Dimension: 1.6.7 Post-legislative scrutiny
This dimension concerns the provisions by which parliament has the authority to carry out post-legislative scrutiny (PLS), which is an important tool for ensuring that laws are implemented effectively and their impact assessed. It also helps to review the interpretation and application of a given piece of legislation by courts, and to understand how legal practitioners and citizens apply its provisions. PLS therefore contributes to the identification of legislative gaps and shortcomings in the application of legislation, and to the promotion of targeted and evidence-led law-making. PLS also enables MPs to review secondary/delegated legislation, thus ensuring more comprehensive scrutiny of the implementation of laws.
PLS can be an inclusive process that invites input from political parties, academia, experts and civil society. This type of engagement enables parliament to access additional sources of information, increases the credibility of parliamentary work, and promotes public trust in the institution.
For the purposes of transparency, clarity and predictability, parliament’s rules of procedure should provide for the systematic monitoring of the implementation and consequences of legislation. They should establish the parliamentary bodies responsible for carrying out PLS, identify when PLS should be conducted, and enable parliament to allocate the necessary human, financial and administrative resources to this process.
Even when there are no specific procedures for conducting PLS, parliament should still be capable, within its general oversight mandate, of overseeing the implementation of legislation through the provision of timely access to governmental information, the conduct of hearings, the collection of information from relevant sources, and the issuing of findings and recommendations.
Aspiring goal
Assess your parliament against this dimension
Assessment criteria
No 1: Legal framework
There is a legal framework for PLS.
No 2: Practice
PLS is an established part of the legislative and/or oversight process.
No 3: Resources
Parliament has the necessary human, financial and administrative resources to conduct PLS, including trained and skilled staff.
No 4: Inclusiveness
PLS is an inclusive process that invites input from political parties, academia, experts and civil society.
No 5: Follow-up
Committees and/or other parliamentary bodies conducting PLS regularly interact with the executive and other stakeholders in order monitor the implementation of PLS recommendations.
How to complete this assessment
This dimension is assessed against several criteria, each of which should be evaluated separately. For each criterion, select one of the six descriptive grades (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent) that best reflects the situation in your parliament, and provide details of the evidence on which this assessment is based.
The evidence for assessment of this dimension could include the following:
- Provisions of the constitution, other aspects of the legal framework and/or parliament’s rules of procedure establishing the rules for the PLS process
- The availability of trained committee personnel, and administrative and financial resources to carry out PLS
- PLS reports and recommendations issued by committees and/or dedicated bodies
- Monitoring reports on the implementation of PLS recommendations
Where relevant, provide additional comments or examples that support the assessment.
Sources and further reading:
- Franklin De Vrieze, Principles of Post-Legislative Scrutiny by Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. s, Westminster Foundation for Democracy Democracy The belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is held either by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. Also, a basic right of citizenship to be exercised under conditions of freedom, equality, transparency and responsibility, with due respect for the plurality of views, and in the interest of the polity. (WFD) (2018).
- Franklin De Vrieze, Post-Legislative Scrutiny in Europe, WFD (2020).
Get help with this assessment
The assessment of indicators involves diagnosing and considering strengths and weaknesses, i.e. the things parliament is doing well, and the things it could do better or more effectively, taking into account established good practices that are described in the indicators.
Read the assessment guidance to find out what to consider when conducting an assessment against the Indicators. Find out how to prepare, how to set the objectives of the assessment, how to organize the process, and more. Contact the project partners for expert advice.
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