Legislative Process

Welcome
Journals
Government Information
Websites

Welcome

This subject guide contains resources useful for obtaining an understanding of legislative bodies and the process of transforming a legislative proposal (bill) into a law (act/statute).

Institution of Parliament

Journals

Select Journals:

Canadian Parliamentary Review

The Hill Times: Canada's Parliamentary Newspaper

Journal of Legislative Studies

Legislative Studies Quarterly

Parliaments, Estates & Representation

Government Information

Canada - Federal:

Federal Parliament
General Information on Legislation
Guide to Making Federal Acts and Regulations
House of Commons Compendium of Procedure
How a Government Bill Becomes Law
How Canadians Govern Themselves
Legislative Process: From Government Policy to Proclamation
Bills
See also our guide to Bills and Statutes.
LEGISINFO
An essential tool for finding information on bills since 2001 - includes legislative summaries and background information)
Debates
Legislative Committees
Guide to the Federal Regulatory Development Process
Canada Gazette
OECD Review of Regulatory Reform: Canada
Justice Laws Website (Statutes and Regulations)
CanLII: Canadian Legal Information Institute (searchable links to federal and provincial laws and regulations)

Canada - Provincial:

Provincial and Territorial Legislatures
How a Bill Becomes Law in British Columbia
How a Bill Becomes Law in New Brunswick
How a Government Bill Becomes Law - Ontario
How Laws are Made - Manitoba
CanLII: Canadian Legal Information Institute
Searchable links to provincial and federal laws

Foreign:

United Kingdom

Passage of a Bill

United States

Enactment of a Law
How Our Laws are Made
THOMAS (Library of Congress) Legislative information
United States Code

Useful guides to searching the U.S. Code:

United States Code: Search Tips
Help Searching the United States Code (U.S. House of Representatives)
USA.gov Laws & Regulations (Links for federal and state websites)

The United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations are also available throught LexisNexis - choose Federal, Statutes, Codes & Regulations or State Statutes, Codes & Regulations.

International:

Global Legal Monitor (Library of Congress Law Library)
Global Legal Informantion Network (GLIN)
A public database of official texts of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and international organizations.
WLII (World Legal Information Institute)
ECOLEX
The most comprehensive global source of information on environmental law.
FAOLEX
Contains treaties, laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources from all over the world.
NATLEX
A database of national labour, social security and related human rights legislation.
WHO- International Digest of Health Legislation
Contains a selection of national and international health legislation.