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Last Updated: Friday, 19 November, 2004, 18:01 GMT

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An act of will

The government has the power to force through legislation

The Speaker has invoked the Parliament Act to ensure the Lords pass the Hunting Bill into law in the 2004 session.

Peers effectively killed the bill in October 2003 when they allowed themselves to run out of Parliamentary time to discuss it.

But after the controversial Bill was reintroduced to Parliament in September it has passed to and fro between the Upper and Lower Houses until it was finally rejected by the Lords on 18 November.

Governments often threaten the House of Lords with the Act but rarely do they they bring it into play.

BBC Parliament explains how the Parliament Act enables the government to have its way.

Terms and conditions

Under the terms of the original Act a bill could be delayed for two years by the House of Lords. But after this time the will of the elected house could be imposed. It wasn't until the Parliament Act of 1949 that the hold-up time was reduced to 12 months.

And there are a number of other restrictions on the use of the Parliament Act by the government to force through legislation.

A bill must be reintroduced in the identical form that it left the Commons in the previous session.

The Lords need to reject it in the Parliamentary session after it was introduced before the Act can be employed.

The Speaker will have the final say in judging whether the legislation has complied with these demands.

The bill also needs to be a Government Bill, begun in the Commons for the Parliament Act to be valid.

Track record

The Act originates in 1909 when Lloyd George saw his people's budget trampled upon by members of the Lords.

Hunting Bill's progress
16 December 2002: Second reading
7 January-27 February 2003:Committee sessions
30 June 2003: Report Stage - Hunting ban amendment introduced by Tony Banks, passed by 362 votes to 154
3 July 2003: Committee session (again)
9 July 2003: Remaining stages (again)
16 September 2003: Lords second reading
21 October 2003: Committee stage (Day One) - Pro-hunting peers succeed in amending the Bill, re-instating registered hunting
28 October 2003: Committee stage (day two): Bill falls, owing to lack of Parliamentary time
The government of the day was nonplussed by a move from an Upper House distressed by tax reforms. They responded fiercely in 1911 with the Parliament Act.

The Parliament Act has only been used for three pieces of legislation since 1949.

When it has been employed there has been great consternation amongst opposition parties in the House of Lords.

Their ire could result in disruptions to the government's legislative plan.

The War Crimes Act of 1991 allowed Nazi war criminals to be bought to trial and triggered the use of the Parliament Act.

In 1999 it was used twice by Labour to implement the European Parliamentary Elections Act.

The Act was last employed in 2000 to lower the age of homosexual consent through the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act.

You can watch the progress of the Hunting Bill on BBC Parliament

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