The UK constitution Flashcards
(16 cards)
what is a constitution ?
a set of rules and perceptions establishing legal framework in which governments can operate.
they provide legitimacy and freedoms and s well as stability.
what are the 5 sources of the UK constitution ?
- Prerogative Powers
- Statute Law
- Common Law
- Works of Authority
- Convention.
What are Prerogative Powers.
Are derived from the fact that Britain is a monarchy.
Powers traditionally held by the monarch are now exercised largely by ministers.
examples, the right to declare war and the conduct of foreign affairs.
what is statute law ?
consists of acts of parliament and what we know as secondary legislation.
- for a statute law to be passed in the UK parliament it has to go through both houses of parliament and receive royal asse.
- this is a mechanism which allows the HOC to bypass the HOL if the lords block a bill for two parliamentary consecutive sessions.
what is Common Law ?
often referred to as ‘judge made law’.
- when judges make decisions, it becomes part of the canon law, and it will then be considered in feature by other judges.
- statute law relies on common law to ‘fill the gaps’.
example : equality act (2010), places a requirement on employers and public bodies to make responsible adjustments for a person with disabilities.
However, what is responsible is subjective and dependent on the situation.
what is works of authority ?
these are works, although not legally binding, are often looked at as an important reference points for how the constitution should run.
example, the English constitution (1867), by Walter Bagehot. This book explored a wide range of constitutional issues.
what is convention ?
constitutional conventions are rules of goof political behavior. They are typically rules of self- resistance, not exercising powers to the full.
- they usually develop from established constitutional practice, but sometimes are deliberately created.
example: ministers are bound by collective responsibility to support government policy, even if privately disagree.
what are the features of the UK constitution ?
- Parliamentary sovereignty
- The rule of law
- Uncodifies and Un-entrenched
- Partial separation of power
- unitary
what is Parliamentary sovereignty ?
ensures that parliament is always supreme, this means that parliament can quickly react to any challenges to its authority.
- a valid act of parliament cannot be overturned by another body.
dose parliamentary sovereignty really exist= ‘Elective dictatorship’
the government usually has a built in majority of the HOC and control the legislative agenda.
as result of this, they can largely push through whatever actions they believe to be necessary.
arguably, this means that sovereignty resides with the government and not the wider parliament.
what is the rule of Law ?
A.V Dicey said that there where three aspects to the rule of law.
-everyone is equal under the law.
- the government is limited by established laws.
- the law must be administrated by an independent judiciary.
what is dose Uncodified mean in the constitution ?
the British constitution is not written in one single document and is referred to as a uncodified constitution in the seance that there is no single document that outlines, the legal rights and liberty’s of UK citizens.
what is Un-entrenched ?
no body of the constitutional law occupying a hierarchically distinctive or superior position.
within the legal order, fundamental rights not legally garneted.
what is Partial separation of powers ?
- Eighteenth centaury philosophers, maintained that to attain pure democracy in a nation state, the three branches of government, the legislate, the executive and the judiciary should be separate completely.
what is unitary ?
this refers to the concept of a united Kingdome, but also to the principal that there is only one source of legality.
parliament British constitutional theory stresses that all political and legal powers reside with parliament.
other bodies such as the judiciary, local government or Scottish parliament, only exercise rule and authority with the permission of and within the perimeters set by parliament.
example of Unitary
Scotland act (2016), the Scottish parliament and government are a permanent part of the UKs constitutional arrangements.
