How Law is Made, Mental Health Capacity Act 2005
by Any act of Parliament must undergo the seven stages of becoming said Act by passing through both the House of Lords and the House of Commons of Parliament.
The proposed act is given a first reading in the House of Commons where copies of it are passed around are members vote on whether they wish to consider the bill further, but no debate takes place.
At the second stage the members of the house get the chance to debate the bill; this is called the second reading and is where the bill becomes more of a public project due to different pressure groups bringing it to people’s attention. The members will vote again as the bill will need a majority percentage in order for it to continue any further.
The next stage involves a committee made up of proportionate members of the house, with a majority given to the party that is in power, along with any members that may specialise in the acts particular area. The committee is formed to go through the act line by line in order to make amendments to it.
The report stage ensures that the amendments are accepted by the house in which the bill started by taking another vote to see whether these will be accepted. This is followed by the formality of the third reading which will only go under more debate if six members request it.
The bill will then be passed to the House of Lords if it started life in the House of Commons (and vice-versa), to be discussed and debated. However, if the bill is rejected by the House of Lords, it may become an act if the commons pass it for a second time. This is due to the fact that the House of Lords is not an elected body and therefore shouldn’t be an opposition to a democratically voted body, and should only, really be used to amend such bills.
Following the agreement of both houses over the bill, it shall then be given royal assent to become an Act of Parliament and will usually come into effect at midnight of the same day, unless the act itself states a commencement order. This royal assent is usually given in the form of Letters Patent which simply let the ministers know that a royal assent has been given. Alternatively, a royal commission can be signed to command Royal Commissioners to let both parties know that the assent has been given.
The Mental Health Act 1983 is about detaining, restraining and treating patients who have become vulnerable and are therefore unable to make their own decisions. The two thousand and five act sets out (alongside the 1983 act) to show clearly who in the community can and should make the required decisions on the behalf of someone else, as well as showing in what circumstances these decisions should be made. It provides a set test for mental capacity and gives guidelines to how the decision must be made in the interest of another.
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