Strengths and Weaknesses of the Parliament Essay Example for Free

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Parliament Essay Weaknesses †¢ Investigation and implementation of new laws is time consuming and parliament is not always able to keep up with changes in society. †¢ Delegated authorities are not all elected by the people and there may be too many bodies making laws. †¢ It is not always possible to change the law in accordance with changing values in society. †¢ Parliament can make laws retrospectively, which can be unfair. †¢ Cabinet’s legislative proposals may dominate law-making by parliament, particularly where the government controls both houses. Parliament’s response to community views may not be adequate. * Makes laws whenever the need arises Strengths †¢ Parliament can make law in futuro, which means they can make laws even before the need arises. †¢ Parliament can investigate the whole topic and make a comprehensive set of laws. †¢ Parliament can delegate its power to make law to expert bodies, which can make the regulations much faster than parliament. †¢ Parliament is able to involve the public in law-making. †¢ Parliament can change the law as the need arises (in comparison to courts). Weaknesses Investigation and implementation of new laws is time consuming and parliament is not always able to keep up with changes in society. †¢ The process of passing a Bill is time consuming. †¢ Parliament is not always sitting, so changes in the law may have to wait some time. †¢ Changes in the law may involve financial outlay, which may not be economically viable at the time. †¢ The division of law-making powers between the federal and state parliaments is in dispute from time to time, therefore often a law may be ‘put on hold’. †¢ Parliament’s Upper House can ‘rubber stamp’ or deliberately obstruct legislation. The government of the day might decide for political reasons that they do not wish to make a law, even though there may be a need for it. Following is an extract that critically examines two strengths of parliamentary law-making, as required by the question. It is true that parliament can create informed laws that reflect the views of the community because it is able to consult with the public through speaking with voters and also examining the opinion of voters through investigations conducted by formal law reform bodies such as the ALRC. However, members of parliament may not legislate on controversial issues such as euthanasia because they fear voter backlash. Thus, this can limit the law-making ability of parliament to truly represent the views of the entire community. The political nature of parliament, whereby there are two distinct parties controlling most of the seats can also limit the ability of parliament to reflect the views of the community because MPs will almost always vote on party lines, often preventing law reform that reflects the views of the community.