ASSEMBLY LEGISLATION
PRIMARY LEGISLATION (BILLS)
Primary legislation is brought about by way of a bill, which sets out proposed law presented to the Assembly for scrutiny and discussion.
Most bills are Public Bills and these deal with matters of general public interest. They can be introduced by a Minister (Executive Bill), a Member of the Assembly (Private Member's Bill) or one of the Assembly's Statutory Commitees.
A bill becomes an Act when it has been passed by the Assembly and has received Royal Assent.
STATUTORY RULES
Statutory Rules are made to bring subordinate legislation law. Primary legislation (Acts) provides the powers to make subordinate legislation in the form of Statutory Rules (Regulations, Rules, Order and Bye-laws). In general terms primary legislation provides the framework and subordinate legislation contains the details. As primary legislation takes up Assembly time, changes and amendments to the content of various legal measures can be made more quickly by the subordinate legislation process.