1. The Nature and Sources of the British constitution

Question 1

What is the nature of the constitution?

Answer 1

• Uncodified
• Unitary
• rule of law
• parliamentary sovereignty

Question 2

What is Uncodified and the significance?

Answer 2

• Found in a variety of sources
• significance:
  + it can make it more difficult for British subject to understand their rights and how the political system works
  + it can make it easier to adapt e.g. acts of parliament

Question 3

What is Unitary and the significance?

Answer 3

• All power ultimately drives from central government (opposite to USA)
• significance
  + Westminster Parliament is sovereign and therefore v. powerful
  + Any power delegated through devolution is delegated

Question 4

What is Rule of law and the signifiance?

Answer 4

• Everyone is equally subject to the laws - even the government
• significance:
  + Identifies Britain as modern liberal democracy
  + ensures the power of government are limited
  + lead to the government having to reverse an action e.g. 2016 the government was found by the courts to act illegally by trying to restrict legal aid to people born outside the UK

Question 5

What is parliamentary sovereignty and the signifiance?

Answer 5

• Parliament is the supreme authority in land
• constitution is what parliament says it is and can be altered by statute law
• significance?
  + fundamental principles of British Constitution
  + flexible and easy to change

Question 6

What are the sources of the consitution?

Answer 6

• Statue law
• common law
• royal prerogative
• conventions
• authoritative opinions

Question 7

What is statue law and the signifiance?

Answer 7

• Acts of parliament that affect and alter the British constitution - covers laws that impact on civil liberties and human rights e.g. Human rights act 1998
• significance:
  + constitution remains flexible and adaptable

Question 8

What is common law and the signifiance?

Answer 8

• Laws passed down over the years by legal judgements in the courts
• e.g. marriage laws, copyrights
• significance:
  + Does not have precedence over statue law

Question 9

What is royal prerogative and the significance?

Answer 9

• historic political powers of the monarch - now with the Prime Minister
• significance:
  + often cited as a way government can extend their powers e.g. honours can be handed out by the PM
  + Can be limited by Acts of Parliament e.g. Fixed term parliament act 2011

Question 10

What is conventions and the significance?

Answer 10

• Unwritten traditions that help ‘oil the wheels’ f state and enable government to run smoothy e.g. 1945 Salisbury Addison convention
• significance:
  + e.g. enabled Cameron to have the first chance to form a coalition 2010

Question 11

What are authoritative opinion and the significance?

Answer 11

The writing and books of constitutional experts that clarify and explain the inner workings of the constitutions e.g. A.V. Dicey law of the constitution
- significance:
+ no legal authority

Question 12

Historic milestones:

Answer 12

• Magna carta - established everyone including the king was subject to the law
• Bill of Rights 1689 - states that parliament must meet frequently, elections must be free
• Act of settlement 1701 - established the fundamental principle that the monarchy existed on parliaments terms
• parliament act 1911&1949 - significant reduced the rights and powers of the Lord

Question 13

What is the freedom of information act 2000 and the significance?

Answer 13

• requires public bodies such as government departments to publish and make available certain information about their activities
• Strengths:
  + allows pressure groups to identify possible examples of waste/inefficiently or corruption
  + important investigation tool for journalists e.g. Manchester evening news revealed the BBC spent over £110,000 on free tea and coffee at its Manchester office
• Weakness:
  + public bodies can often do refuse requests for information
  + e.g. 2016 37% all requests were declined

Question 14

What is the fixed term parliament act 2011 and the significance?

Answer 14

• passed following the coalition 2010
• weakened the power of PM to call a snap election
• Strength:
  + allowed coalition government to work well
  + fairer on the junior members of the coalition
• weakness:
  + PM May did exactly what the Act was designed to avoid by calling a snap election 2017 within 2yrs of previous election

Question 15

Does the British constitution defend citizens rights? - yes

Answer 15

• Overtime, especially through statute laws more and more rights have been explicitly defended e.g. anti-discrimination laws
• codification would not add anything substantial or meaningful to enhancing awareness of individual or collective rights
• electorate is unlikely to vote for MP who will take away their fundamental rights

Question 16

Does the British constitution defend citizens rights? - no

Answer 16

• Many laws have loopholes e.g. 2018 furore over unequal pay for many females journalists at the BBC
• UnCodified nature of the constitution means people are unaware of their rights unlike the USA
• due to parliamentary sovereignty, no rights are entrenched

Question 17

What are individual rights?

Answer 17

• rights that are those that apply to individual citizens
• e.g.:
  + individual rights to privacy
  + individual rights not to be discriminated against
  + free speech

Question 18

What are collective rights?

Answer 18

• rights that are those that protect a whole group in individuals
• e.g.:
  + people suspected of involvement in terrorism or serious crimes might have their phones monitored to protect collective right to security
  + collective right of religous groups such as Muslims not to be subject to abuse and hatred
  + collective right of workers to be treated fairly and go on strike