The enrolled bill rule is a principle of judicial interpretation of rules of procedure in
legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
bodies. Under the doctrine, once a
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
passes a legislative body and is signed into law, the courts assume that all rules of procedure in the enactment process were properly followed. That is, "
a legislative document is authenticated in regular form by the appropriate officials, the court treats that document as properly adopted."
United Kingdom
The doctrine was adopted in ''
The King v. Arundel''. It was based on the proposition that when an
Act was passed and assented to, it was affixed with the Great Seal, the "effective legal act of enactment". It was "a regal act, and no official might dispute the king's word".
The enrolled bill rule was restated by
Lord Campbell in ''Edinburgh & Dalkeith Railway Co v Wauchope''. In that case it was complained that the passage of a
private bill
Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...
was defective because proper notice had not been given. The House of Lords rejected the notion that the validity of an Act could be questioned.
United States
In the United States, the rule was adopted by the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in . In effect, the court ruled that the enrolled bill signed by the presiding officers of the two houses of Congress was the best evidence of what had been passed, being on balance better evidence than the journals of the respective houses, so it should not be called into question.
[
]
State law
At the time of the decision in ''Field'', nine states had adopted the doctrine, and thirteen had rejected it.[143 U.S. 649]
At least two states have weakened it:
*The Supreme Court of Kentucky
The Kentucky Supreme Court was created by a 1975 constitutional amendment and is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to that the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of ...
has held that "there is a prima facie
''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...
presumption that an enrolled bill is valid but such presumption may be overcome by clear, satisfactory and convincing evidence establishing that constitutional requirements have not been met".
*The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...
has limited the application of the doctrine.[''Consumer Party of Pa. v. Commonwealth'', 507 A.2d 323 (Pa. 1986).] It held, "When a law has been passed and approved and certified in due form, it is no part of the duty of the judiciary to go behind the law as duly certified to inquire into the observance of form in its passage", but the court also noted that "it would be a serious dereliction ... to deliberately ignore a clear constitutional violation".
See also
* United States House Committee on Enrolled Bills The United States House Committee on Enrolled Bills is a former standing committee of the United States House of Representatives.
The House standing Committee on Enrolled Bills was a result of the dissolution of the old Joint Committee on Enrolled ...
* Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enrolled Bill Doctrine
Common law legal terminology
Legal doctrines and principles
English legal terminology
American legal terminology