ABSTRACT
The Scottish committees, it will be recalled, not only combine the standing (deliberative) and select committee (scrutiny) functions of the Westminster committees, but also possess the power of legislative initiative in the form of a committee bill provision. The architects of the Scottish Parliament, and many of those that they consulted at the planning stage, moreover, envisaged this facility as being central to work of the committees. The committee bill was not to be a 'last resort', but something which would become integral to the work of the committees. Committee bills, for example, might be formulated by outside organisations and 'adopted' by the committees. It was all part of the power-sharing ethic. What does the Swedish experience indicate about the role of committees as legislative initiators? How has the right of initiative been used by the Riksdag committees? Has it been a marginal or mainstream element in their work?
