Institutional checks and balances in a democracy limit concentration of power and ensure that decisions are made without undue influence. As part of these, legislative procedures encompass the formal steps through which laws or bills are proposed, debated, amended and voted on within legislative bodies. Legislative scrutiny plays a crucial role in enhancing transparency and accountability.
In 2023, 38% of people in OECD countries thought it likely that their parliament could effectively hold the government accountable, for instance by questioning a minister or reviewing the budget, while a slightly larger share (40%) thought it unlikely (Figure 12.7). Only in Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland are around half of the population confident in the oversight function of parliament.
Oversight mechanisms also include public consultations, transparency in lobbying and influence, and conflict of interest regulations. The OECD Recommendations on Public Integrity call on adherents to ensure that relevant stakeholders are granted access during the development of draft legislation, promoting effective policy making while preventing capture by narrow interest groups (OECD, 2017).
Legislation may sometimes need to be enacted quickly or through extraordinary procedures, such as during emergencies (e.g. COVID-19) or when transposing international treaties. However, these procedures should be used only in specific situations and be time bound. Fourteen OECD countries have adopted rules that allow parliament to expedite, modify or bypass standard procedures in such cases. In 2021, on average, OECD countries passed 16% of primary legislation (excluding budget laws and international treaties) using expedited processes that prevented external oversight (counted as extraordinary procedures or adoption within 10 days of introduction) (Figure 12.8).
Stability and predictability of law making is important for legal certainty and to allow interested parties to understand and possibly influence legislation (Benoît, Brenner and Fazekas, 2024). Frequent changes to legislation can cut economic growth by creating an unpredictable and volatile regulatory environment, making it difficult for businesses to operate and plan future investments (see Chapter 3). In 2021, 11% of primary legislation was amended within a year on average across OECD countries. The most stable law making was in Canada, Estonia, Spain and the United States, as none of the primary legislation they enacted in 2020 was amended within a year (Figure 12.9).
