Jackson V Attorney General - Background

Background

In the United Kingdom, bills are normally presented for Royal Assent after they have been passed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, at which point they become primary legislation as Acts of Parliament. However, bills can also be passed using the Parliament Acts. The Parliament Act 1911 allowed bills to be presented for Royal Assent without the assent of the House of Lords if they had been passed by the House of Commons in three successive parliamentary sessions and there had been a delay of two years. The Parliament Act 1949, passed using the Parliament Act procedure, amended the 1911 Act to reduce the power of delay to two successive sessions and a period of one year. The legislation defines two exceptions in section 2(1) of the Parliament Act 1911: Money Bills can only be delayed for one month and "Bill containing any provision to extend the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years" are not eligible to use the procedure.

The Hunting Bill was introduced as part of Labour’s 2001 general election manifesto pledge to hold a free vote on banning fox hunting and would make it illegal to hunt wild animals in England and Wales with dogs except in limited circumstances. The bill was passed by the House of Commons on 3 December 2002 but rejected by the House of Lords. It was reintroduced to, and passed by, the House of Commons on 9 September 2004, but was significantly amended by the House of Lords. The House of Commons rejected the amendments on 18 November and the bill was granted Royal Assent later that day through the use of the Parliament Acts. The Hunting Act was due to come into force on 18 February 2005.