About Non-Executive Bills
What are non-Executive Bills?
Non-Executive Bills are a standard feature of parliamentary democracies and refer to Public Bills not sponsored by government ministers. Public Bills apply to the general population in the relevant jurisdiction.
Legislation via Public Bills may be initiated by individual MLAs, Committees (including the Assembly Commission in its role as the body corporate of the Assembly) and Executive Ministers. Committee and Commission Bills are rare but the number of Members’ Bills (also known as Private Members’ Bills) has grown steadily since 2007. In the 2017-22 Assembly mandate, 19 Members’ Bills were introduced and 10 became Acts.
There are two routes open for MLAs wishing to develop a Member’s bill. The first, and more usual, route is for MLAs to avail of the support of the Members’ Bills Development Unit (MBDU) in the Assembly Bill Office. This route culminates in access to the services of expert, external drafters provided the MLA fulfils a number of requirements in the development of their policy proposal, including a mandatory e-consultation of at least 12 weeks. Exceptionally, a Member may lodge a formal request, (known as a Statement of Reasons ) with the Speaker making the case for proceeding to drafting without engaging in consultation; for example, where a public consultation has recently been held, most usually for a very similar bill in the preceding mandate.
It is worth noting that Members’ Bills consultations are for the bill sponsoring MLA’s use in developing their bills though individual MLAs are not subject to the same regulations around public consultation as public authorities and government departments. Members are responsible for the content of, and consultation on, their Bills and stakeholders should liaise directly with them if they have queries or wish to contribute to the development process. Links to Members’ Bills consultations are published on the Assembly website.
Secondly, Members can arrange for the drafting of their bill themselves. They are still required to inform the relevant Minister of their intention and to hold a 12-week public e-consultation. If the Speaker is satisfied these conditions have been met, and, critically, that the bill is within the competence of the Assembly, it may be Introduced into the Assembly for consideration.
Following Introduction; Committee, Members’ and Commission bills follow the same procedures and scrutiny processes as Executive Bills (see Assembly website video). There is, however, a convention that Members’ Bills have a period of at least 30 days between Introduction and Second Stage to ensure all MLAs have the time to become familiar with the bill’s ambitions.
There are two other forms of bills aside from Public Bills. The Northern Ireland Assembly has not introduced a Hybrid or a Private Bill since 1998 though they are used in other jurisdictions. Private Bills affect the interests of a particular body or individual rather than the population as a whole and Hybrid Bills have the characteristics of both Private and Public bills.
For further information contact:
James Gilsenan, Clerk
The Bill Office
Room 155
Parliament Buildings
Ballymiscaw
Belfast
BT4 3XX
