the Commons alone, sometimes to the king or to the king in Council.

to Parlia

time to be

The petitions from which private bill legislation takes its Addressed origin are those which it became the practice in the reign of ment. Henry IV to address to Parliament, or to the Lords or the Commons1. Such petitions were not handed, as in earlier See ch. x. procedure, to the Receivers and Triers of Petitions nominated $4. (as they were nominated until 1886) at the commencement of each Parliament. They went to the House to which they Cease in were addressed, generally the Commons, and after considera- wholly tion there, were passed on with the endorsement, soit baillé personal. aux seigneurs. Such petitions were at first of a purely personal character, attainders or the reversal of attainders, rewards given or punishments inflicted in individual cases. Later comes local legislation, the regulation of fisheries, of the navigation of rivers, of harbours, the prevention of floods and the inclosure of commons. Last comes legislation on behalf of bodies incorporated for commercial purposes, requiring, in furtherance of those purposes, some interference with private rights. Such are the acts passed to confer powers on railway, gas and tramway companies, of which every session affords numerous examples.

and Lo

The first of these three groups is at the present time 'Private' distinguished from the rest by the title of 'Private Act,' and cal' Acts. relates to naturalisation, to dealings with trust estates, in rare cases to divorce. The last two are included under the general term 'Local Acts,' and cover almost the whole ground of private bill legislation.

§ 2. Procedure in respect of Private bills.

It would be impossible without entering into technicalities Technicality of and details unsuited to the compass and character of this procedure. book, to attempt to do more than give a very general outline of the process of private bill legislation. Enough may be

1 Stubbs, Const Hist. iii. 460, and n. 4.

Petition.

said, however, to show the nature of these half legislative, half judicial proceedings, and the care with which the Houses guard themselves against legislating in the interest of private persons or of corporations to the detriment of individual interests, unless they are satisfied that public purposes are to be attained for which individual interests may fairly be set aside with compensation for loss sustained.

By the 21st of December, in the year before the bill is to be brought forward, a petition for the bill must be deposited in the Private Bill Office of the House of Commons. together with a copy of the bill and certain explanatory documents required by the Standing Orders of the House. Memorial Here too are sent memorials from parties interested in nents. preventing the passing of the bill, to the effect that the Standing Orders of the House have not been complied with in the presentation of petition, bill, and documents.

from oppo

Inquiry as to compli

Orders.

On the 18th of January the petitions and memorials are ance with dealt with by two Examiners, one appointed by the House Standing of Lords, the other by the Speaker. If no one appears in support of a petition, it is struck out, but in the ordinary course the agent concerned in promoting the bill offers proof that the Standing Orders have been satisfied; those who have presented memorials against the bill are heard, not on the merits of the bill, but on the preliminary question of compliance with the Standing Orders; witnesses are called; and at the conclusion of the hearing the petition is endorsed by the examiner and returned to the Private Bill Office. If the endorsement is to the effect that the Standing Orders have been complied with, no more is said; but if the examiner decides adversely to the petition on this point, he makes a report to the House of Commons, and sends a certificate to the House of Lords to indicate the non-compliance.

Want of

compli

ance

But the preliminaries are not yet over, nor is the bill lost because the examiner has found that the Standing Orders have not been complied with. The petition is in any case by House. presented to the House of Commons by a member three days

may be condoned

after endorsement; if reported against by the examiner it is referred to the Standing Orders Committee, consisting of eleven members of the House, who consider whether the Standing Orders may be dispensed with, and even if the Committee report adversely to the bill, their report may be overruled by the House.

So far the rules of the House are careful to provide that all persons interested in the proposed bill may have full notice by advertisement, and full information by access to documents of the intention and nature of the proposed bill.

The bill is read a first time, and is then, upon notice given First reading. of the second reading, referred back to the Private Bill Office for examination, lest the form in which it is drawn should violate the Standing Orders, or depart from the terms in which leave was given for its introduction.

It is then read a second time, and here if at all the general Second reading. principle of the bill is discussed in the House: but the effect of a second reading is not, as in the case of a public bill, to affirm the principle of the bill, it merely indicates that the bill contains no obviously objectionable features.

to Com

When read a second time, the bill is committed. If it Reference is a railway or canal bill, it goes to a standing committee mittee. for those matters: if it is not such a bill, it goes to the committee of selection 1 which arranges the bills and assigns them to committees consisting of four members and a referee.

as to form.

But further precautions are taken, before the Committee Renewed inquiries deals with the bill. The Chairman of Ways and Means for the Commons and the Chairman of Committees for the House of Lords examine all bills before they are passed into Committee. They may report any special circumstances in connection with the bill either to the House or to the Chairman of the Committee, or may recommend that a bill to which no opposition has been offered should be treated as opposed. They may introduce amendments, within the scope

This consists of the Chairman of Committee on Standing Orders and seven other members.

The bill in Committee.

Requirement of

locus standi

in opponents.

Judicial character

ings in

Com

mittee.

of the bill, and amendments may be introduced by public departments interested in the matter of the bill, as by the Board of Trade in a Railway Bill.

The Committee stage is the really interesting and exciting part of the career of a private bill, for there the judicial aspect of the House in its dealings with these measures is brought into strong light: and it appears in a judicial character not as in the preliminary stages of the bill to ensure compliance with forms of procedure, but to hear a keen and animated contest upon the merits of the bill conducted by counsel for the promoters and opponents, and supported by witnesses examined upon oath.

But the opponents of a bill have to go through various formalities before they are permitted to appear in that capacity. The opponent of a bill must first deposit a petition at the Private Bill Office within ten days after the first reading. He must then be prepared to meet objections raised by the promoters of the bill to his right to be heard, and such objections are raised and argued before a court of referees, consisting of the Chairman of Committees and three persons appointed by the Speaker, to determine the locus standi of petitioners against a bill. Questions of locus standi are argued by counsel before this court, and the right of an opponent to be heard in Committee against the whole or against any clauses of the Bill is there settled.

This is the process by which the right of opposing a bill of proceed- or any part of a bill is ascertained and limited; when this is settled the Committee sits to hear the parties; counsel then appear for the promoters of the bill and for the petitioners. against it, witnesses are examined, and the whole proceeding is of a judicial character, though conducted before a tribunal not perhaps very familiar with judicial functions.

If the preamble of the bill is proved to the satisfaction of the Committee, the clauses are taken in order; if the preamble is rejected, the bill falls to the ground. When the Committee has been through the bill it is reported to the

House, and its subsequent stages are similar to those of a public bill except in the form, to be described presently, in which it receives the Royal assent.

Much might be added as to the process of classification of private bills, and the details of procedure in respect of them. But since these are not matters of constitutional importance, and can easily be found in books of Parliamentary practice or in the published Standing Orders, I do not propose to carry the subject further.

As the ordinary course of Legislation depends almost entirely upon the rules which each House adopts for the regulation of its procedure, it is well to note that these fall into three classes.

Legisla

There are standing orders, resolutions as to procedure, which Rules governing each House intends to be permanent, and these, though they process of may at any time be repealed or suspended by resolution, endure from one Parliament to another in default of such repeal or suspension.

There are sessional orders, rules which last only for the session, and are renewed at the commencement of each session.

There are indeterminate orders and resolutions. Such are resolutions declaratory of practice and usage which expire with the session in which the resolutions were passed. These are not, technically, standing orders, though they are observed from session to session, and are regarded as regulations operating in the same way as a standing order.

tion.

SECTION V.

Provisional and other Statutory Orders and Rules.

I must not conclude the subject of the Process of Legislation without noticing the delegation of legislative powers to government departments; an important, and an increasing practice. Such legislative powers are sometimes exerciseable without further reference to Parliament, sometimes their exercise is more or less subject to Parliamentary supervision.