Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mrs. Barry and I'm going to be your citizenship teacher today.

I'm really looking forward to doing this lesson with you.

So let's get started.

Today's lesson is all about how laws are made.

We are going to have a look at how we can explain what a law is, the processes that laws go through to be made and evaluate the effectiveness of that process.

Quite a lot of this learning is likely to be new to you, but that's okay because I'm here to work through it with you and make sure you understand it by the end.

There's a range of keywords that we're going to look at today.

The first one being society, which is when people live together in an ordered community.

We're also going to look at Parliament, which are the institutions of government in the UK, which comprises of three parts, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the monarch.

We're also going to look at the Government, and that's a group of people with the authority to govern a country.

In the UK, the Government is chosen and led by the Prime Minister.

Another key word that we're going to look at is Bill, which is a proposed law under consideration by Parliament.

And then finally, our last key word for this lesson is an Act or an Act of Parliament, which is a law that has been passed by Parliament.

The first section of our lesson focuses around what are the separation of powers.

So let's make a start together.

So when we look at the separation of powers, we need to know that a law is a rule that everyone in a community or country has to follow.

Laws need to be fair and equally applied to everyone within a society.

Separation of powers helps us to create a balanced legal system where laws are made, enforced and interpreted fairly.

So before we go any further, we need to make sure that you understand what a correct definition of a law is.

So we have three options here to answer the question.

Which of the following is a correct definition of a law? Option A, a rule everyone in society has to follow, to keep society running smoothly and fairly.

Option B, a rule most people in society have to follow, to keep society running smoothly and fairly, or C, a rule only students need to follow when they're attending school or college.

So I'll give you a few seconds just to have a think.

Okay, so hopefully you have identified that it is a rule everyone in society has to follow to keep society running smoothly and fairly.

And the important thing here is there is everyone and it is designed, a law is designed to keep society running in a smooth and fair manner.

And this is really important when we understand what separation of powers is.

So here we have Laura and she says, " I recently set up a debating club in my school.

To divide up the different jobs and give everyone an equal say, we gave different people different roles.

This included chair, treasurer, secretary, and member." So in Laura's debate club there are clear separations of power.

The debate club has separated their power.

Each person within the group fulfils a different purpose and has a say in how the club runs.

This ensures that not one person has too much power and that the workload is divided.

And so a separation of power is an important part of a democracy.

It ensures that no one group of people has too much power and they cannot take over.

Instead, responsibilities are shared, just like in Laura's club.

In the UK, separation of powers refers to the following three institutions: We have the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.

So we're going to go through each of those.

And the first one is the legislature.

Parliament is a British legislative body.

Parliament is a bicameral House, meaning it has two chambers.

We have the House of Lords and we have the House of Commons.

And both get a say on new laws that are introduced and changes to existing laws.

There is also a third part of Parliament that's important you know about, and that is the monarch.

The second branch is the executive and the executive has the power to put laws into practise and make policies for the UK.

The Prime Minister and their Cabinet are the executive branch, and the Prime Minister is the leader of the political party who is in power and head of the Government.

Once they're elected, the Prime Minister picks their cabinet.

The cabinet is a group of MPs who lead major government departments and meet weekly.

The last branch is the judiciary and this, these are the judges in England and Wales, which form the judicial branch.

Judges do not create a new law, however, they can interpret law in different ways.

So let's check if you are able to identify the different branches.

And so we're going to match the branch with those who are responsible for it.

So I'd like you to have a look at A, B, and C and then match them to one, two, or three.

Now I'll just give you a few moments to do that.

Each branch has a different person or group of people who are responsible for it.

So let's check the answer.

Parliament is responsible for the legislature.

Prime Minister and their Cabinet are responsible for the executive.

And that leaves judges who are responsible for the judiciary.

And just another quick check for your understanding, let's have a look at this true or false question.

The Prime Minister can make laws on their own.

Do you think that is true or false? So the Prime Minister cannot make laws on their own.

So why is that? Laws are created by Parliament and this involves members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords debating and voting on what they should look like.

So here we have Jun and he says that, "Separation of powers in the UK includes different branches.

One is the legislative which is made up of Parliament, and another is the judiciary, which are judges." Is Jun correct about the separation of powers? You'll need to explain your answer with this and I suggest you pause the video to give yourself a good chance of having a real go at this question.

So well done for giving that question a go.

And here's some feedback for you that you can check against yours to see how well you did.

So Jun was correct about the separation of powers? Your answer might have included the following.

Jun is partially correct about the separation of powers because he has only included two of the three branches which outline the separation of powers in the UK.

Jun should also have included the executive which is formed of the Prime Minister and their Cabinet.

Each branch is important to ensure that no single group can make, enforce, or interpret laws without oversight.

This helps protect individual rights and maintain fairness in the legal system.

So we can see here in his answer that he gave the idea of Parliament and judiciary and he was just missing the fact that the Prime Minister and their Cabinet as part of the executive branch would also have a say.

Well done if you spotted that.

And if you didn't, don't worry, because you can do that next time.

Now we're onto part two of today's lesson and we're looking at how does a bill become a law? It is the role of the legislature to make laws and laws have a range of different stages they go through before they can be enforced across society.

While laws are being made, they are called bills.

Bills go through a long and thorough process before they have the chance to become law.

So let's go through the process of making a bill into a law.

Before we even get to the stage of calling it a bill, there are two stages that we have to go through.

Firstly, we get a Green Paper and a Green Paper is a government consultation document that gives people, that lets people give feedback on proposed laws.

Then we have a White Paper, which is policy documents from the Government outlining those proposals for new laws.

It's only at this stage that we get to start the journey of a bill and a bill is created and begins its journey through Parliament starting in either House.

So, let's have a quick think.

Where does a bill start its journey? Do you think it's A, only in the House of Lords, B, either in the House of Lords or the House of Commons, or C, in the House of Commons? I'll give you a moment just to have a think.

Okay, so hopefully you remembered that it's either the House of Lords or the House of Commons.

A bill can start its journey in either of those two chambers.

So let's have a look at the next three stages of a bill becoming a law.

We get the First Reading and this is when the bill is formally introduced and its title is read out.

There's no debate at this stage, members can review the bill.

It's then followed by a Second Reading and this is the first chance for the bill to be debated in either House focusing on its main principles.

And then we get to the Committee stage and this is where the bill is considered line by line and suggested changes are put forward.

So is this true or is it false? Only a select group of members can look over a bill.

That's false.

And why is it false? So during the First Reading, once a bill has been read out to either the House of Commons or the House of Lords all members can look over the draught of the bill.

Here are the next three stages.

You get a Reporting stage and this is the updated bill, with any changes being reported to the House.

All members can review it and suggest changes.

Then we have a Third Reading and this is usually the final chance for the House to debate, vote and decide to pass or reject the bill in its entirety.

And then we get later stages.

And both Houses must agree on the bill's wording.

It may go back and forth as they suggest changes, which is actually known as parliamentary ping pong.

So both Houses must agree on that bill before it becomes a law.

And if one House amends it, the bill returns to the other House to review the changes.

This process may repeat several times, hence it is often referred to as parliamentary ping pong.

There's one final stage that a bill must go through before becoming a law and that's Royal Assent.

Royal Ascent is when the monarch formally signs off the bill, the bill then becomes an Act of Parliament and is now a law.

Royal Assent is regarded as a formality.

The last time a monarch refused was actually in 1708.

The monarch is not able to introduce any new bills to Parliament.

So which stage includes a debate about whether to pass or reject a bill in its entirety? Do you think it's A, the Reporting stage, B, Third Reading, or C, Committee stage? It's actually in the Third Reading that a bill can be passed or rejected in its entirety.

There are a whole range of different stages of making a law and let's have a think about if we can put those into the correct order.

I'll give you a moment and I suggest actually you pause the video and try and remember all the different stages of making a law and write them down.

When you're ready, unpause the video and we can go through it together.

So, we were looking at how we can write down all the different stages of making a law in the correct order, and these are the things that you should have written down.

So firstly it's a Green Paper, secondly a White Paper.

The third thing is a bill starting its actual journey.

Fourth is the First Reading, and then that's followed by the Second Reading.

The sixth step is Committee stage.

The seventh is the Reporting stage, eighth is the Third Reading, and then we get to nine, which is the later stages including parliamentary ping pong.

Ten is Royal Assent.

And once that's done, then a bill becomes an Act of Parliament or an act for short.

I'm going to give you two statements.

Which statement connects to which stage of lawmaking? So Jun says, "A policy document is produced by the Government, outline their proposals for new legislation." And Sam says, "A bill is considered line by line and amendments may be suggested." Alex says, "The monarch signs off a bill." So which statement connects to which of the different stages of lawmaking? Pause the video and give it a go.

And when you're ready, unpause and we can have a look together.

Well done for giving that a go and considering the statements, looking at which of them connect to the different stages of lawmaking.

Your answers might look something like this.

So Jun said, "A policy document is produced by the Government outlining their proposals for new legislation." And that referred to the White Paper.

Sam said, "A bill is considered line by line and amendments may be suggested." This is referring to the Committee stage.

Alex said, "The monarch signs off a bill." And this is referring to Royal Assent.

We're onto the final stage of our lesson, we're going to be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of how laws are made.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of how a law is made? Not all countries make laws in the same way as we do in the UK.

There are different systems of lawmaking around the world and each of these systems has their own advantages and disadvantages.

Our lawmaking system has two elements which we can evaluate to see how effective they are.

We have the separation of powers and the law making process itself.

Let's take a look at what Sam has to say.

"Separating the powers means it isn't just one person creating a law, deciding the criteria for it and then upholding it.

If only one person could make laws, then they wouldn't be accountable and they could easily make any changes they wanted." Alex says, "On the other hand, because there are different groups involved, they all have to agree on the laws being put in place." And he recognises that this can take a long time.

So which of the following is an advantage of the separation of powers? You think it's A, separating powers prevents one person having control over making, interpreting and enforcing laws, B, separating powers allows for faster decision making by concentrating power in one branch, or C, separating powers allows one branch to handle both lawmaking and enforcement for efficiency.

I'll give you a few moments just to have a think about which one you think is an advantage of the separation of powers.

Okay, so an advantage of separation of powers is that separating powers prevents one person from having control over making, interpreting and enforcing laws.

If you think about it, if one person has all the power, they can do whatever they want and that can be quite dangerous.

Where you've got a whole group of different people, they're all having to keep each other accountable.

Let's take a look at what Izzy has to say.

"An advantage of having so many stages in the UK lawmaking process is that it allows for thorough scrutiny and debate, helping to identify and fix potential issues before the law is passed." Sam says, "However, with so many different stages, it can take a long time for a law to be passed.

The debate stage can be very lengthy and is referred to as parliamentary ping pong as sometimes laws go back and forth between the Houses multiple times before both can agree." So is this true or false? A disadvantage of the lawmaking process is that the passing of a law can take a long time.

So that's true.

It is a disadvantage that it takes such a long time.

And why is that? For a law to be passed, both Houses must agree on it.

If one House amends a bill, then it returns to the other House to review the changes and so on.

And this can take a long time.

If there's something you really want to change quickly, they can't get it done very quick.

So here we have Izzy and Sam.

And Izzy and Sam are preparing to have a debate on the advantages and disadvantage of the UK lawmaking process.

Write some key points to help them.

And within that, consider these three things: The different branches of lawmaking, strengths of the system used to make laws, and weaknesses of the system used to make laws.

I suggest you pause the video and give that a good go and when you've completed it, come back, and we can have a look at some of the answers together.

Well done for giving that a go.

Let's have a look at some of the key points about the different parts of lawmaking that you might have included.

So you might have included that the separation of powers means that there are three branches to the legal system in the UK.

The executive, the legislative, and the judiciary.

Separating those powers means it isn't just one person or group creating a law, deciding the criteria for it, and then upholding it.

Power is split between different groups and everyone is held accountable.

Before a new law is passed, it goes through multiple stages.

Both Houses must agree on a bill before it becomes law.

If the one House amends it, the bill returns to the other House to review the changes.

And finally, the monarch must grant Royal Assent.

The range of advantages and disadvantages you might have included are shown here.

So let's have a look.

So some of the strengths might include the fact that it's a thorough system because it does take quite a while to make a law.

They know they're making it as good as they possibly can.

It invites lots of people to have a say.

Using the different chambers in the House of Parliament, and also allowing other people to have consultation on it from the committee perspective.

It avoids mistakes because it builds in lots of scrutiny and debate and opportunity for amendments as they go through the cycle of making a law.

You might have included these weaknesses.

It takes a lot of time and therefore the Government can't always react quickly to urgent issues and citizens might not feel involved as they're only consulted at the very early stages through a Green Paper.

Today, we've done lots of learning and these are some of the things you might have picked up on.

So the separation of powers divides government responsibilities into branches to ensure no one branch can have too much power.

The three branches of the law are the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.

Laws start off as bills which go through a range of different stages before becoming an Act of Parliament.

There are both strengths and weaknesses to the lawmaking process which connect to the complex system involved, the time it takes to complete the process and the range of people involved.