British Constitution Flashcards
Key themes in the development of the constitution
power used to be centralized in the hands of the monarch
transfer of power from monarch to parliament, increased rights of citizens
Beginnings of constitution
started with Magna Carta 1215
agreement between king and barons not to abuse royal power
sets out principle that no one is above the law and sets out right to free trial
Bill of Rights
put into law when William III and Mary II took throne in 1689
Established the idea that the monarchs power is reliant on the consent of parliament and set up frequent parliaments, freedom of speech within parliament and free elections
Act of settlement 1701
stated only a protestant could become monarch and gave control over the line of succession to the throne to parliament
this was shortly followed by the first acts of union - acts that established the union of Scotland 1707 and Ireland 1801, with England to form Great Britain
This was the basis of the UK until the devolution reforms in 1997
1911 and 1949 parliament acts
a budget crisis created in 1909 as the lords rejected Lloyd Georges ‘people’s budget’ which had a substantial tax increase
In response to 1911 parliament act prevented the lords from delaying money bills and prevented them delaying other bills for more than 2 years
1949 parliament act reduced the period for which the lords could delay a bill to one year
1972 European Communities Act
Entered britain into the European Economic Community which later became the EU
Gave EEC/EU law precedence over UK law in the case of a conflict
Brexit process involves repealing this act
Parliamentary Sovereignty
idea that parliament is supreme and ultimate authority sits with it, as a representative of the people
No parliament can bind its successor meaning it can repeal any act passed by previous parliament
Parliament is the supreme legislative body so legislation cant be changed or ignored by judiciary or executive.
Unitary
parliament is unitary, meaning all power is centralized in parliament in Westminster
This principle diluted in recent years due to devolution and many scholars would now refer to the UK as a union state
Unentrenched
constitution is unentrenched, meaning it is easily changed, by a simple act of parliament or a shift in convention
rule of law
idea that everyone, including the gov, is subject to the law and accountable to it
everyone is entitled to fair trial and all citizens are equal under the law and must obey it
judiciary must also be independent of political indifference
uncodified
constitution is not written down and is made up of multiple sources
statute law
all legislation created by parliament
not all laws considered constitutional - only those who deal with the nature of politics and government, or the rights of citizens
most important source of constitution as parliament is sovereign, all other sources can be overridden by statute law
examples of statute law
2005 constitutional reform act created a separate SC
1918 representation of the people act which allowed all men and some women to vote
common law
made up of customs and judicial precedent
royal prerogative is a part of common law
conventions
customs and practices accepted as a way of doing things
e.g. the convention that the PM is the leader of the largest party in parliament
can be removed or made permanent by statute law
2011 fixed term parliament act put statute law into the convention that the gov. should resign if it is defeated in a vote of no confidence.
authoritative works
e.g. Walter Bagehot’s ‘the English constitution’ are books or written guides to the working of the UK constitution
though widely respected, they aren’t legally binding
treaties
agreements signed with other countries
most important for UK constitution = the one entering Britain into EEC in 1972, and the Maastricht treaty 1992 which established the EU
The UK gov. is currently negotiating a new treaty allowing the UK to leave the EU (Brexit)
Magna Carta and Bill of Rights
Magna Carta 1215: restrictions imposed on monarchy to stop the monarch abusing power
Bill of Rights 1689: introduced more limits on power of monarchy
also introduced rights of parliament such as free elections and parliamentary free speech
advances in Europe
European convention on human rights 1953: signed by the UK in 1951 and enforced in ‘53 - meant all UK gov. actions needed to be in compliance with this act. includes articles such as the right to life and right to freedom from torture
European court of Justice 1973: After UK joined the ECC, the European Court of Justice protected the rights of UK workers.
Human rights act 1998
meant the European convention on human rights became codified into british law
freedom of information act
the FOIA allowed UK citizens to access some information held by UK public institutions. some information relating to national security cannot be accessed.
equality act 2010
brought together all anti-discriminatory measures into a single document
protects workers and the general public from discrimination
act includes different types of discrimination including age discrimination and disability discrimination
effectiveness of human rights act at protecting rights
rights became enshrined in a clear way in statute
must be complied with by legislation
meant citizens can ensure the protection of their rights through the UK courts
HRA ineffective at protecting rights
HRA not entrenched and can be replaced so does not offer sufficient protection of rights and liberties
conservative party planned to replace HRA with ‘British Bill of Rights
HRA limited in its protection as it cannot overturn legislation which has been made in parliament
government can set aside the HRA - the rights of terror suspects were set aside after the 9/11 terror attacks
