Worksheet on Law Reform
and Private Members’ Bills
Watch the video clip at
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7134463.ece and
answer the following questions:
1. What will Lord Lester’s Bill actually do?
2. Who has prepared the Defamation Bill?
3. Why does Lord Lester think that libel is an important issue?
4. Why do you think Lord Lester wants Parliament, not the judges, to set the law on libel?
5. In the video clip, Lord Lester says that he hopes the Bill will get through its second reading.
What happens at the Second Reading?
6. Which stage follows the Second Reading, and what happens?
7. Describe Private Members’ Bills, and see if you can give an example of a Private Members’
Bill that has become law already.
8. Which House do you think this Bill will begin in, and why?
9. This example of Law Reform can be argued to have resulted from pressure groups such as
the Campaign for Libel Reform. What other influences on Law Reform can you think of?