ABSTRACT
Introduction The majority of liberal democracies have bicameral legislatures, or legislatures with two ‘chambers’ or ‘houses’. 1 In the United Kingdom, the second chamber, the Upper House – or House of Lords – is currently an unelected chamber which has judicial, legislative, scrutinising and debating functions. 2 The justifi cations for, and advantages of, a second chamber, irrespective of the merits of the actual second chamber, are twofold. First, a second chamber provides a forum for refl ection, and for ‘second thoughts’ on policies and legislative proposals. A second chamber provides for a diffusion rather than concentration of power within Parliament. Secondly, depending on the allocation of power between the two chambers, the Upper House plays a valuable role in the revision of legislation which has passed through the Lower House. Such revision is of particular signifi cance where the Lower House is dominated by a government with a strong majority and also when – irrespective of the political make up of the Lower House – procedures for curtailing debate have been employed. The scrutiny, and amendment, of Bills is equally important in improving the quality of the statute book. As will be seen below, the House of Lords plays a major role in statute revision. On occasion, such revision is contrary to the wishes of the Commons, which may choose to acquiesce in the Lords’ amendments rather than employ the Parliament Act procedure which regulates the respective powers of the two Houses of Parliament. On other occasions, however, the revision undertaken in the Lords is either at the instance of the government itself, which may choose to introduce amendments to Bills in the Lords, or by Members of the House of Lords in order to improve the drafting of the Act.
