goldsmith announced his resignation which took effect on 27 June 2007, the same day that prime minister, Tony Blair, stepped down. Goldsmith was the longest...
- Lord Hart of ChiltonGarry Hart, Baron Hart of ChiltonGarry Hart, Baron Hart of Chilton , is a British Labour politician. From 1998 to 2007, he was Expert and then Special Adviser to the Lord Chancellor, first Lord Irvine of Lairg and then Lord Falconer of Thoroton....
- Lord Irvine of LairgDerry Irvine, Baron Irvine of LairgAlexander Andrew Mackay Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, PC, QC , known as Derry Irvine, is a British lawyer and political figure who served as Lord Chancellor under his former pupil barrister Tony Blair....
- Lord Norton of Louth
- Lord Pannick
- Lord Powell of Bayswater
- Lord RennardChris Rennard, Baron RennardChristopher John "Chris" Rennard, Baron Rennard is a British Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. He was appointed in December 2010 to chair a commission on the Big Society on behalf of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations .-Education and personal life:Rennard...
- Lord Renton of Mount HarryTim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount HarryRonald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, PC , is a British Conservative Party politician. He served as a Minister of State in both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, and as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. He was promoted to the Cabinet serving as Margaret Thatcher's Chief...
- Lord Rodgers of Quarry BankWilliam Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry BankWilliam Thomas Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank, PC , usually known as William Rodgers but also often known as Bill Rodgers, was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior British Labour Party politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party...
- Lord Shaw of NorthsteadMichael Shaw, Baron Shaw of NorthsteadMichael Norman Shaw, Baron Shaw of Northstead is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1960 to 1964 and from 1966 to 1992....
The Clerk is Emily Baldock.
The Committee is assisted by a Legal Adviser: Professor A.W. Bradley (2002–05); Professor Andrew Le Sueur (2006–2009); and since July 2009, Professor Adam Tomkins
Adam Tomkins
Professor Adam Tomkins is a British legal scholar and John Millar Professor of Public Law at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow.Tomkins was educated at the University of East Anglia and the London School of Economics...
, John Millar Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
School of Law
University of Glasgow School of Law
The School of Law at the University of Glasgow provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Law, and awards the degrees of Bachelor of Laws , Master of Laws , Master of Science , Master of Research and Doctor of Philosophy , the degree of Doctor of Laws...
, and Professor Richard Rawlings, Professor of Public Law at the University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
Faculty of Laws
University College London Law Faculty
The UCL Faculty of Laws is one of the 10 constituent faculties of University College London . It is one of the world’s premier law schools, renowned for the quality of its teaching and its cutting-edge legal research...
.