Private member's bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in which a "private member" is any member of parliament (MP) who is not a member of the cabinet (executive). Other labels may be used for the concept in other parliamentary systems; for example, the label member's bill is used in the Scottish Parliament and the New Zealand Parliament,[1][2] the term private senator's bill is used in the Australian Senate,[3] and the term public bill is used in the Senate of Canada.[4] In legislatures where the executive does not have the right of initiative, such as the United States Congress, the concept does not arise since bills are always introduced by legislators (or sometimes by popular initiative).
Not to be confused with Private bill or Private law.
In the Westminster system, most bills are "government bills" introduced by the executive, with private members' bills the exception; however, some time is set aside in the schedule for reading such bills. They may be introduced by non-ministerial MPs from government-supporting parties (backbenchers), by members of opposition parties (frontbencher or backbencher), or by independents or crossbenchers. The Israeli Knesset has a long history of enacting private members' bills: a slight majority of the laws passed by it originated as private members' bills, and thousands more are introduced without being passed.[5] In contrast, the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland rarely passes private members' bills, with the overwhelming number of bills being passed being introduced by members of the cabinet.[6]
A private member's bill is not to be confused with a private bill, which is a bill that only affects an individual citizen or group.
Private member's bill by region[edit]
Australia[edit]
In Australia, a draft bill is prepared by Parliamentary Counsel, acting under instructions from the private member. After community consultation, the member introduces the bill into the Parliament.
Only 30 private members' bills or private senators' bills introduced into the Australian Parliament since 1901 have been passed into law.[6] Of these, thirteen have been initiated by senators, ten by members and seven by the Speaker and Senate President. A larger number have passed one house but not the other. An even larger number did not pass the house in which they were introduced and thus lapsed.
Among the most notable of the successful bills was the Commonwealth Electoral Bill 1924, which introduced compulsory voting for federal elections. This was introduced by Senator for Tasmania Herbert Payne of the Nationalist Party[7] on 16 July 1924, passed by the Senate on 23 July, passed by the House of Representatives on 24 July – both times with little debate – and given royal assent on 31 July. Despite much public debate ever since on the issue of compulsory voting, the legislation has never been repealed.
Another very notable private member's bill was the Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996, which deprived the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory and Norfolk Island legislatures of the power to make laws permitting euthanasia. This was introduced by Kevin Andrews, Member for Menzies, after the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly had passed such a law, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. Although Andrews was a member of the Liberal Party, members and senators were allowed a conscience vote on the issue, and each side of the debate was supported by members and senators from all political parties.
A private member's bill, the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017, legalised same-sex marriage throughout Australia on 9 December 2017. It was introduced by Dean Smith, Senator for Western Australia.
Notable also was the private member's bill introduced by Alan Corbett in the New South Wales Legislative Council to amend the Crimes Act of 1900. The first successfully enacted (or indeed introduced) bill in over 100 years to address the protection of children from abuse and excessive physical chastisement. It received very wide support from New South Wales organisations related to child health and welfare and was backed by several prominent members of the medical profession, particularly in the paediatric field, notably John Yu, CEO of Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney (who had been honoured by the Australian Government with the prestigious Australian of the Year award in 1996). Its initial aims were to limit physical chastisement by banning the use of implements (belts, sticks, hairbrushes, etc.), ban the use of force above the shoulders (thus preventing neck, head, brain and facial injuries), and require that any physical force applied leave only trivial and short-lived signs such as redness (that is, no bruising, swelling, welts, cuts, grazes, internal injuries, emotional trauma, etc.); with the exception of the clause banning the use of implements (which was dropped to gain essential support from the state Labor Government for the bill), it was passed intact and became law in 2001.
Canada[edit]
In Canada, a private member's bill (French: projet de loi émanant d'un député) is a bill introduced in the House of Commons by a member of parliament who is neither a cabinet minister nor a parliamentary secretary. A private member's bill follows the same legislative process as a government bill, but the time allocated for its consideration is restricted. Private members' bills may be considered only during one of the daily Private Members' Hours. Under rules established in 1986, 20 items of private members' business are selected at random to receive priority in debate. Six of these items are chosen by a committee to be votable and must come to a vote in the House. Prior to the 1986 rules, private members' bills and motions could be "talked out", meaning that all the time allocated to private members' bills could be used up introducing or debating bills without them ever being voted on, as each bill must be voted on after the second hour of debate. (The ramifications of the 1986 rules were discussed in the Canadian Parliamentary Review, 1988, Vol 11, No. 3.[8]) Even under the new rules, very few private members' bills become law. But passage is more likely in minority government situations.[9] The vast majority of private members' bills that actually do become law are for the purpose of changing the name of the riding represented by the MP introducing the bill.
When an election is called, all bills that have not been passed die on the order paper (that is, they are removed from the agenda of Parliament, and must be re-introduced in the new session of Parliament after an election). In the House of Commons (but not in the Senate), private members' bills remain on the order paper when Parliament is prorogued.
Notable private members bills have been the following: