Amendments to amendments
- Sarah Cogan
This Quick Reference Guide provides guidance on how to manage amendments to amendments (A2As) in Lawmaker to ensure they are correctly sorted, numbered and applied with ease.
Example of an amendment to amendment
This is an example of an amendment whose target is a new clause amendment.
How to draft an amendments to amendment
Amendments to amendments must be drafted in a traditional Lists of Draft Amendments (LoDA) as inline amending has not been configured to work in the context of an amendment. See How to draft traditional amendments (in a traditional LoDA)
Step 1: Draft A2As in a traditional List of Draft Amendments (LoDA)
Step 2: Update the location information for the A2A
This will ensure the amendment is correctly sorted when an amendment list is generated. It is also useful when there are more than one amendment to the same target amendment.
Step 3: Update the sort code of the target amendment (NIA user only)
This has to be done by an NIA user as the target amendment will have been published and will therefore be editable only by NIA users. The target amendment’s sort code will always be 1. Adding a sort code ensures it will be correctly sorted when the Marshalled List is generated.
Example Location table entries
NB: The Type field is usually populated using the information in the A2A’s instruction e.g. Leave out x and insert y would be Type = Substitute. For simplicity these have been left blank in the table below.
Target amendment | Amendment to amendment’s location information |
|---|---|
New Clause After Clause 2 insert—
| Type Location = Provision = Page Line Sort Code = Sort code: assumes there was only 1 amendment to the target amendment (the target amendment would have a sort code of |
New Schedule Before the Schedule insert— | Type Location = Provision = Page Line Sort Code = Sort code: assumes there was only 1 amendment to the target amendment (the target amendment would have a sort code of |
New Schedule After Schedule 2 insert— | Type Location = Provision = Page Line Sort Code = Sort code: assumes there was only 1 amendment to Sort code: assumes there was only 1 amendment to the target amendment (the target amendment would have a sort code of |
Clause 1, Page 1, Line 2 | Type Location Provision = Page = Line = Sort Code = Sort code: assumes there were 2 amendments sharing the target amendment, the other A2A would have a sort code of |
Schedule, Page 40, Line 23 | Type Location Provision = Page = Line = Sort Code = Sort code: assumes there were 3 amendments sharing the target amendment, the other A2As would have the sort codes |
Schedule 2, Page 40, Line 22 | Type Location Provision = Page = Line = Sort Code = Sort code: assumes there was only 1 amendment to Sort code: assumes there was only 1 amendment to the target amendment (the target amendment would have a sort code of |
Avoid referring to the clause number in the amendment instruction as this would be used to update the location table when you saved your changes. As new clause and new schedule numbers include letters e.g. 3A, this causes an issue when using the location to sort the amendments in an amendment list as letters are not recognised. It is best to refer to subsections/schedule paragraphs or any other lower-level provisions inside the target amendment.
A2As and the Notice of Amendments
When you generate a Notice of Amendments, you should check that all A2As have been given the correct location information. You can initially do this from the Amendment Manager as it displays the Location information and Sort Code in the table, however it is easy enough to make any corrections in the Editor with the Notice of Amendments loaded.
Whilst the target amendment won’t appear in the Notice of Amendments with the A2As, it would be a good time to also double-check that the target amendment’s sort code has been updated to 1. You can do a quick check by looking at the Amendment Manager as there is a column for the Sort Code. See Amendments to amendments | Step 3: Update the sort code of the target amendment (NIA user only) for instructions on how to update it if needed.
A2As and the Marshalled List
It is preferable for all A2As and target amendments to be correctly updated before generating the Marshalled List as it saves you from having to re-run the list after correcting any location information. If you know you have some A2As, double-check that the Location information and the Sort Code information is correct using the Amendment Manager as there are columns for the Location and Sort Code. If you spot a mistake, open them in a Temporary List to make any edits.
If you do make changes to your amendments after viewing the Amendment Manager, make sure you refresh the Amendment Manager to see those changes.
Applying A2As to the target amendment
A2As cannot be automatically applied to their target amendment using Lawmaker. You need to manually update the target amendment with any agreed A2As before applying the target amendment to the bill.
Step 1: Update the target amendment
Before you apply the amendments to the bill, open the A2As and target amendment in a temporary list to make the edits
Tips
To copy whole provisions from A2As into the target amendment see Preparing 'as amended' NI bill versions | To copy provisions inside a quoted structure—
To copy text from A2As into the target amendment see Preparing 'as amended' NI bill versions | To copy text from the amendment instruction—
Step 2: Apply amendments to the bill
See Preparing 'as amended' NI bill versions | Apply amendments & check results