How a law is made

One of the most elementary tasks of the State Parliament is legislating. This is how state authority intervenes very perceptibly and often directly in the life of the people. The State Parliament’s legislative powers are restricted by the Federal Ordinance.

In matters where the federal state has "sole legislative authority", such as foreign affairs, defence, civil defence, citizenship, currency and monetary matters, customs and foreign trade, the State Parliament "has no business". These are areas that by their nature have to be dealt with uniformly at federal level in the interests of the state as a whole and its citizens.

In the areas of "concurrent legislation", for instance civil law, criminal law, employment law, economic law, traffic law, law concerning foreign nationals, etc., the Länder are basically permitted to pass laws - though only if and insofar as the Federal Parliament has not exercised its own legislative powers. This may take place if the Federal Parliament considers it necessary in order to establish equivalent living conditions throughout the country or to preserve legal and economic unity in the interests of the federal state as a whole.

Under these conditions the Federal Government can lay down policy rules - which can be and need to be fleshed out - for state legislation in certain areas (legal status of people in Land and local authority service, general principles of the higher education system, general legal status of the press, nature and landscape conservation, regional planning and water resources, etc.)

On the other hand, the State Parliament has legislatory powers of its own, upon which the Federal Government is not entitled to encroach in the following areas:

• Regional constitutional law and associated areas such as electoral law, the law relating to members of parliament and ministers and budget law;
• Local authority constitution, financing rules and rates;
• Rights and duties of civil servants in fulfilment of the Federal General Act governing the public service;
• Administrative procedures and administrative organisation; Public law and order, including the important area of police law;
• Education law, higher education law (in accordance with the federal basic university status Act), adult education;
• Protection of monuments;
• Nature conservation, water and waste law (in fulfilment of general federal law or to supplement federal law);
• Building regulations law;
• Certain areas of the law of professional rules and regulations, e.g. those pertaining to architects and engineers.
  

Under the new constitution of Lower Saxony, laws are passed by the State Parliament or following a referendum. Bills can be tabled by the State Parliament itself, by the state government, or through an initiative or a petition.

Before a draft law comes before parliament, discussions with specialists, local authorities and bodies concerned will already have taken place as a rule. The bill tabled is distributed as a State Parliament document. To ensure it is examined from every conceivable point of view and to avoid rash decisions, the State Parliament deals with every bill in at least two deliberations.

At the request of those tabling the bill, the President at once refers it to a committee. In this case the first deliberation by the plenum of the State Parliament which would normally be the first stage is bypassed.

Instead, deliberation of the bill by the committee is preceded by a "public discussion" by the co-ordinating committee. This therefore takes the place of the general discussion of the principles of the proposed new legislation (known as the "general debate") that would otherwise take place in the plenum.

Laws constitutionally passed following a corresponding "final vote" have to be signed by the President of the State Parliament without delay and promulgated by the Prime Minister in the official gazette. Upon coming into effect they then become "law in force" and are binding upon the executive power, court decisions and also all the citizens.

It should also be mentioned in connection to this that the representatives of the opposition parliamentary party or parties often introduce very important points of view into the committee deliberations of a bill, which now and then are taken into account in the final version of the law. This is very important in a democratic parliamentary culture. The more consideration given to minority concerns in the preceding discussion, the greater the acceptance of majority decisions.