Relations between branches Flashcards
(20 cards)
RESEARCH SC AND RELATIONSHIP OF BRANCHES
What were the key events of Brexit?
2015
- Cameron includes holding an EU referendum in manifesto
2016
- referendum held
2017
- May triggers Article 50
2020
- UK officially leaves EU
What are the aims of the EU?
- Promote peace and unity
- Single market
- Monetary union
- Economic union
- Create freedom, security, and justice
- Promote equality and fight discrimination
Has the EU promoted rights?
Yes
- ECHR standardised rights
⤷ maternity leave and pay
⤷ anti-discrimination in workplace
- Freedom of movement
- Refusal to allow Turkey to join
No
- EU has little enforcement of
- Poland and Hungary do not allow gay marriage
Has peace been created?
Yes
- no wars or military conflicts between members since EEC
No
- EU lacks military
⤷ can only sanction countries and holds talks
⤷ e.g. Ukraine-Russia and Israeli genocide, EU have had little impact on peace talks
Has there been economic success?
Yes
- help standardise and quicken transactions
- promotes trade
- creates economic unity
No
- not all members have the euro
⤷ Sweden, Denmark
- economic dependence of southern members
⤷ Financial crisis 2008 meant France, Germany etc had to bail out Greece as it couldn’t cope as well
- loss of national sovereignty
⤷ eurozone members have hostility to members which avoid it
⤷ keep the benefits of the EU without economically assisting them
What is the single market?
Free movement of…
Goods
⤷ no taxes or barriers
Services
⤷ no additional regulations on financial services
People
⤷ equal treatment in any state (includes NHS etc)
Capital
⤷no fees or limits on currency
Has the single market been useful?
Yes
- created 3-4m jobs
- GDP increased, even after financial crash
- helped former communist countries have an economic base
No
- health tourism
- illegal immigration
⤷ Sweden and Hungary reintroduced checks on border crossing
How was the EU beneficial to the UK?
- Uncontroversial
⤷ brought standardised rights and unity across nations - Funding of low-income areas
⤷ Cornwall, South Yorkshire, NI - Funding of Wales for town centres
⤷ Pontypridd, Aberdare - Investment in job creation schemes
⤷ 3-4m jobs created across EU - Supported cultural structures
⤷ funding for leisure centres in South Yorkshire
⤷ John Lennon Airport
How was the EU harmful to the UK?
- Created a dependency on the EU
- Blocked parliamentary sovereignty due to ECHR etc
- Issues of free movement
⤷ The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
⤷ equal access across waters, meaning Spanish and Portuguese fishers came to the UK waters as is has one of the largest prime fishing areas
⤷British farming industry massively declined
⤷ quotas on fish to try limit this only led to dead fish being thrown back
⤷ The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
⤷ 38% of EU’s annual budget
⤷ subsidies to ensures consistent food production
⤷ protects farmers, protects land
⤷ but UK farming is small in comparison to France and Spain but were the 2nd largest contributer
⤷ issues around food waste, with “butter mountains” as guaranteed minimum prices of dairy led to excess production as it was most profitable
How was the SC introduced?
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
⤷ 12 judges
⤷ special selection committee chooses justices
⤷ only removed by HC and HL but only for misconduct
What are key SC cases on rights?
Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers 2025
⤷ ruled that trans women are not women
Steinfeld and Keiden v Secretary of State for International Development 2018
⤷ Civil Partnership Act 2004 wasn’t repealed when Marriage Act 2013 was passed
⤷ different-sex civil partnerships not allowed
⤷ ruled that this broke ECHR, leading to law change in 2020
NHS Trust v Y 2018
⤷ ruled that legal permission is no longer needed from patients in a vegetative state
⤷ would cost £50,000 in legal fees before this
What are key SC cases involving judicial review?
Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union 2017
⤷ confirmed the High Court’s ruling that the sec of state for the EU did not have the power to trigger article 50
⤷ confirms the rule of law
Miller v The PM 2019
⤷ ruled that the PM’s proroguing of parliament was unlawful
⤷ Johnson still went on to prorogue parliament again and miss his 3rd PMQ
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department 2023
⤷ ruled the Rwanda Bill to be unlawful as Rwanda was deemed an unsafe country
⤷ concerns with the HRA and ECHR
What is the composition of the SC?
2 women
10 men
1 BAME
11 oxbridge
1 manchester uni
4 private school
4 grammar
4 public
How does this compare to society?
society % : SC %
women - 51:17
BAME - 18:8
private - 7:33
oxbridge - 1:92
What factors must justices balance?
Long term effects
⤷ must not think of what seems important due to circumstances, but must think of the practice down the line
⤷ i.e. terrorism must not lead to rights violations
Public opinion
⤷ must not succumb to press
How does the SC remain impartial?
- Security of tenure
⤷ cannot be removed from their positions for a ruling - Rule of sub-justice
⤷ all justices are chosen for their experience, not on political bias - Independent judiciary
⤷ do not have any loyalty to other political branches, so they remain neutral on issues - Judicial pay
⤷ prevents bribery as they earn a sufficient salary
How is the SC biased?
- Appointments
⤷ ministers in the JAC influence choice of justices - Backround
⤷ predominantly white, male, highly educated
⤷ blocks them of unique insight into cases
⤷ e.g. trans rights case - Peerage
⤷ President Justice Reed - lordship means he will enter the lords upon his resignation
⤷ bias with potential connections in the lords, or with his future prospects
How is the SC powerful?
- Judicial review
⤷ Johnsons proroguing, rwanda, eu - Independence
⤷ Const reform act - Protection of rights
- Controls political landscape through rulings
⤷ trans rights was not particularly political but sparked Starmer’s transphobia etc
How is the SC limited?
- Parliament is sovereign
- Still confined by ECHR
- Amendment of statutes
⤷ Sunak amended Rwanda bill to - Uncodified constitution
⤷ Constitutional Reform Act could be changed - Cannot bring cases forward
⤷ e.g. nothing on party gate or covid violations of human rights
