Chapter 11: The Legislature

Definition
Legislature is law-making body of a political unit that has
the power to revise, amend repeal, and alter the law.
Historical Background.
1.Citizens assembly of ancient Athens.
-declaration of war
-negotiation for peace
-formulation of alliances
-voting for taxes
2. Roman empire
-as explained by theory of Cicero and Ulpian, the law
might arise by the enactment of popular assembly
(leges) or vote of authorized part of the people
(plebescita), or by decree of senate (senatus consulta) or
by decree of Emperor
3. England
-legislature is premiere body which makes laws, was first
developed.
4. Parliaments essentially European in origin
-great Britain and Scndinavian countries adopted
starting with French revolution.
Functions of Modern Legislature
1. Lawmaking
2. Electoral Function- congress counts votes and
proclaim winners of election.
3. Constituent or Constitutional Function- amend
constitution.
4. Control of Administration.
Appropriation- abolish administrative
officers by eliminating their
appropriation.
Executive power- reject appointments by
chief executive.
Investigative power- find abuse, anomalies,
graft , and corruption by administrative
officials.
Judicial power- impeach President and SC
justices.
5. Internal Discipline- suspension or expulsion of its
members.
Structure and Organization of the Legislature
British parliament evolved from the Kings Great
Council. King John in 1213 summoned 4 knights from
each country to meet with his Great Council.
King Edward in 1295 formed model Parliament.
1.Bicameral.
House of Lords & House of Commons.
US
Continental Europe shifted bicameral
France bicameral under third republic
Germany
Philippines 1907, Phil commission- upper
house
Phil assembly- lower
house.
1916, House of Senate
House of representatives
1940, bicameral
1987, Bicameral congress
Advantages of Bicameral legislature

(1) Affords careful scrutiny and consideration of

proposed measures before they are passed into
laws.
(2) Guarantees protection of the peoples welfare
against the tyranny of single house.
(3) It practices division of labor where more
important measures originate in one house and
minor matters are concern of the other.
(4) Provide means by which special interest are
presented in one chamber which are distinct
from the representation by members of the
other.
(5) More suitable to large countries with
heterogeneous population.
Disadvantages of Bicameral legislature
(1) Entails bigger govt expense of salaries of the
legislators.
(2) Difficult to pinpoint responsibility in the passage
of defective and unwise laws.
(3) Much delay in the passage of legislation.
(4) In parliamentary, LH has more predominance in
authority than the UH.
2.Unicameral
Model parliament was formed at the
command of King Edward I in 1295.
In continental Europe, some adopted
unicameral but shifted to bicameral.
France adopted Unicameral in 1791 and in
1848 under the second republic, shifted
bicameral on third republic.
Germany
Philippines -Malolos congress.
-Phil. Commission ( Americans up
to 190)
.
-1935, National assembly
-1973- National Assembly
-Interim Batasang pambansa
temporary
legisl. for the crisis
govt.
-Regular Batasang
Pambansa(1973Cons.)
elect members on May
14, 1984.
Abolished by EDSA revolution on
Feb. 25, 1986. Become bicameral
by 1987 const.
Advantages of Unicameral legislature
(1) Economical to maintain.
(2) Easy to pinpoint responsibility whenever laws
passed are found defective.
(3) Enactment of legislation is done with greater
facility in single-chamber legislature.
(4) Principle of representation is much simplified in
that the members represent both local and
national interest.
Disadvantages of Unicameral legislature
(1) Consideration of measures may not be thorough,
they may not be able to fully scrutinized resulting
to ill-considered legislation.

(2) May be influenced by demagogues and

tyrannized by domain interest.
(3) May tend to become abusive when it knows that
there is no counterbalancing force to check its
excesses.
(4) Ill-adapted to federal govt countries.
(5) Legislative body may become a forum of
bickerings, irresponsible special interest where
groups of members represent distinct classes,
with each group confronting each other and
engaging in undisciplined debate of bills.
Composition of the Legislature
In general, modern legislature is composed of lawmakers sufficiently big enough to inspire sensible
debate or discussion.
Example: Great Britain- House of commons-630
members
-House of Lords- 900
members
Manner of Selecting Legislative Members
Most modern legislative bodies were constituted by
election of its members.
Members of lower chamber are chosen by popular vote.
Elected under Systems of Representation:
(1) Geographical- country is divided by 2 districts
with one elective representative for each.
(2) Proportional- country is divided into big districts,
each of which elects 2 or more representative
according with the size of electorate.
House of Lords of Great Britain is composed of nonelective members the hereditary peers, law & spiritual
lords, and increasing number of peers appointed for life.
Members of senate of Canada are not elected but
appointed for life.
Qualifications of legislators
Citizenship- for the formulation of a policy for
peoples welfare and for safeguarding nations
interest needs proven loyalty to the state.
Attainment of Majority Age- acquired certain
degree of intellectual maturity and experiences.
Members of upper chamber are older than those
of the lower house.
Phil senate- 35 y/o and representatives- 25 y/o.

Residence- residence required is legal, not actual

Resident is more knowledgeable of local
condition and problem of district.
-Phil Rep must reside in the legislative district
where he shall be elected for a period not less
than 1year.
-Phil Senate must reside not less than 2years.
-In US all chosen congressman are resident of the
state.
-England- residence is not requisite.

Literacy- candidate attained certain educational

level is more preferable. Having wider range of
knowledge about economic, political and social
life of the nation.
Tenure of Office
Period which members serve is provided by the
law. Theres a fixed term but may be shortened

with an earlier dissolution as in parliamentary

government.
Organization of the legislature
the first order is the election of officers such as
the presiding officer, secretary, sergeant-at-arms,
the majority floor leader, or the whip, and others.
The Presiding Officer
depends upon who is chosen by the majority
party.
In US, Vice pres. Of the state who is chosen by
electoral college serves as the president of the
upper hose.
In US, majority of states, Lieutenant Governor
chosen by popular vote becomes the presiding
officer of the state.
However, If the VP becomes the US Pres, and the
Lieutenant Gov, the presiding officer of both
chambers comes from the majority party are chosen
by their members.
In Great Britain, Lord Chancellor is appointed by
the Cabinet and is made a peer and presiding
officer of the House of Lords.
House of Lords- the highest formal court of judicial
appeals.
The lord Chancellor as the presiding officer of
house of Lords heads the highest court of judicial
function.
In Phils, 1935- Senate pres is chosen from
majority party by the majority vote of all members
of senate.
1987- Senate pres is elected by
members of his party in the senate in coalition
with members of other parties.
Committee in the legislation
-(working horses of legislature)
- small replicas of legislative body created to save
time.
(1) Standing committees- small bodies to which
bills dealing with a particular subject are
referred to action. Members are chosen by party
caucus and approved by the legislature. Their
number depends on the nature of bills submitted
to legislature. - committee on educ.ation
-committee on national defense
- committee on foreign affairs
Passage of a measure is reviewed by standing
committee and favorably endorsed by the
committee on floor of discussion.
Tenure of the committee is co-terminous with the
life of the legislature.
(2) Special committees- created for special
purposes. If theres a committee created to
investigate an erring member, once its finished
and made a report to legislature, it cease to
function unless for additional work given by
legislature.
(3) Joint committees from both houses and
may be concerned for substantive matters.
- In PH, joint conference com./ bicameral
conference com. Created for settling differences
of the houses on certain measures passed by one
chamber and considered by the other.

(4) Committee on the whole one body

constituted into an informal committee. Same
members of the legislature. Created to deal on
fundamental questions debated by the members
informally without following parliamentary
procedure.
(5) Committee on selection select number of
members to deal in a bill referred to standing
committee. When a bill is sent to the committee,
Committee on selection appoints 16-30 members
to serve on that committee to deal with that bill
only.
Process of Lawmaking
Bills and resolution- measures referred to
legislative body.
Bill- statutory proposal, contains subject matter
embraced in its title, introduced to a legislative
body for consideration and approval of its
members.
3 types of Resolution:
(1) Joint resolution- proposal on a limited
subject matter rather than one of the general
application. Approved by both houses.
(2) Concurrent resolution- proposal originating
from and approved by one chamber, which
requires the concurrence of the other house.
(3) Simple resolution- deals with matters entirely
within the authority and competence of the
house, like a simple resolution regarding rules
and orders, creation of committees,
authorization to print reports, etc..
Types of Bills
2 types of bills in parliamentary:

Public govt bill- national policy and

invariably introduced by the
members of the govt, the Cabinet.
Private bill- introduced by an individual member.
Bill is concern in locality or those which
benefits the interest of individual
person.
1973 const. provide for parliamentary system of govt,
under the transitory period the rules of the interim
Batasang Pambansa provides 2 types of bills :
Cabinet bill- initiated by members of the cabinet
and transmitted by the prime minister to
the interim Batasang Pambansa for
consideration and pproval.
Parliamentary bill- introduced to the Batasan by
individual members.
Classification of bill as to purpose and objective:
(1) Appropriation bills appropriate money from
public treasury for a certain
public purpose
(2) Revenue bills raise of revenue or income of the
govt.
(3) Bills of local application- benefit a certain locality
(4) Private bills- promote interest of private persons
Stages of Legislative Enactment
Resolution and bills must be drafted, polished in
all legal solemnities and signed by their
respective authors

Stage

Stage
-

Filed with the secretary of the legislature who

assign to each of these measures a number.
Upon its receipt, is given a first reading by
secretary of legislature. Only the title is read,
after which is referred by the presiding officer to
the appropriate standing committee.
of First reading:
Committee on Stage. If the bill is considered by
the committee to which its referred, its given a
public hearing. Committee hearings serve to
mobilize support for or invite opposition to a bill
in the committee.
- After hearings, it is further considered in an
executive committee session where its
discussed further, altered or amended or even
substituted by the committee with another
measure..
of Second reading:
A bill favorably reported by a committee is
calendared for second reading.
All contents of the bill are read by the secretary
including amendments of the committee if any.
Reading of the bill may be dispensed if the
copies are distributed.
Bill is subject to debate and pertinent motions.
Presiding officer calls the sponsor of the bill to
defend the measure on the floor.
Opponents may refute the arguments hoping
that their legislative members will reject the bill.
General debate. To close the debate, number of
speeches for or against the bill is delivered.
Consideration of amendments is in order. Bill is
voted upon to determine if the bill can be
calendared for third reading.

Stages of Third reading:

Approved bill on 2nd reading is calendared for 3rd
reading.
Final passage of the bill. No more debate and
amendments.
Upon last reading, Its voted upon by yeas or
nays.
Print copies in its final form and distributed to
members before its final passage.
Approved bill in one house goes to the other
house through the same procedure.
If approved without amendments, bill is certified
in its enrolled form to the President.
If there are amendments, the same shall be
submitted to the house where it originated for its
consent.
If one house rejects amendments, conflict of
houses is settled in a Joint Conference
Committee, and it reports the bill out for final
resolution of the houses.
If they voted in favor of the report, enrolled form
of the bill is submitted to Executive for final
approval.
Submission to the Executive for Approval.
President may either sign or veto the bill.
If he veto, bill return to legislature together with
his objections.

Legislature may override the veto by sufficient

number of votes, e.g. 2/3.
Bill may lapse into law if executive fails to sign
within a period provided in the constitution, e.g.
30 days.
Legislative procedures- governs stages of passing a
bill.
- make lawmaking-body an arena
of the most dramatic action in the whole drama
of the legislation.
Chapter 12: The Executive
Definition
It refers to a single leader or group of officials in the
executive dept who enforces laws of the state to
assure that these laws are efficiently and effectively
carried out, and faithfully observed for common good.
Types of executive
1. Real executive-