Written by The legislature is the arm of government that is responsible for making laws in a country.
It is the law-making body of a state.
The legislature usually consists of representatives elected to create, debate, and pass laws that affect every resident and citizen of a state.
Thus, the legislature is an important component of every state.
Every country has a different name that it calls its legislative arms of government.
For example, in Nigeria, the legislature is called the National assembly. In Britain, the legislative branch is called the parliament.
In the United States of America, the legislature is called congress.
As you will see in the next heading, the legislative branch of government may have one house or two houses depending on the structure of government in place.
Types of Legislature
1. Unicameral legislature: This is a type of legislature where only one house makes and enacts laws.
In other words, a unicameral legislature is one where legislative activities in the state passed through only one house.
Countries that have unicameral legislature are Sweden, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, and Denmark.
2. Bicameral legislature: This is a type of legislature where two houses make and enact laws.
Stated differently, a bicameral legislature is one where legislative activities in the state passed through two legislative houses.
The USA, UK, Nigeria, India, and France all operate bicameral legislature.
Functions of the Legislature
1. Lawmaking: This is the first and foremost function of the legislature.
The legislature is the arm of government responsible for making and enacting laws in the state.
It is the organ of government that makes laws that guide the behaviors and actions of every member of society.
Members of the legislature are usually elected by the people to make laws on their behalf for the common good of the state.
To make laws, certain procedures must be follow, as outline by the constitution of the state.
However, in most cases, the introduction of new laws usually start with the introduction of a bill by a member of the legislature.
If the bill successful passed through all stages outlined by the constitution, then it becomes a law.
2. Approval of budgets: Another function of the legislative branch of government is to approve (or disapprove) the annual budgets prepared by the executive arm of government.
In most countries, the executive is required by law to send its proposed annual budget and the breakdown of the budget to the legislature.
The legislature will then review, vet and make recommendations about the budget presented by the executive.
At the end of reviewing the budget, the legislature is expected to approve the budget and then passed it over to the executive, who then append the budget to make the budget official.
The approval of budget function of legislature is very important because it is through the approval of budgets that the legislature, on behalf of the electorate, is able to hold the executive accountable for the use of public funds.
If the legislature does not have power to approve budget, then the executive can easily misuse public funds for their benefit.
Hence, the power of legislature to make law is very important because it serves as checks on the use of public funds by the executive.
3. Constitutional review: The legislature can also review and amend the constitution when necessary.
The legislature can review certain sections of the constitution to ensure that they are in line with new developments or the demands of the people.
The legislature is also empowered to totally remove the constitution and replace it with a new constitution.
However, to review the constitution, the legislature is required to meet some conditions, as stipulated by the constitution.
For example, the Nigerian constitution stipulates that any proposed amendment of the constitution must be approved by at least two-thirds of the members of both houses of the National Assembly.
After meeting the first condition, the proposed amendment must also be ratified by at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly.
An amendment of the constitution is not possible if the constitutional requirements are not met.
4. Oversight function: The legislature also plays an important role in supervising the activities of the ruling government.
The legislature has the power to conduct investigation into the activities of government ministries, department, and agencies.
To achieve this, the legislature usually has a standing committee for each government ministries and each committee can scrutinize the activities, accounts, and documents of the department it is handling.
For example, the legislative committee of aviation will oversight the activities of any government agencies within the aviation sector.
Similarly, the committee of Agriculture will oversee the activities of government ministries, departments, and agencies within the agricultural sector of the economy.
The oversight function of the legislature is very important because it ensures that the legislature is able to provide adequate checks on the activities of the government department, ministries and agencies.
5. Approval of appointments: The executive is empowered to appoint major government positions such as judges, ministers, ambassadors, heads of armed forces, and heads of the police.
However, such power is however contingent on the approval of the legislature.
When the president or prime minister nominates a person for a post, he then forwards the name of the person to the legislature, which then screens and examines the nominees.
After the screening process, the legislature is expected to either approve or disapprove the appointment of the nominees.
It is only after the legislature has approved the nomination of a person that the person can be said to be duly appointed into office.
Until he is approved by the legislature, a nominee is only known as a designate to a position.
6. Impeachment of the executive: The legislature reserves the power to impeach any member of the government that is found to be guilty of any wrongdoing.
The legislature can sack the president, vice president, prime minister, minister or any other government officials that is found to be guilty of misusing his power or public funds.
This function of the legislature allows them to easily removed a president that is acting outside the provisions of the constitution.
It is important to note that, while impeachment of the executive is an important function of the legislature, the legislature rarely impeaches members of government in real life due to a lack of political will to do so.
7. Ratification of treaties or agreements: This is another critical function of the legislature.
International treaties and agreements entered into by the executive branch of government are given proper consideration by the legislature before they become binding on the country.
The executive first negotiate the treaty, after which it is then presented to the legislature for ratification.
The legislature then examine the terms of the treaty to ensure that it does not compromise the sovereignty of the country, infringe on the rights of its citizens, or conflict with existing laws or agreements.
If the legislature successfully ratifies the treaty, it will take the necessary steps to incorporate the treaty into the country’s legal system by passing implementing legislation, amending existing laws, or taking other legal measures to ensure that the treaty is given effect in the country.
Therefore, while the function of the executive branch of the government is to negotiate international treaties, the function of the legislature is to ratify the international treaties negotiated by the executive branch of government.
