ABSTRACT

This article examines the case of Spain as part of a broader comparative study on parliamentary scrutiny of the quality of legislation, looking in particular at the role played by the Letrados de las Cortes Generales, the corps of high-ranking parliamentary civil servants, or clerks, of the Spanish bicameral legislature. As in many other countries, the Spanish political landscape has witnessed an increasing polarisation in the last decade which has led to the fragmentation of the Congreso de los Diputados, or Lower House, once dominated by a two-party system. This has severely affected the parliament´s legislative function. Fewer laws are passed, and there has been a shift in the origin of legislative initiative. Government bills are no longer so easily passed, whereas non-governmental bills have more chances now of becoming laws than before. Against this background, and given the lack of specific parliamentary bodies or guidelines for the scrutiny of the quality of legislation, the Letrados de las Cortes Generales seem essential in contributing to improving the quality of bills, whichever its origin, throughout the legislative procedure, until their passing into laws. This article explores at length their role and the different steps and ways in which they do this. It also analyses the progress in setting standards and bodies for Legislative Drafting by the Spanish Government since, in the absence of specific ones for parliament, Government’s Guidelines are usually applied by the Letrados in their work. To illustrate the current debate on the quality of legislation, the evolution of the Spanish Constitutional Court’s rulings on the matter is also briefly outlined. In conclusion, and though limited to legal and technical aspects, the Letrados de las Cortes Generaleś scrutiny of bills does contribute, to a large albeit imperfect extent, to improving the quality of legislation in Spain.

摘要

本文以西班牙为例，作为对议会对立法质量进行仔细审查的更广泛比较研究的一部分，特别考察了莱拉多斯·德·拉斯·科尔特斯将军，高级议会公务员或文员队伍所发挥的作用。西班牙两院制立法机构。与其他许多国家一样，过去十年来，西班牙的政治格局日益分化，这导致曾经由两党制统治的国会大厦（Congreso de los Diputados）的分裂。这严重影响了议会的立法职能。通过较少的法律，立法倡议的起源已经发生了变化。政府法案不再那么容易通过，而非政府法案现在比以前有更多的机会成为法律。在这种背景下，由于缺乏专门的议会机构或立法机构来审查立法质量，因此，在整个立法程序中，莱索托·拉斯·科尔特斯将军对改善法案的质量至关重要，无论其出处如何。他们通过成为法律。本文详细探讨了它们的作用以及它们执行此操作的不同步骤和方式。它还分析了西班牙政府制定立法起草标准和机构的进展，因为在没有针对议会的具体标准的情况下，莱塔多斯通常在其工作中采用政府的准则。为了说明当前有关立法质量的辩论，还简要概述了西班牙宪法法院关于此事的裁决的演变。综上所述，