Constitution Flashcards
(21 cards)
Aims of New Labour’s (1997 - 2010) Constitutional reforms
- Democratisation
- Decentralisation (devolution)
- Stronger rights protection (ECHR into law)
- Modernisation
How: Had a 179 seat majority, could push reforms with little opposition
House of Lords Reforms
- Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 reasserted primacy of HoC and limited HoL
- House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999
- Cut down hereditary peers (to 92)
- Halved the size of the house (1330 to 670)
Wright Reforms 2010
- Secret ballot for committee members (reducing whip influence)
- Established the Back Bench Business Committee
Human Rights Act 1998
- into force 2000
- binding for public bodies and govt
- could be repealed
- Unentrenched - Does not bind Parliament (sovereignty)
Freedom of Information Act 2000
- aim of transparency
- 2008 request brought to light the Parliamentary expense scandal
However… SSs are exempt and govt can conceal if they believe it will prejudice
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
- Separation of the Judiciary
- removed the Lord Chancellor’s judicial role improving separation of powers between HoL, Cabinet and judiciary - Supreme court
- Created SC separately
- Same powers as before but law lords no longer sat in the commons - Improving judicial appointments process
- Set up JAC (Judicial Appointments Commission)
- ensuring appointments are not political
- but govt still has final say
Fixed Terms Parliament Act 2011
- Removing PM’s ability to call general elections whenever
- Early elections only in case of no new govt 14 days after a confidence vote or a 2/3 HoC vote
- PM must seek permission from Parliament
E.g. 2017 early election was only opposed by 13MPs (522 For)
- Repealed 2022
Recall of MPs Act 2015
- MPs can be recalled using a Recall Petition if:
a) convicted of an offence
b) Suspended for at least 10 days
c) Parliamentary standards conviction
House of Lords Reform Act 2014 & 2015
- Allowed members to resign, retire, be removed (for prolonged non-attendance), or be expelled (for serious criminal convictions)
- 2015 - peers who breached code of conduct could be removed
English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) 2015
- Speaker declaring that a law only affects England or Wales as well would mean only MPs representing the affected regions could veto the bill
Suspended: 2020
Repealed: 2021
Mental Health Discrimination Act 2013
- Repealed previous legislation that had prevented people from serving in public office because of mental health
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011
- Included provisions that enabled the 2011 AV referendum and sought to reduce the size of the HoC
But… - nothing happened because Referendum outcome was ‘NO’
Devolution - Scotland
Scotland Act 1998 - established the Scottish Parliament (following 1997 referendum results), incl. healthcare and policing powers
Scotland Act 2012 - Taxation and waste disposal control
IndyRef 2014 - Failed, 55% No but 85% turnout
Scotland Act 2016 - Further tax powers, welfare, speed limits
Devolution - Wales
Government of Wales Act 1998 - Established national assembly (following referendum), incl. healthcare, education and agriculture
Government of Wales Act 2006 - power to make primary legislation and Welsh Assembly govt.
Government of Wales Act 2014 - Extended terms to ensure they do not align with UK general elections, taxation powers, renamed Welsh Government
Government of Wales Act 2017 - now can legislate on anything not reserved for Westminster, make its own electoral arrangements
Devolution - Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Act 1998 - transferred devolved powers to NI Assembly in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement, power sharing
Northern Ireland Act 2000 - Set out circumstances that could suspend devolved governance
Northern Ireland Act 2006 - restoration of devolved governance with a transitional assembly
Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 - Repealed previous act and put in place a statutory ministerial code
Northern Ireland Protocol (part of EU withdrawal Agreement) - set out different trade regs, avoiding a hard border, maintaining some EU law
Joint Ministerial Committee
- Set up as an advisory meeting opportunity for the representatives of the UK govt. and devolved administrations
- supposed to meet once a year
- did not meet at all 2002 - 2008
- EU negotiations sub committee met 5 times in 2019
- instead COBRA is more common for emergencies e.g. discussing Covid responses
Successes of Devolution
- Specific legislating capabilities help to better meet place specific needs
- Joint approaches have in some cases remained
- Increasing devolution
- Beneficial tax differences
- Policy experimentation possibilities
- Rise in female representation
- Initial Stormont Assembly helped preserve the GFA
- Varied voting systems (more PR) is allowing for more representation
- Regionalism continues to grow
Devolution failures
- Potentially less scrutiny and oversight
- Concerns over the performance of public services
- Lack of clarity in joint working arrangements
- Growing confusion after Brexit
- Additional bureaucracy
- Postcode lottery
- Stormont has only just been restored
- Lower voter turnouts as a result of more elections, more complicated system
- Asymmetry - only 45% of urban areas have an elected major e.g. policing remains reserved in Wales, Social security is only semi-devolved in Scotland, fully in NI and not in Wales
Does the UK need a codified constitution? - YES
- Clarity - enshrined in a single legal document, clear and accessible
- Limited government - could help prevent overreach, strengthen checks and balances, reduce the risk of over-ambitious policy
e.g. Rwanda, ID cards - Higher law and entrenchment - would help create a two-tier legal system that provides further safeguards e.g. for rights, protecting the Human Rights Act
- Judicial interpretation - would give more legitimacy and authority to the judiciary, allowing more than just to highlight incompatibilities
- Protect rights - setting out clearer boundaries for the power of the state over citizens without e.g. 2004 foreign terrorism suspects without trial in Belmarsh rights infringement, court case followed by over a year of legislating
Does the UK need a codified constitution? - NO
- Easier to change - adapts and evolves over time with necessary changes being made through law e.g. Same-sex Marriage Act 2013, ability to undo encourages more progressive attitudes - reduces the risk of political paralysis, avoids the entrenchment of outdated ideas
- Proven adaptability - adapting to changing circumstances e.g. devolution, HRA, HoL reform. Allows for judicial decisions (common law), conventions and Parliamentary law to combined
- Strong and accountable government - allows for significant and necessary reforms to be made based on electoral mandate rather than a constitutional text - increases opportunities for ‘transformative’ administrations
- Too much power to the judiciary - would give power to unelected and publicly unaccountable judges who can re-interpret would upset parliamentary sovereignty if Parliamentary law was no longer supreme
- Difficulties agreeing on content - UK has not had the period of political upheaval typical for constitution codification, unlikely to be much agreement over what the constitution should involve
