Full Description
This book is the first in the world to provide a cross-national, comparative exploration of omnibus legislation. It contributes to the global debate over omnibus legislation and offers comprehensive, thorough and multifaceted coverage that concerns the fields of legislation and legisprudence, comparative law, political science, public policy and economics. Beyond its relevance for these fields, the book will support practitioners in parliaments, governments and courts, thereby impacting the actual use of omnibus legislation.
A new, major and controversial reform is enacted in the middle of the night. It is buried in a massive omnibus bill hundreds of pages in length, which is rammed through the legislative process at breakneck speed. The legislators receive the final version of the bill in the very last minute, and protest that they've had no opportunity to read it in detail and know what they're voting upon. The majority party's legislative leaders, however, are unimpressed, and the law is eventually passed on the basis of strict party discipline.
Though it may sound far-fetched, this scenario is all too familiar in many legislatures around the world. The legislative practice of combining numerous unrelated measures in one long bill, which is often passed via a highly expedited process, has become a matter of intense debate and criticism in many countries.
Contents
Introduction: Comparative Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Omnibus Legislation.- Part I. Common Law Jurisdictions.- Omnibus Legislating in Congress in the 21st Century.- Due Process in Unorthodox Lawmaking: Statutory Interpretation in the Age of Legislative Complexity.- The Single-Subject Rule in the American States.- However questionable, omnibus legislation is here to stay.- Part II. Civil Law Jurisdictions.- Omnibus legislation in Spain: political expediency, doctrinal condemnation, and judicial indulgence.- The practice of omnibus laws in Belgium: an empirical test.- When rationalization of bureaucracy de-rationalizes legislatures: 'Monster bills' in France.- Omnibus legislation and maxi-amendments in Italy: How to circumvent the constitutional provision requiring to approve the bills 'article by article'.- Omnibus Legislation in Germany - A Widespread and yet Understudied Lawmaking Practice.- Part III. Mixed Sytem Jurisdictions.- Omnibus Legislation in Israel: The Interaction of Law, Politics, Economics and Judicial Review.- Centralization via Delegation: Analysis of the Israeli Arrangement Law.- The Economic Arrangements Law - Can The Knesset Learn From Other Countries That Contend With Omnibudget Laws?.- Part IV. Living Without Omnibus Legislation.- (Absence of) Omnibus Legislation in Sweden: when legislative drafting affects the political discourse
Mauro Zamboni.
