Questions tagged [legislature]

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6 answers
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Are legislators ever asked to explain their intent in Supreme Court cases?

I recently started to listen to recordings of arguments before the Supreme Court. I am not a lawyer so I don't completely follow everything, but I noticed right away that a lot of arguments deal with ...
guero64's user avatar
  • 561
10 votes
5 answers
6k views

Could the Senate abolish the Supreme Court?

As a follow up from this question, suppose the Senate got tired of the "pesky" Court overturning its laws. Or, suppose that additional elections produced Senate majorities of a different party than ...
WBT's user avatar
  • 4,878
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are US Senate/House rules legally enforcible?

Suppose, for example, that the Senate is considering the passage of a law. A Senator has decided to open a filibuster. After a half hour, the majority leader tires of hearing this Senator speak. He ...
moonman239's user avatar
  • 3,070
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Are policies automatically void if the politicians who enacted them were serving unlawfully?

Suppose that country X has law Y. A politician introduces bill Z, which is then voted on by the legislature. The legislature approves the bill by a 51 to 50 vote, and it becomes law, replacing and ...
Brian's user avatar
  • 1,454
5 votes
2 answers
141 views

What is the purpose of this "Rule of construction" in a bill (H.R. 720)?

I'm reading the text of bill "H.R. 720: Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017" as it was introduced on Jan 30, 2017 at govtrack.us. Sec. 2. (b) reads Rule of construction.-- Nothing in this ...
geofflittle's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
144 views

How can one go about amending the law?

If one feels that the law is not clear enough, or might have loopholes that should be fixed, how would one go about starting a process to possibly amend it? For example, in Texas, a lot of landlords ...
cnst's user avatar
  • 5,048
5 votes
1 answer
114 views

When did the American and British naming conventions for legislation diverge?

American laws seem to be named as, for example, the Trade Act of 2002, while British Acts of Parliament seem to use the same naming convention, except without the word "of" preceding the ...
TylerDurden's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
132 views

Nomenclature for two UK Parliament Acts in the same year

Short titles for UK Parliament Acts are generally formed with the title itself and the year, e.g. Parliament Act 1911, (or, in Yes, Minister terms) Import, Export and Custom Powers (Defence) Act 1939. ...
ifly6's user avatar
  • 143
4 votes
1 answer
295 views

What does/did a Postmaster do?

Reading the list of officers of the 59th Congress, I see someone whose job I can't figure out: Postmaster: J.C. McElroy What did the Postmaster do? Was it his job to oversee the nation's postal ...
Nick ODell's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
298 views

What is meant by direct Taxes in Article 1 Section 2 in the US Constitution?

I am new when it comes to understanding the US Constitution and I am not comfortable with Section 2, Paragraph 3 of Article 1! [Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the ...
Gregory's user avatar
  • 141
3 votes
1 answer
363 views

Can people of California amend laws?

In the US state of California, if someone feels an existing law gives excessive punishments or is unconstitutional, what can they do?
protectgoodlivingbeingask's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
265 views

Can you be arrested the day a law is enacted?

On October 2, 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act was enacted. On this same day, a man named Samuel R. Caldwell was arrested by federal agents for selling Marijuana to Moses Baca, who was also arrested. Is ...
Cannabijoy's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
79 views

UK Spring Water Regulations

I just saw a post talking about how various brands of spring water in the UK are not meeting regulations because they are bottled at a different location to the spring. Looking online, most sites (...
USD Matt's user avatar
  • 135
3 votes
1 answer
473 views

Fences around the laws; vote swapping

I don't know whether this is on topic because I'm not asking what the laws are but what the laws should be. On the 2nd thought, I can phrase it as a factual question: Is criminalizing suspiciousness ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 1,703
3 votes
2 answers
4k views

What are the effects if a law changes while on trial?

Say you are on trial for crime A. Legislation on crime A is edited/updated/changed in some way during your trial... Does this start the trial over? Do you continue under old or new law? Is the trial ...
hellyale's user avatar
  • 315
3 votes
1 answer
101 views

References to repealed bylaws?

Section 67 of the Municipal Government Act states: References to repealed bylaws A reference in a bylaw, enactment or document to a bylaw that has been repealed by the revised bylaws is, in ...
ShemSeger's user avatar
  • 1,008
2 votes
2 answers
127 views

When does a bill become law?

I am confused by both of these NJ bills: A5217 and A1969 Both are nearly identical, and both indicate "Be it enacted". Are they now the law? They appear to modify existing law. Nevertheless, that ...
Andrew Jay's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
570 views

How much does the President have to take the Senate's appointment "advice?"

Article II, Section 2, of the US Constitution (emphasis added) states: [The President] by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and ...
WBT's user avatar
  • 4,878
2 votes
1 answer
96 views

What part of Israeli law declares that the Knesset is the legislative authority?

It is well-known that the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) is the legislative authority in Israel. But I did not find it written in the law. I looked at two laws: The basic law of the Knesset defines ...
Erel Segal-Halevi's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Can the executive branch instruct an agency to not enforce a law?

Using the current discussion regarding the Johnson Act as an example (unless there are more relevant examples): Can the Executive branch instruct an administrative agency to not enforce or ignore a ...
BlueDogRanch's user avatar
  • 18.8k
2 votes
1 answer
155 views

Could U.S. states test a wealth tax?

There has been some debate in the Democratic Party on the subject of a federal wealth tax. I know that there is some debate about the constitutionality of a wealth tax, but for the purpose of this ...
RaceYouAnytime's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
789 views

What is meaning of omission of a section from any act of legislature

I understand meaning of repealed sections. But, if any section of act has been identified as omitted does this mean that this particular section was not meant to be in the act? If so then why official ...
ShivCK's user avatar
  • 771
2 votes
1 answer
43 views

What proportion of UK statutory instruments are passed using the negative resolution procedure?

I know that most EU directives are implemented via Statutory Instruments passed via the negative resolution procedure, but is this procedure commonly used for law with a UK origin?
52d6c6af's user avatar
  • 533
2 votes
1 answer
80 views

Using U.S. hosting service from Europe

I was reading about data transfer implications for those of us who live in EU. Apparently transferring any user's personal info outside of EU is not strictly legal, unless you go through some ...
Saul Tigh's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
66 views

United States: I can't find XML file of the Affordable Care Act

I'd like an XML file of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), Public Law 111–148. I found plain text files, but those are not helpful, nor are the PDF files. I really need the XML file. I tried ...
Paulb's user avatar
  • 161
1 vote
2 answers
147 views

If the legislature wrote into law "black is white", how would the judiciary react? [duplicate]

If the legislature were to write an untrue "fact" into law, such as "black is white" or "all oranges are blue", how would the judiciary deal with it? I'm particularly ...
whispersan's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
47 views

Why does CFR 15 look so much different on eCFR vs the OLRC?

Why does title 15 appear so substantially different (even the name of the title itself appears different) between the eCFR website the OLRC website? OLRC, Cornell http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?...
Spencer's user avatar
  • 65
1 vote
4 answers
115 views

Is it legal to crowdfund US federal legislation? Like a prize for whoever proposed an enacted law that allows abortions?

Is it legal to crowdfund US federal legislation? Like a prize for whoever proposed a law that gets enacted that brings back the protections for those seeking abortions? One way to fix the Roe vs Wade ...
ubershmekel's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
281 views

Washington v Davis in How To Get Away With Murder

In How To Get Away With Murder S04E13, a character says In Washington v. Davis, your predecessors decided that even if a law has a discriminatory effect, it is unconstitutional if that was not its ...
BCLC's user avatar
  • 927
1 vote
1 answer
12k views

What is the difference between a law and an act?

In context of Indian legislature, I know that when a bill is put to vote in the Union parliament and gets the votes of majority of the members in all the houses, it is sent to the President of India ...
MrAP's user avatar
  • 115
1 vote
3 answers
158 views

Is there a way to get old bylaws off the books?

I'm doing some housekeeping in our bylaws, and we have a number of bylaws that aren't anything more than bylaws to rescind other bylaws. For example, in the municipality I represent we have this ...
ShemSeger's user avatar
  • 1,008
1 vote
3 answers
190 views

Processes for a law to be passed

In the US, what is the process for passing a new law? What are the stages and what are the regulatory bodies involved? Does it depend on the type of law? Also, once a law is passed, is there any ...
Jack Maddington's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

What are the different kinds of rules/procedures that describe what counts-as/constitutes a rule change and what kinds of problems can they cause?

This is a question about legislation, including constitutive rules and administrative law To give some context, I am interested in legal reasoning (as in a logic of law), but I am not a legal-expert. ...
Dr. Thomas C. King's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
5k views

Relationship between PL (Public Law) and USC (US Code)

I am learning about taxes. In discussing the jurisdiction to tax citizens, my course cites: P.L. 86-272, Section 101(b)(1) When I search for this text, I only find this: 5 U.S. Code § 381 - ...
Nate Anderson's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
90 views

What is meant by "through YYYY Leg Sess" in universal citations of statutes/laws?

Question Let "YYYY" represent a variable for a given year, what does "through YYYY Leg Sess" at the end of a legal citation mean or signify? Background and Due Diligence In various ...
Doedigo's user avatar
  • 107
1 vote
1 answer
43 views

Why do laws often have a preamble with references to previous laws?

Why do many decrees, laws and acts start with a preamble with references to previous regulations? For instance, from an EU commission regulation: THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty ...
Federico Poloni's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
77 views

If Emoluments violations are tied to the governmental institution, do they go away when the violator leaves the government?

My question on Politics.SE around the recent DC Appeals Court dismissal of emoluments charges against the president on procedural grounds brought on a discussion better suited to here: If an ...
Carduus's user avatar
  • 439
1 vote
2 answers
446 views

What makes a 'good' piece of legislation, and what are considered good examples?

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is a controversial piece of legislation in the UK at the moment, considered poorly-written and authoritarian by its detractors. The Computer Misuse Act 1990 was ...
08915bfe02's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
35 views

Legislative Capacity Exception to Definition of 'Public Authority' in Aarhus Convention

I've encountered some difficulty in interpreting the Aarhus Convention Implementation Guide (https://unece.org/DAM/env/pp/Publications/Aarhus_Implementation_Guide_interactive_eng.pdf) in its ...
Chanakya Seetharam's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
82 views

Is there legislation in Australia (or individual states) that outline the penalties for juror misconduct?

While there have been penalties in the past for jurors posting case info to Facebook, researching case, etc, is there a specific Act/piece of legislation that outlines the consequences for doing so? ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
140 views

How does a company, with a multinational presence, establish the correct Jurisdiction to work within?

For the purpose of this question, let's assume an eCommerce company has the following profile: Registration Location: London; Distribution and Manufacturing: London; Domain Name: www.example.co....
Craig's user avatar
  • 161
1 vote
1 answer
84 views

Is a bylaw valid if there is an error in one of its whereas statements?

We have a bylaw that references another bylaw in one of the whereas statements. It says, "WHEREAS Bylaw 1638 provides authority for..." and it doesn't really matter what bylaw 1638 provides ...
ShemSeger's user avatar
  • 1,008
1 vote
0 answers
63 views

What routes are there for citizens to attempt to change a law in Sweden? [closed]

If a citizen wished to have a change to a law voted upon by the government, in Sweden, how should they get into contact with lawmakers to discuss the idea, analyze the current law, provide ...
Julius Hamilton's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
33 views

Business legislation regarding selling homemade cosmetics

My business partner and I are looking to start a UK based hair product business which is 100% plant based and made from natural ingredients. Shampoo's, conditioners etc. All products are created from ...
Amida's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
2 answers
189 views

"The 2 for 1 regulations EO": how much is the executive branch allowed to legislate?

This is a very broad question (and one that will change over the next few weeks and months when the administration and congress weigh in), and could be overly subject to opinion. But: is this new ...
BlueDogRanch's user avatar
  • 18.8k
0 votes
1 answer
123 views

Can a court-declared unconstitutional law become valid when it's added to the constitution?

Idaho is one of the states with citizen initiative and referendum rights in the state constitution (hereafter referred to as "Init.".) State constitution changes are not allowed under this ...
Stay-at-home-dad's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
83 views

How can a municipality discourage and control destructive behavior? [closed]

I live in a town of about 20,000 people, plus a large college student influx in late August, in the state of New York. Not far from my house there is a dam in a creek. Just above the dam, there are ...
aparente001's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
101 views

Does any legislature purport to legislate for everybody?

Is there any legislator or legislature that has regarded its laws as being of universal application? It is said in Wikipedia that the Emperor Qianlong was like this, and worked on the 'assumption of ...
Daniel Hill's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
75 views

What happens if the president refuses to sign an approved law?

In Israel, every law approved by the Knesset is signed by the president, the prime minister, and the Knesset chairman. Suppose one of these three (e.g. the president) disagrees with the law and ...
Erel Segal-Halevi's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
317 views

Is direct voting of bills/laws by the people allowed in the consitution(US)?

I'm talking big issues like the recent vote by the British vote to exist EU. I'm talking federal bills/laws, does the US constitution allow these types of vote by the people?
Noah's user avatar
  • 341