Signing into law

A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute.

The term bill is primarily used in Anglophone nations. In the United Kingdom, the parts of a bill are known as clauses, until it has become an act of parliament, from which time the parts of the law are known as sections.

In Francophone nations a proposed law may be known as a projet de loi or proposition de loi.

The preparation of a bill may involve the production of a draft bill prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature. In the United Kingdom, draft bills are frequently considered to be confidential.Pre-legislative scrutiny is a formal process carried out by a parliamentary committee on a draft bill. It is required in much of Scandinavia, occurs in Ireland at the discretion of the Oireachtas (parliament) and occurs in the UK at the government's discretion.

In the Westminster system, where the executive is drawn from the legislature and usually holds a majority in the lower house, most bills are introduced by the executive (government bill). In principle, the legislature meets to consider the demands of the executive, as set out in the Queen's Speech or Speech from the Throne.

While mechanisms exist to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills, these are subject to strict timetables and usually fail unless a consensus is reached. In the US system, where the executive is formally separated from the legislature, all bills must originate from the legislature. Bills can be introduced using the following procedures:

Bills are generally considered through a number of readings. This refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature. While the bill is no longer read, the motions on the bill still refer to this practice.

In the British/Westminster system, a bill is read the first time when it is introduced. This is accompanied by an order that the bill be printed and considered again. At the second reading the general merits of the bill are considered – it is out of order to criticise a bill at this stage for technical defects in drafting. After the second reading the bill is referred to a committee, which considers the bill line by line proposing amendments. The committee reports to the legislature, at which stage further amendments are proposed. Finally a third reading debate at which the bill as amended is considered in its entirety. In a bicameral legislature the process is repeated in the other house, before the Bill is submitted to the executive for approval.

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