Non-Executive bills in the Northern Ireland Assembly

With zero non-Executive bills introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the current mandate, agendaNi outlines those that have been proposed by individual MLAs to date.

A year after the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and over three years into the current mandate, only four bills introduced to the Assembly have been granted royal assent and have passed into law. All of these bills were sponsored by an Executive minister, and all were granted accelerated passage.

Four other Executive bills, which were not accelerated, are currently making their way through various scrutiny stages. While, historically, the number of pieces of legislation signed into law always tends to be heavily weighted to the latter stages of a mandate, the volume of legislation passing through the Assembly still appears comparatively low to previous mandates.

The majority of primary legislation passing through the Assembly tends to be Executive-led, and brought forward by specific ministers, however, mechanisms exist to allow for bills to be introduced by an individual MLA or Assembly committees, which is particularly important for independent MLAs, or those representing parties outside of the Executive.

The proposal of a bill by an individual MLA is a rigorous process. The MLA must lodge their proposal with the Bill Office and are then required to conduct a consultation on their proposal. A consultation paper must be lodged with the Bill Office within four months of the original proposal and a final proposal of the bill must also be sent after the end of the consultation. If this final proposal is approved by the Speaker, the Assembly provides access to the drafting service.

In the previous mandate (2017 to 2022), 19 members’ bills were introduced, 10 of which completed the legislative process to become acts. As of yet, no members’ bills have been introduced in the current mandate, however, nine have been proposed. Two of these proposals are open to consultation until January 2025, two in February, and three in March.