the constitution Flashcards
(38 cards)
when was the magna Carter? what did it do?
1215- signed by king John, established rule of law should apply to all, including the monarch. also established habeas corpus
when was the bill of rights? what did it do?
1689- invited William of orange and Mary to England.
It established freedom of speech for MPs, regular free and fair elections as well as for the monarch to always adhere to the law.
when was the Act of settlement? what was it?
1701- stated that the monarch should be protestant and cleared up succession to throne
what was the Act of union? when was it?
1707- incorporated Scotland into Great Britain, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
what were the parliament acts of 1911 and 1949?
1911: lords lost its power to regulate public finance and had delaying power for 2 years
1949: reduced delaying period to 1 year
what was the European communities act? when was it?
1972: brought the UK into the European community which became the EU
what does codified mean?
contained in a single document
what does entrenched mean?
constitutional rules are well protected and difficult to change
what does unitary mean?
political power is centred in one single place (Westminster)
what is the nature of the UK Constitution?
uncodified, unentrenched and unitary
what does quasi-federal mean?
a system that acts federal but isn’t actually federal as the power can still be taken back
what are the sources of the UK constitution?
statute law conventions: Salisbury convention authoritative works: erskin may and A.V. Dicey common law: murder laws treaties: Maastricht Treaty
what did the House of Lords act 1999 do?
reduced number of hereditary peers to 92
what new labour reforms were made to the House of Commons?
2004: chairs of committees raise in salary to give greater status
2010: system of electing members of select committees by whole chamber of commons
2010: backbench business committee established
what was the human rights act 1998?
brought the European convention of human rights into uk law, binding on all public bodies. however parliament remained sovereign
what was the freedom of information act 2000?
any documents held by a public body about a citizen could be requested, security services exempt
what electoral reform did the liberal democrats propose?
in 2011 held AV referendum which came back no
what did the constitutional reform act 2005 do?
abolished the law lords and established the independent Supreme Court
what did the fixed term parliaments act 2011 do?
took away PMs power to call election by setting them every 5 years
when would a snap election occur?
if a vote of no confidence was passed with 2/3 majority
when has the fixed term parliaments act been undermined?
in April 2017 Theresa may announced snap election as she achieved 2/3 majority to do so in the commons
also in 2019 election was triggered
what did the Recall of MPs Act 2015 do? what is an example?
gave constituents a chance to recall an MP if a petition with at least 10% of constituents signatures
e.g: 2019 two MPs lost seats as result of recall elections
what did Scotland Act 1998 do?
in 1997 held referendum of Scottish devolution.
the act granted devolution of powers to Scotland e.g health, education, policing varying rate of income tax by 3%
implemented with AMS electoral system
what did Government of Wales act 1998 do?
referendum on welsh devolution held in 1997.
Act granted devolution to wales to set up Welsh assembly, did not have power to pass primary laws or financial
