Orders of the Day – in the House of Commons at 5:45 pm on 11 June 2008.
'(1) The Secretary of State must on making an order under section [Power to declare reserve power exercisable] forthwith notify—
(a) the chairman of the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons,
(b) the chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and
(c) the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee.
(2) The Secretary of State must also, as soon as reasonably practicable, provide each of those persons with a copy of—
(a) the report received under section [Report of operational need for further extension of maximum period of detention] (report on operational need for further extension of maximum period of detention), and
(b) the legal advice obtained under section [Independent legal advice] (independent legal advice).
(3) The information received under subsection (1) and the documents received under subsection (2) are to be held by the recipients subject to the terms of their oath as a privy counsellor (or if any recipient is not a privy counsellor, on corresponding terms).
(4) The references in subsection (1) to the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons and the Joint Committee on Human Rights shall—
(a) if the name of the Committee is changed, be taken (subject to paragraph (b)) to be references to the Committee by its new name;
(b) if the functions of the Committee at the passing of this Act (or functions substantially corresponding to those functions) become functions of a different committee, be taken to be references to the committee by whom the functions are for the time being exercisable.'.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
