Royal Assent
I was at a conference on "How the Northern Ireland Assembly Works" yesterday. Organised by the AgendaNI magazine, it included presentations from politicians, lobbyists and officials on the nuts and bolts of the system. The Principal Clerk from the Bill Office, Martin Wilson, talked us through the stages of law making, during which he divulged when a Stormont bill is deemed to have received Royal Assent.
After passing its various stages and being forwarded to the Secretary of State, the "letters patent" are presented to the Queen to sign. Once she has done that, the documents are sent back to the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. There a senior official applies a great seal. Only when the official lifts the phone and informs the Speaker's Office that the deed has been done does the measure become law.
This raised in my mind the notion of rugby tackling a ceremonially dressed Buckingham Palace flunky as he approached the Royal Courts as a last ditch attempt to avert, say, water charges becoming law. Sadly Martin tells me there is no flunky - the "letters patent" travel via more traditional mail.
It's often said the Assembly hasn't passed any laws. This isn't true. Martin says 8 bills have passed their final stage. The Assembly has introduced 14 bills since restoration and should start processing 8 to 10 more before the summer break.
The fact is, though, that most of these have been inherited from the days of direct rule or deal with fairly technical changes (including so called parity measures which keep our welfare systems in line with those in Great Britain). Martin says one reason why there has been no avalanche of legislation is that preparing an Executive bill can take up to two years, and the current administration is just coming up to its first birthday.
Private members bills can be dealt with more quickly (say in 3 to 4 months) and we now have one in the shape of David McNarry's Carer's bill. A few other private members' bills are in the early stages of preparation.
If you want to keep an eye on the bills under consideration and where they have got to so far you can do so via the Assembly website The explanatory memorandum attached to each bill normally provides a sense of the measure's purpose.
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