ABSTRACT
In order to improve the quality of legislation, governments increasingly publish draft Bills for consideration before the Bill is presented in its proposed final form. Since 1997 there has been an increasing use of select committees to scrutinise draft Bills before they are formally presented to Parliament. As will be seen from the discussion in Chapter 16, select committees (unlike normal Standing Committees which examine Bills) have the power to call witnesses and consider documentary evidence. This form of pre-legislative scrutiny enables specialist individuals and groups to contribute to the legislative process and thereby improve the quality of legislation.
