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Legislation is introduced into the House either as – (i) Government Bills (which is usually introduced by the Minister of Justice); or (ii) Private Bills (which can be introduced by any of the Representatives of the Nobles or the Representatives of the Peoples).
(Left: The Opening of Parliament House, The Center of Law-Making) In recognition of the government as the administrator of the law and the creator of policies for the benefit of the country at large, more time is given to the examination and passing of Government Bills than Private Bills. However, procedures are in-place to make sure that Private Bills can easily be introduced into the House. In the pass, private bills have rarely been passed but the House certainly encourages all members to put forward a Bill that is of interest to the country as a whole. Before a Bill can pass as law, it goes through 3 readings in the House. In some cases, where the Bill is complicated or it raises some issues which needs to be examined more closely and the need to prioritize the House’s time, Bills maybe referred to a committee to examine the bill and make recommendations to the House. The choosing of the committee and the make-up of committees is within the discretion of the Speaker but it is a convention that the composition of committees represents the composition of the Legislative Assembly. The Constitution states that all Bills must have the assent of His Majesty before a Bill becomes law. This practice is still widely practiced in many countries, especially Commonwealth countries. When a Bill has received its third reading in the House, it is printed and the Clerk authenticates the print before it is presented to His Majesty for the Royal Assent. The Constitution states that where a Bill does not receive the Royal Assent the Bill shall not become law and will have no legal effect and that the matter shall not be raised again in the House for at least 1 year. However, it is very rare that Bills do not receive the Royal Assent. The House has developed several processes by which its holds the government into account because it has long been recognized that checks and balances are necessary in a system of government to ensure that individual power is not abused. Parliament is the law-making assembly where the opinions, interests and beliefs of all represented parties are represented. As has been mentioned, the concept of impeachment is the most serious of these “checks and balances” and it is a process entrenched in the Constitution. However, such a “check” is very serious and only in the most exceptional cases should it be used because the penalty for such a charge is very severe (which is instant dismissal of the Minister upon a guilty verdict by the House). It is important to emphasize here that only Ministers can be impeached because they are the only members of the House that represents the government. Hence, before someone is impeached in the House, it customary that a committee should examine all the facts relating to the matter to see whether the claim is well founded (a process similar to a preliminary hearing in court). However, perhaps the most frequent and visible means is question time (which usually takes place in the Legislative Assembly every Thursday during weeks where the House is in session). This is a chance for Representatives to question Ministers on their administration of the countries affairs. They can be very powerful means of extracting information that might bring into question the performance of individual Ministers or the Government as a whole. Another significant means is the ability of the House to form select committees to initiate inquiries into certain governmental agencies or Boards. If necessary witnesses maybe asked to attain and the production of records maybe required. The rights of the House to conduct such inquiries are entrenched in the common laws of Tonga per adoption of English common laws. [ Back to Top ]
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