Our updated Law for Lawmakers guide aims to strengthen democratic lawmaking and protect the rule of law by helping MPs navigate our notoriously complex Parliamentary system.
MPs are tasked with solving our biggest challenges within a notoriously complex Parliamentary system. With record numbers of new MPs entering Parliament in 2024, we updated our Law for Lawmakers guide with the aim of equipping MPs with the knowledge and tools needed to ensure democratic, evidence-based lawmaking and protect the rule of law.
The rule of law means we all benefit from and answer to the same rules. It is the foundation of our democracy, protecting us from arbitrary state power, providing certainty for businesses, and safeguarding courts’ impartiality.
The updated guide follows controversies such as the Rwanda policy, the proroguing of Parliament during Brexit debates, and attempts to repeal the Human Rights Act. It was in this context that Civicus Monitor downgraded of the health of the UK’s civic sphere to ‘obstructed’ in 2023.
When the rule of law is eroded, the results – rushed, poorly scrutinised new laws, and threats to judicial independence, for example – hurt us all.
This guide serves to help repair the cracks in the UK’s political foundations by giving every MP the tools they need to act as custodians of our democracy. It explains key legal and constitutional principles to help politicians of all parties (and their staff) review new laws, table and write amendments to Bills, support their constituents, and more.
JUSTICE will offer training opportunities and clinics on the guide for MPs and their staff over the coming months.
Read and download the Law for Lawmakers guide here
This guide is an incredibly useful resource in introducing some of the key legal and constitutional principles which law makers will encounter. I sincerely hope it will encourage debate and conversation on how law and politics can work together in harmony.
The world of the law, of bewigged judges and judicial review, can feel like a secret garden to MPs – to new ones in particular. This excellent guide gives them the key.
The updated guide would not have been possible without funding from the JRSST Charitable Trust (Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust), and the help of law firm A&O Shearman. Andrew Denny, Head of UK Public Law at A&O Shearman, said, “The rule of law and good law making underpin our democracy and are crucial to the UK economy and to society as a whole. Accordingly, it’s a great pleasure for A&O Shearman to support JUSTICE in creating the updated Law for Lawmakers guide. 51% of MPs are sitting in Parliament for the first time so this guide couldn’t be more relevant.”
Guide contents
The guide covers the following topics:
- The rule of law
- Introduction to the law
- Public law and judicial review
- Rights and the individual
- Assimilated EU law and international law
- Legal help and resources for MPs
- Checklist for making legislative amendments
- Checklist for how to review legislation