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1. the constitution Flashcards

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1
Q

key historical documents

A
  • Magna Carta (1215)
  • Bill of Rights (1689)
  • Act of Settlement (1701)
  • Acts of Union (1707)
  • Parliament Act (1911)
  • Parliament Act (1949)
  • European Communities Act (1972)
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2
Q

magna carta (1215)

A
  • response to King John by restricting his power
  • 25 barons could scrutinise the king
  • first time that there was limits to the king’s power
  • it gave people the right to free justice
  • there are 63 provisions and it is considered to the first written source of the constitution
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3
Q

the bill of rights (1689)

A
  • act of parliament that sets out basic rights, who is next to inherit the the crown and lays down the limits on the powers of the monarch
  • sets out rights of parliament, including the protection from cruel and unusual punishment
  • outlines the rights of individuals and freedom of speech in parliament
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4
Q

act of settlement (1701)

A
  • gave power to choose the monarch instead of the divine right of inheritance
  • took away judicial power from the monarch
  • monarchs could not be in the legislature (movement to separate the monarch’s powers from parliament)
  • parliament minister appointment system was changed to be more democratic
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5
Q

acts of union (1707)

A
  • dissolved the Scottish parliament and created the first unified parliament in westminister
  • the Scottish people were allowed to keep their laws and religion
  • unified the crown
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6
Q

parliament act (1911)

A
  • after a general election in 1910, the liberals introduced a limit to the house of lords’ power
  • limited the length of parliament to 5 years
  • the house of lords could only delay a bill for 2 years
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7
Q

parliament act (1949)

A
  • the act reduced the time the house of lords could delay a bill to 1 year or 2 parliamentary sessions (whichever came first)
  • passed without the house of lords’ consent
  • represented the passing of power from the house of lords to the house of commons
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8
Q

european communities act (1972)

A
  • the laws passed by the EEC automatically come into effect without parliamentary approval
  • passed by parliament to allow the uk to join three European institutions (EEC, ECSC, EAEC)
  • eu laws took precedence over uk laws as a result
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9
Q

constitution

A

a constitution is a set of rules that seeks to establish the duties, powers, functions and the relationship between/among the various institutions of government; and to define the relationship between the state and the individual (eg defining the extent of civil liberty)

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10
Q

civil liberties

A

freeedoms and rights of the individual, limited by the freedom and rights of the masses

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11
Q

nature of the uk constitution

A
  • parliamentary sovereignty
  • uncodified
  • unitary
  • fusion of powers
  • flexible
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12
Q

parliamentary sovereignty

A

the absolute and unlimited authority of parliament which can, in theory, make, repeal or amend any laws

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13
Q

uncodified

A

not confined to to a single document. much of it is written down but in a variety of documents

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14
Q

unitary

A

power is concentrated in one place - power can be delegated but can always be gained back

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15
Q

fusion of powers

A
  • where the executive branch and legislative branch of government intermingle
  • (eg the prime minster is the prime minster and an mp)
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16
Q

different branches of government

A
  • legislative (pm and the cabinet)
  • executive (house of commons and house of lords)
  • judiciary (supreme court)
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17
Q

flexible

A

changes can take place without a lengthy procedure

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18
Q

sources of the constitution

A
  • statute law
  • common law
  • conventions
  • major works of authority
  • treaties
  • major historical documents
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19
Q

statute law

A
  • a statute is a written law passed by an act of parliament
  • it is law that is enforceable in the courts
  • many statutes do not embody principles affecting the constitution (eg environment act 2021)
  • others do because they affect the way in which we are governed and our relationships with the state (eg representation of the people act)
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20
Q

common law

A
  • made by judges
  • it is law formed in the basis of precedence set in case in previous cases
  • judgements made in one court of law must be followed by others in the future if they face a similar case
  • this law is not the product of the legislative process but a reflection of the accumulated knowledge of the past
  • most of the original laws concerning civil rights began this way
  • common law can be overridden by statute law (because of parliamentary sovereignty)
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21
Q

conventions

A
  • sets of rules that are established over time by custom and practice, which relate to the exercise of government power
  • conventions aren’t legally binding
  • eg the Salisbury-Addison convention states that the house of lords will not strike down a bill pertaining to the ruling party’s manifesto
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22
Q

major works of authority

A
  • become sources of guidance which are widely recognised and are therefore viewed as authoritative
  • they often contain the nearest to a written account that we have to the way the constitution operates
  • eg Walter Bagehot, the english constitution 1867
  • A.V Dicey, an introduction to the study of the law of the constitution 1885
  • Erskine May, treatise on the law, privileges, proceedings and usage of parliament 1844
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23
Q

A.V Dicey

A

twin pillars:

  • parliamentary sovereignty
  • rule of law (no one is above the law)
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24
Q

treaties

A
  • the laws and treaties of the EU have become a significant source of the British constitution
  • where EU law and uk law conflict, eu law used to take precedence
  • this has been especially important for economic and social legislation (eg maternity role)
25
Q

Maastricht treaty (1992)

A

is considered the most important one because:

  • provided an introduction of a central banking system and a common currency (euro)
  • committed members to implementing common foreign and security policies
  • called for greater cooperation on various issues (including the environment, policing and social policy)
26
Q

major constitutional documents

A

number of documents formed on the basis of the constitution because they established important principles

  • magna carta
  • acts of settlement
  • parliament acts
  • bill of rights
  • acts of union
  • European communities act
27
Q

royal prerogative

A

powers that were once owned by the monarch but now are given to ministers to enact on the monarch’s behalf

28
Q

constitutional reform

A

the act of modernising the way the country is run

29
Q

freedom of information act 2000 - democratisation
(new labour)

A
  • gave individuals the right to access most personal information held on them by public bodies
  • the act has been instrumental in making the government more transparent
  • most famously exposing the expenses scandal in 2009
  • the act does contain a list of exceptions or materials that can remain secret and government ministers retain the right to veto some information blocking its release of it if it would be against the public interest
  • the cabinet has previously used 5 vetos to prevent information from being accessed under the act
  • the first request was the contents of legal information given in the build up to the war in Iraq
30
Q

human rights act 1998 - rights
(new labour)

A
  • incorporated the ECHR into British law
  • first time it positively states rights that British citizens could claim
  • provided the judiciary with powers to protect citizens’ civil liberties with
  • all public bodies are now expected to act in accordance with the act
  • it is an act of parliament and doesn’t represent a higher constitutional law therefore parliament has the right to repeal the act or enact legislation that conflicts with the act (when this happens, the judiciary should issue a formal statement of incompatibility)
  • in order to preserve parliamentary sovereignty, the HRA can’t be considered superior to statute law
31
Q

factors that led to the human rights act

A
  • general desire to bring the constitution into line with the rest of Europe
  • the British government has been brought before the ECHR over 50 times since 1966 and had lost most of the cases
  • new labour stressed active citizenship; citizens have a responsibility to their communities and in return, it was believed that rights should be better understood and safeguarded
32
Q

limitations of the human rights act

A
  • the government would not be bound by the act in confronting terrorism and extremism
  • ‘should the legal obstacles arise, we will legislate further including, if necessary, amending the human rights act’ - Tony Blair (2005)
33
Q

local government act (2000)

A
  • enabled local authorities to offer their voters a referendum over whether they wanted their own directly elected mayors
  • supporters of the principle of elected mayors argue that they encourage greater accountability and transparency in local government
  • however Cameron claimed that they ‘galvanise action’
  • by 2016, the electorate had rejected an elected mayor in 37 out of the 53 referendums that were called
  • mayors are frequently elected on a small turnout of the vote therefore undermining their legitimacy
34
Q

devolved assemblies - decentralisation
(new labour)

A
  • provides Scotland and wales with greater powers to govern themselves (referendums were held)
  • the aim was to provide the constituent parts of the uk with greater self determination
  • establishing new legislature and executives means that policies would be more suited to the people
  • the uk is a unitary state, where power is centralised in a powerful national government but it has been argued that as many policy areas are no now left to devolved assemblies, the uk is now a quasi federal state
35
Q

house of lords act (1999) - modernisation
(new labour)

A
  • house of lords reform
  • before 1999, hereditary peers outnumbered life peers
  • the hereditary principle undermined the legitimacy of the house of lords
  • therefore, the government determined the right to remove hereditary peers to attend which made life peers the biggest group in the house of lords
  • to persuade the HoL to agree, 92 hereditary peers were elected by the lords to stay
  • the government’s intention was to make the HoL more professional, by making membership based on merit and accomplishment
  • this change removed the automatic conservative majority and increased the number of cross bench peers
  • HoL lacks democratic legitimacy as the majority of peers are still appointed on the recommendations of the prime minister (nothing was done to introduce an elected element)
  • critics claim too many appointed lords are made through political patronage (the prime minister can appoint political allies)
36
Q

electoral reform

A
  • Blair expressed an interest in electoral reform but the majority labour win changed his mind (FPTP benefits the bigger parties)
  • the government commissioned a report to investigate alternatives to FPTP
  • however, the government ignored the recommendation to replace FPTP
  • labour was prepared to adopt a new electoral system for the new devolved assemblies/elected mayors/regional assemblies to encourage voter choice and ensure a fairer balance of influence
37
Q

supreme court - modernisation (new labour)

A
  • established through the constitutional reform act (2005)
  • under the act, the Secretary of State justice also currently holds the office of lord chancellor although with a greatly reduced role
  • as a result of the act, the lord chancellor is no longer the speaker in the HoL
  • the act tried to separate the powers of the legislature and executive branch of the government
38
Q

to guarantee the separation of powers, the constitutional reform act (2005) achieved:

A
  • ended the HoL’s judicial function and in its place established a supreme court that opened in 2009
  • the way it dispensed justice has proved more transparent and conspicuous than the lords
  • in order to make the appointments of judges more transparent, the lord chancellor’s right to nominate judges was transferred to a judicial appointments committee
  • the lord chancellor’s role presiding over the HoL was removed
39
Q

house of commons reform
(coalition)

A
  • the wright committee was established in 2009 to identify ways to improve parliamentary procedures
  • there was three ways the committee did this:
    1. select committee elections
    2. back bench business committee
    3. e petitions
40
Q
  1. select committee elections
A
  • each committee scrutinises a different area of government
  • the select committee chairs should be elected by MPs across the commons and paid an additional salary to encourage more independent minded MPs
  • all other select committee members are to be chosen by MPs from their own party, rather than party leaders (to promote independence)
  • on the 4th of march 2010, the commons voted to change its standing orders to require the election of committee chairs
  • the first elections were on the 9th of June 2010
41
Q
  1. back bench business committee
A
  • allocated 35 days to schedule debates in issues raised by backbench MPs
  • MPs pitch ideas for debate and the committee chooses between them rather than have the government dominate discussion
42
Q
  1. e petitions
A
  • allows the public to influence the commons debates more directly
  • government e petition website was created in 2011
  • e petitions that collect 10,000 signatures receives an official government response
  • e petitions that collect 100,000 could be scheduled for a debate by the backbench business committee
  • in 2015, the website was changed so that it was run by parliament not the government
  • also in 2015, a petitions committees was created which can ask for more information from petitioners, government and other relevant people/organisations
  • the committee can also pressure or write to the government to press for action and ask parliament committees to look into issues raised by petitions
43
Q

fixed term parliament act (2011)
(coalition)

A
  • (the act was repealed)
  • the lib dems wanted assurance that the conservatives would not call an early election and walk away from the coalition at a politically convenient time
  • it took away the prerogative power to dissolve parliament
  • it set the date for the next general election (07/0515) and established that all subsequent elections would be held every 5 years on the first friday in may
  • however, the act stated that parliament can still be dissolved if 2/3 of the MPs vote in favour or a vote of no confidence is called
44
Q

recall of MPs act (2015)
(coalition)

A
  • allows constituents to remove their MP before the end of their term and elect a replacement
  • if 10% of the MP’s constituents sign the removal petition within six weeks, they lose their seat and a by-election is held
  • the act allows constituents to recall their MP if:
    1. they are convicted of a crime and given a sentence of 12 months or less
    2. following an investigation and report form the standards committee, MPs vote to suspend them for at least 10 sitting days
    3. if they are convicted under the parliamentary standards act (2009) for making false or misleading expenses claims
45
Q

House of Lords reform bill (2012)
(coalition)

A
  • planned to phase in elections and new appointed members over 10 years
  • it was abandoned in September 2012 following the 92 conservative MPs rebellion at the second reading
  • consequently, the lib dems pulled their support for changing the constituency boundaries
46
Q

House of Lords reform act (2014)
(coalition)

A
  • a private member’s bill
  • allowed, for the first time, members to retire
  • also allowed for peers to be expelled if they don’t attend at all in a session or if they were sentenced to more than a year in prison
47
Q

increased use of referendums - democratisation
(new labour)

A
  • before 1997, there had only been 4 nationwide referendums
  • since then, there have been 9, with the most recent being on Scottish membership and eu membership
  • referendums have been vital for giving a mandate to devolution and the creation of the Scottish parliament and the Welsh and Northern Irish assembly
  • although referendums are not necessarily binding, it would be incredibly difficult for parliament to resist a clear outcome because the government represents the people therefore they have to act on their will
  • the increased use of referendums is gradually establishing a new convention that significant constitutional changes would be put to a referendum first
48
Q

four principles of new labour’s constitutional reform (1997-2010)

A
  1. rights
  2. democratisation
  3. decentralisation
  4. modernisation
49
Q

devolution

A
  • devolution is the transfer of policy making powers from the centre to subordinate sub national institutions
  • the state wide legislature retains ultimate authority
  • devolution in the uk has been asymmetrical: each of the devolved institutions has different powers and distinctive features
  • in the uk, devolution is a process rather than a one off event
  • devolved institutions were in Scotland and wales in 1999 but pressure has been building since the 1970s when discontent with the uk political system promoted a growth of Scottish and Welsh nationalism
50
Q

scottish devolution

A
  • the Scottish parliament has 129 members (msp) by the additional members systems (ams)
  • 73 MSPs (57% of the total) are elected in single member constituencies using the FPTP system
  • 57 MSPs are additional members chosen from party lists, they are elected in 8 multi member regions, each of which elected 7 members using the regional list systems of pr
  • these seats are allocated in a corrective basis so that the distribution of seats reflects more accurately the share of the vote won by parties
  • the Scottish government draws up policy proposals and implements legislation
  • the first minister heads the government and appoints the cabinet
  • labour was in coalition with the Liberal Democrats until 2007, since then the SNP has been the governing party
51
Q

the Scotland act (1998)

A
  • the act gave the Scottish parliament primary legislative powers in a range of policy areas (law and order, health, education, transport, environment and economic development)
  • westminister no longer makes laws for Scotland on these matters
  • additional policy areas have since been devolved
  • TSA also gave the Scottish parliament tax varying powers (it could raise or lower the rate of income tax in Scotland by up to. 3%)
52
Q

the Scotland act (2012)

A

gave the Scottish parliament the power to set a rate of income tax 10% higher or lower than the rest of the uk

53
Q

the Scotland act (2016)

A
  • devolved control of income tax rates and bands
  • gave the Scottish parliament 50% of the VAT revenue raised in Scotland, which the Scottish parliament control of around £15 million
54
Q

reserved powers (Scotland)

A
  • limits in Scottish parliament’s legislative powers were established by the Scotland act (1998)
  • the following reserved powers remain the sole responsibility of westminister: uk constitution, nuclear energy, immigration and employment legislation
55
Q

after the SNP entered office in 2007,

A
  • the uk labour government set up the calman commission to consider the further devolution of powers
  • it’s 2009 recommendation to give the Scottish parliament the power to set a Scottish rate of income tax was enacted in TSA (2012)
  • however, SNP’s landslide victory in the 2011 Scottish parliament election put an independence firmly on the agenda
  • although the constitution is a reserved power, westminister granted the Scottish parliament temporary powers to hold a referendum
56
Q

2014 Scottish independence referendum

A
  • turnout: 84.5%
  • voted no: 55.3%
  • 1.6 million voters supported independence
57
Q

major powers devolved to the Welsh assembly

A
  • health and social services
  • Welsh rate of income tax (eg control over 10p share of income tax)
  • elections
  • primary, secondary and university education
  • tourism
  • sport
  • culture and language
  • housing
  • planning
  • transport
  • onshore gas and oil extraction
58
Q

major powers devolved to the Northern Ireland assembly

A
  • corporation tax
  • health and social services
  • some welfare benefits
  • primary, secondary and university education
  • justice, police, prisons
  • elections
  • transport
  • housing
  • local government
59
Q

examples of policy divergence in devolved assemblies

A
  • prescription charges: exist in England, abolished in Scotland (2011), wales (2007) and Northern Ireland (2010)
  • tuition fees: Scotland - no fees for Scottish students and Scottish unis, wales - tuition fees grant for Welsh students studying in any part of the uk, nothern Ireland - lower fees
  • school league tables: England has them, Scotland (2003), wales (2001) and Northern Ireland (2001) were abolished

uk government (7 decks)

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