statute law and parliamentary privilege Flashcards

1
Q

statute law

A
  • well established in the tudor period
  • laws passed by parliament could only be changed by a future parliament
  • parliament had the sole right to pass laws ans they had to be obeyed by everyone in England
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2
Q

break from Rome 1530s

A
  • brought about change to the importance of statute law
  • use of parliament to grant royal supremacy (although netiehr cromwell nor henry wanted to act like parliament did do so) set a precendent for future monarchs to refer back to parliament when changing the rekligious settlement of the 1530s - Mary and Elizabeth
  • gave parliament power over religious matters as well
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3
Q

‘Crown-in-Parliament’

A
  • most powerful insitutioj in the realsm was the King/Queen acting in conjucntion with the parliament rather than without it
  • Crown in parliament had authority over the Church but the Crown did not
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4
Q

parliament’s power overtime

A
  • each time a monarch went back to parliament, it gaind more power though it was never more powerful than than the monarch
  • parliament gained the right to legislate on religious change and on royal succession by the end of the period
  • Led MP’s to believe they were free to discuss religious policy and the succession in parliament even though this was a privilege which Elizabeth tried to deny them
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5
Q

Parliament’s rights and privileges

A
  • MPs could not be arrested for debt and could not be prosecuted in the lesser law courts while they served as MPs
  • freedom of speech - MPs could speak freely as long as they did not mention parliamentary proceedings outside the house
  • parliamentary managers - led to potential tension between parliament and the monarchy over the extent of the commons’ freedom
  • Thomas More - 1523 - requested Henry 8 to allow MPs to speak freely - request was accepted allowing parliament to restrict the amount of taxation that Wolsey was granted
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6
Q

parliamentary managers

A
  • placed in the commons by the monarch - informed the ruler of what was being said - led to tensions between the commons and the monarch regarding parliamentary freedoms
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7
Q

consequences of parliamentary managers

A
  • actual opposition was rare

- patronage meant there was always a group of nobles obedient to a powerful patron

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8
Q

by elections

A
  • introduced by Cromwell in the 1530s
  • when vacancies had arisen during a parliamentary session, they could be filled
  • allowed the monarch and their ministers to manipulate who was elected
  • eventhough those MPs who werent under patronage were likely to do as they were told due to a natural deference to their social superiors
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9
Q

1555 parliamentary revolt

A
  • Mps refused to accept a bill which would have confiscated lands from those exiled from england(mostly reformers)
  • MPs saw this to be an attack of their landowning rights
  • Sir Anthony Kingston (Gloucestershire MP) locked the doors to the house and forced the speaker to take a voter defeating the bill before Mary could gather any additional support
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10
Q

parliament under Elizabeth

A
  • MP’s felt their views should be heard about her marriage, the succession and religion
  • E was usually able to suppress these challenges with the help of Cecil and Walsingham
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11
Q

Peter Wentworth

A
  • 1576 - made a speech attacking E’s attempt to control discussions in the commons - used traditional ideas of parliamentary privilege to justify his attempts to challenge the religious settlement
  • parliament was embarrassed by Wentworth’s outburst and imprisoned him for a month
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12
Q

Parliament and taxation under Elizabeth

A
  • 1593 - commons agreed to a bill that would allow for two subsidies to be raised but ina meeting w reps of the Lords were told by Cecil that they should reconsider the amount as it was not enough
  • MP’s were angered - felt that the commons should have the sole right to initiate a taxation bill and the Lords should not intervene
  • MPs felt they represented the maj. of the ppl would would pay sop they should be charge of decisions about taxation
  • councillors in the lords managed to calm down the commons and then granted the subsidy that the lords had asked
  • demonstrated the increased confidence of the commons - demonstrated th needs for commons to be managed carefully
  • parliaments did end up doing what was asked of them though by the end
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