What is Legislation?

In a civilized society there is a requirement for laws to be observed. For this to be credibly fulfilled, these laws must be created by a group of individuals that is representative of the People. The first responsibility of a parliament is thus the making of laws as reflected in the term ‘legislature’.

The legislature is defined as an assembly that deliberates and adopts laws and has the power to raise taxes, adopt the budget, and other money bills, and of which consent is required in order to ratify treaties and declare war. The legislature is known as both “congress” and “parliament” in nations around the world. In the parliamentary system the legislature appoints the executive, while in presidential or congressional systems the legislature is a power that is considered equal to and independent from the executive.

Parliament makes laws for a variety of reasons. The government would have come to power on certain commitments or promises to make or change laws to meet the varying needs of society. As the government proceeds with its work, there will inevitably be other circumstances that necessitate handling through use of its law-making mechanism. Some situations that the government will face will stem from a combination of both of these factors.

Legislation thus derives from various pressures and is the answer to society’s needs for a well-ordered and just code of governance. While government, through its Ministers, will always be the chief initiator of laws, there are opportunities in democratic legislatures for non-Ministers, both from the government and the opposition, to present their own attempts to change the law or to influence draft legislation, though it would be optimistic to expect these to succeed without government support or cooperation.