The Parliament Acts

The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 together limit the powers of the House of Lords in relation to primary legislation. 

The Parliament Act 1911 was amended by the Parliament Act 1949. Together they are often referred to as the Parliament Acts. Their provisions prevent the House of Lords from vetoing public bills, including private members’ bills, that were originally introduced in the House of Commons. The only exception covers bills to extend the life of a Parliament beyond five years.

Provisions of the Parliament Acts

The Parliament Acts prevent the House of Lords from vetoing public bills except bills that extend the length of a Parliament beyond five years.

The acts provide different conditions for enacting “money bills” and other public bills without the assent of money bills

Money bills

The acts prevent the House of Lords from delaying certified money bills for more than one month. Money bills are defined in section 1 (1) of the 1911 act.

This means that if the Speaker certifies a bill as a money bill, and the House of Lords does not pass it unamended within one month after they receive it, the bill can be presented for Royal Assent without the Lords’ agreement, unless the Commons directs that it should not be presented.

Other public bills

The acts also prevent the Lords from vetoing other public bills that are passed by the Commons in two successive sessions.

The Parliament Act 1911, as amended by the 1949 act, provides that a public bill (other than a money bill or a bill extending the maximum duration of a Parliament) can be presented for Royal Assent by the Commons without the consent of the Lords if (among other conditions):

• it was introduced originally in the House of Commons
• it was passed (in an identical form) by the Commons in two successive sessions, with at least one year between the Commons second reading and in the first session and the Commons third reading in the second session

Length of Parliaments

The Parliament Act 1911 also amended the Septennial Act 1715, reducing the maximum duration of a parliament from seven to five years. The Septennial Act 1715 was repealed by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, which set the interval between ordinary general elections at five years.

The 2011 act was subsequently repealed. The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 provides for the automatic dissolution of a Parliament on the fifth anniversary of its first meeting.

Application and procedure for using the acts

While the Parliament Acts are fairly short, simple statutes, there are various aspects of the procedure that are open to interpretation. The following conditions must be satisfied in order for a bill (other than a money bill) to be enacted under the Parliament Acts:

• The bill must be sent to the Lords at least one month before the end of the first session in which it is considered.
• The bill must be rejected by the House of Lords in that first session. “Rejected” has a wide meaning and can refer to more than just being voted against. For example, if a bill fails to pass through all its stages in the Lords, it is deemed to have been rejected.
• The bill must then be sent from the Commons to the Lords in the next session of Parliament. One year has to elapse between the date of second reading in the Commons in the first session, and the date on which it is sent to the Lords in the second session.
• The bill in the second session must be identical to the bill sent from the Commons in the first session, with the exception of amendments either made necessary by the passage of time or made by the Lords in the first session.
• It must be sent from the Commons to the Lords at least one month before the end of the second session.
• It must be rejected by the Lords in the second session. “Rejected” has the same wide meaning as in the first session.
• Finally, before the bill can receive Royal Assent, the Speaker of the House of Commons has to certify that the conditions set out in section 2 of the Parliament Act 1911, as amended, have been complied with.

Use of the Acts to date

Three acts were passed into law under the terms of the original 1911 Parliament Act without the agreement of the Lords. These were:

• the Government of Ireland Act 1914
• the Welsh Church Act 1914
• the Parliament Act 1949

Four acts have been passed since the 1949 act:

• the War Crimes Act 1991
• the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999
• the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
• the Hunting Act 2004

Challenges to the validity of the acts

Some constitutional lawyers have expressed doubts about the validity of the Parliament Act 1949, although their views are not shared by all expert academics.

For example, a judicial review following the passage of the Hunting Act 2004 using the Parliament Acts (the “Jackson case”) heard arguments about the extent of the rights of the House of Commons to legislate without the agreement of the House of Lords. The case was heard first in the High Court on 28 January 2005. Lord Justice Maurice Kay concluded that he was “not persuaded that the [Parliament Act] 1949 is invalid”, and Mr Justice Collins agreed with him.

The claimants were granted permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. The case was heard by the Court of Appeal on 16 February 2005. Although the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, it questioned whether the Parliament Acts could be used to fundamentally change the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Consequently, when the case was heard by the House of Lords, both parties wanted clarification. The nine Law Lords who heard the case dismissed the appeal, and a number of Law Lords disagreed with the approach taken by the Court of Appeal.