Veto
The word
veto comes from
Latin and literally means
I forbid. It is used to denote that a certain party has the right to unilaterally stop a certain piece of legislation. A veto thus gives unlimited power to stop changes, but not to adopt them.
The veto originated with the
Roman tribunes who had the power to unilaterally refuse legislation passed by the Roman
senate.
Westminster Systems
In
Westminster Systems and most
constitutional monarchies, the power to
veto legislation by withholding the
Royal Assent is a rarely-used
reserve power of the monarch, representative of the monarch, or
figurehead president who has replaced the monarch. In
Australia, the
Queen may veto a law that has been given royal assent by the
Governor-General within one year of the legislation being assented to. The
Queen has a similar power in
Canada.
United States
The word "veto" does not appear in the
United States Constitution, but
Article I requires that all bills or other items of legislation passed by both houses of
Congress be presented to the
President for his approval. If he returns a bill to Congress within ten days (excluding Sundays) of its presentment to him, the bill does not become law. A two-thirds majority of both houses can adopt a law even after a presidential veto: however, if Congress has adjourned for the session prior to the expiration of the ten-day period, then no override vote is possible, and the president's veto is thus conclusive. The latter circumstance is referred to as a "pocket veto".
The
legislative veto, by which Congress had nullified certain exercises of powers the body had delegated to the executive branch, was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in
INS v. Chadha.
The veto power in the United States Constitution was derived from the British concept of Royal Assent. On
April 5, 1792 President
George Washington vetoed a bill designed to apportion representatives among the several
states. This is the first time the presidential veto was used in the
United States. The US Congress first overrode a presidential veto on
March 3, 1845.
See also:
List of U.S. presidential vetoes;
Article One of the United States Constitution
Line-item veto
Typically, a veto applies to an entire piece of legislation. Some states in the United States have granted their governors the additional power of a
line-item veto. This allows them to veto or "cross out" only certain parts of the legislation, while allowing the rest to pass. Although details vary, it is not uncommon for a piece of legislation that has undergone a line item veto to be returned to the legislative body for final approval; they can either accept the amended legislation or decide not to pass it at all in its new form. The line item veto power has been controversial. Perhaps its most famous abuse was when Governor of Wisconsin,
Tommy Thompson, crossed out individual letters in a bill so that the remaining words comprised entirely different sentences, effectively introducing a new provision into the bill. Some states permit line item vetoes only in "appropriation bills," or bills granting money for the various government departments. The United States Congress passed a law authorizing the President to strike out up to three items of appropriation in a single bill, but the Supreme Court ruled this procedure unconstitutional in
Clinton v. City of New York.
United Nations
In the United Nations Security Council, the five permanent members (the
United States,
Russia, People's Republic of China,
France and the
United Kingdom) have veto power. If any of these countries votes against a proposal it is rejected, even if all of the other member countries vote in favor.
Poland
In the constitution of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
Poland, there was an institution called the
liberum veto. All bills had to pass the
Sejm (Parliament) by unanimous consent, and if any legislator voted
nay on anything, this not only vetoed that bill but dissolved the legislature itself.
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