Legislative acts (Union law)

Bill of Proposal

Bills of Proposal are issued for international consultation before being formally introduced to the Supreme Congress.

This allows proposed changes to be made before the Bill's formal introduction.

Bills of Proposal can be introduced by either the union government or Members to interested parties, which are considered and examined by House or Joint Committees.

The consultation process may involve the union government issuing a paper for public discussion and response. The best-known examples of this are White and Green Papers.

Green Papers usually put forward ideas for future policy that are open to public discussion and consultation. White Papers generally state more definite intentions for policy.

Bill of Law

A Bill of Law is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to adapt an existing law, presented for debate before the Supreme Congress.

A Bill can only start in the House of Committees and must be approved in the same form by both Houses and Senate.

A new Nexus Committee is created in the House of Committees for each future Bill of Law which leads the law-making due process and coordination primarily with the House of Lords in preparation for the Commonwealth Commission vote.

Act of Commonwealth

An Act of Commonwealth creates a new law or adapts an existing law. An Act is a Bill that has been approved by both Houses and Senate and has been given Royal Assent by the Sovereign.

Taken together, Acts of Commonwealth make what is known as Commonwealth Statute Law.

Depending on the Act, either the union government or all member nation governments are responsible for bringing new laws into force, once passed by the Supreme Congress.

An Act may come into force immediately, on a specific future date, or in stages. You can find out when an Act is due to come into force by looking at a section of the Act itself, headed “Commencement” which is among the very last sections of an Act.

Although the Supreme Congress is not responsible for implementing legislation, its committees can investigate how well an Act is being implemented and the effect the new law is having, known as post-legislative scrutiny.

An Act of Commonwealth is a legal act that applies automatically and uniformly to all BC countries as soon as it enters into force, without needing to be transposed into national law. It is binding in its entirety on all BC member nations.

Future changes to the law happen through the passing of another Act or delegated legislation.

An Act can also be repealed so that its provisions no longer apply.

Congressional committees examine all Commonwealth Law and recommend the removal of out of date legislation.