Explain how each of the following can be a source of new laws; a party Essay

Explain how each of the following can be a source of new laws; a party manifesto, the Queens Speech, the Law Commission and a social situation - Essay Example During the elections, they release what is called their respective manifestos in which they undertake to bring certain measures into effect if their party is elected. And in the event they win, it becomes their moral duty to fulfil their commitment made in the party manifesto. Such measures in order to be implemented may some times require legal sanction. And it is for this purpose they enact law in the parliament incorporating what they promised in the manifesto. To this extent, the party manifesto becomes a new source of law. The parliament justifies the commitment made in the manifesto to make new law. However there is no legal duty on the part of the newly elected Government to enact law based on the party manifesto, though they are morally bound to the electorate who will not hesitate to defeat the party responsible, in subsequent elections. The party manifesto once thought of as a sacred document has now lost its sheen due to dilution of morals on the part of elected representa tives. In the earlier periods of revolution aiming to dethrone the colonial powers and to set up a Government of their own, freedom fighters had released documents having the force of manifesto. Few examples are The United Sates Declaration of Independence in 1776 and The declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen during the French Revolution. In the labour party’s manifesto of 2005, the party makes several promises to make new laws. 1 . Mitchell and Dadhania 2 state that while origins of law making are varied, the most obvious source would be when a new Government comes into power, having been elected on the basis of the respective party’s manifesto. Thus when the Labour Government took office in 1997, it fulfilled its manifesto promise of incorporating Bill of Rights into the English Constitution by means of Human Rights Act 1998. It also achieved devolving of decision making power to the regions from the centre pertaining to Wales and Scotland through the