The Gazette 1993

VOL. 87 NO. 2

V I

E W P O

I INT

JULY/AUGUST 1993

Against the Guillotine

Recent newspaper comment indicated

that the managers of the Government's

legislative programme were pleased at

the volume of legislation which had been

processed in the weeks leading up to the

adjournment of the Dail for the summer

recess.

Professional lawyers are as familiar as

any other group with working to tight

deadlines and thus appreciate that work

done in such circumstances is not always

impeccable. The imposition of guillo-

tines on debates on proposed legislation,

which is not of its nature urgent, is an

abuse of our parliamentary procedure.

Under that procedure the Committee

Stage is devoted to a line-by-line

examination of the detailed provisions of

Bills with a view to ensuring that they

will be effective in carrying out the

intended policies behind them. The fact

that ministerial amendments are often

put down at Committee Stage shows the

importance of that particular process.

Montesquieu, the great advocate of the

constitutional separation of powers,

argued that when the executive and

legislative functions were in the same

hands then liberty was lost. It may be an

exaggeration to say that our liberty is

being lost through the imposition of

guillotines on debates on Bills, but it is

hard to construe it as other than the

executive imposing its will on the

legislature.

The process by which legislation is pre-

pared in this country does not lend itself

to participation by those outside Govern-

ment administration. It frequently

happens that the first indication that

persons who will be affected by

proposed legislation have of the precise

I proposals is on the publication of the

Bill. In all, a total of sixteen Bills were

introduced during the six week period

commencing at the beginning of June,

including the controversial tax amnesty

legislation, and the Matrimonial Home

Bill. Instant legislation is no panacea for

the problems of our society. Flawed

legislation benefits nobody except those

whose activities it is intended to curb.

The failure of an Act of the Oireachtas to

effect its intended policy because it

! contains ill-considered provisions, which

I are later proved to be flawed, may only

! exacerbate the original problem it was

intended to solve.

Individual parliamentarians, conscious of

their duties to legislate effectively should

desist from rushing through legislation.

Good legislators do not simply count the

number of Bills which have been passed.

They should be satisfied only with

legislation which has been passed after

thorough parliamentary scrutiny.

Experience has shown that rushed

legislation invariably makes bad law. •

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