Glossary
Definitions are sourced from both www.parliament.uk and the Guide to making legislation on www.gov.uk.
Affirmative resolution procedure: a type of parliamentary procedure that applies to statutory instruments (SIs) and describes the form of scrutiny that the SI receives from Parliament. An SI laid under the affirmative procedure must be actively approved by both Houses of Parliament before it can become law.
British Fishery Limits: The waters within the UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which extends out to 200 nautical miles or at the median line between other coastal States
Chapter: A grouping of clauses under a subheading within a Part of a bill.
Clause: The basic unit of a bill, divided into subsections, then paragraphs, then sub-paragraphs. Once the Bill becomes an Act, a clause becomes a section.
Commencement: The coming into effect of legislation. In the absence of a commencement provision, the Act comes into force from the beginning of the day on which Royal Assent was given (at midnight).
Devolved Administrations: the Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers and the Northern Ireland Department.
Devolved authorities: the legal term for the Devolved Administrations.
EMFF: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
Fisheries Administration: the UK fishing authorities made up of the Secretary of State, Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers and the Northern Ireland Department.
IFCAs: Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities.
LFC: London Fisheries Convention.
Long title: The passage at the start of a bill that begins "a Bill to..." and then lists its purposes. The content of the bill must be covered by the long title.
MCAA: Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.
MMO: Marine Management Organisation.
Money resolution: A Money resolution must be agreed by the House of Commons if a new Government Bill proposes spending public money on something that hasn't previously been authorised by an Act of Parliament. Money resolutions, like Ways and Means resolutions, are normally put to the House for agreement immediately after the Bill has passed its Second reading in the Commons.
Negative resolution procedure: An SI laid under the negative procedure becomes law on the day the Minister signs it (when it is made) and remains law unless a motion – or ‘prayer’ – to reject it is agreed by either House within 40 sitting days.
Northern Ireland Department: This is the relevant department of the Northern Ireland Executive dealing with fisheries. In the case of the Bill the relevant department is the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
Part: A grouping of clauses under a heading in the body of a bill. Also a subdivision of a schedule.
Retained EU legislation: As the UK leaves the EU, the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will convert the body of existing EU law into domestic law and preserve the body of laws we have made in the UK to implement EU obligations. "Retained EU legislation" refers to these bodies of legislation.
Retained direct EU legislation: is defined in section 20 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. It is any direct EU legislation which forms part of domestic law by virtue of section 3 of that Act, and includes directly applicable EU regulations, decisions or tertiary legislation. It does not include the body of domestic laws made in the UK to implement EU obligations.
Regulation: secondary legislation made through SIs.
RFMOs: Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
Schedule: Bills may have a number of Schedules that appear after the main clauses in the text. They are often used to spell out in more detail how the provisions of the bill are to work in practice. Schedules can be amended by Parliamentarians.
Section: When the bill becomes an Act, "clauses" become "sections" but the names of the other subdivisions stay the same.
Senedd Cymru: The Welsh Parliament, formally the National Assembly for Wales
Short title: The title by which a bill is known during its passage through Parliament; for example "Fisheries Bill", and when it passes the "Fisheries Act 2020".
Statutory instrument: Statutory instruments are the most common form of secondary (or delegated) legislation.
Territorial application: Territorial application refers to the territory where a Bill (or provisions of a bill) has a practical effect.
Territorial extent: The extent of a Bill refers to the legal jurisdiction of which a bill, or provisions of a bill, will become a part. There are three legal jurisdictions in the UK: (1) England and Wales, (2) Scotland and (3) Northern Ireland. The extent of a Bill or provision can be different from its application.
UNCLOS: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982.
UNFSA: United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, 1995.