C2 - UK Government: The Constitution

Question 1

What is a constitution? And what is its purpose?

Answer 1

• a set of laws or guidelines that sets out the powers and responsibilities of the different institutions of government and the relationships between them
• defines the power and functions of the government and the rights of citizens in relation to the government

Question 2

What have been the key developments to the constitution?

Answer 2

• to reduce the powers of the monarchy, and to extend those of parliament
• to increase the rights and freedom of the citizens
• to draw together the components of the UK
• increase the power of the elected HoC at the expense of the unelected HoL
• define the UK’s relationship with the EU

Question 3

What are the key landmark documents that influenced the growth of the constitution?

Answer 3

• Magna Carta (Great Charter), 1215
• The Bill of Rights, 1689
• The Act of Settlement, 1701
• The Acts of Union, 1707
• The parliament acts, 1911/1949
• The European Communities Act, 1972

Question 4

What is the Magna Carta and how did it help the constitution progress?

Answer 4

• it was an agreement between the King John and the barons that rebelled against royal power
• it was more of a concession to the nobility
• although many of its clauses have been repealed or superseded, it is a powerful symbol of English liberties
• the Magna Carta stated the principle that no one should be deprived of liberty or property without due process of law
• led to the increased rights and freedoms of the ordinary citizens

Question 5

What is the Bill of Rights and how did it help the constitution progress?

Answer 5

• passed by parliament in reaction to king James II’s rule, after he was driven to succession after the ‘Glorious Revolution’
• using the Bill of Rights: William III and Mary II affirmed the rights of parliament when they had accepted the throne
• reduced the rights of the monarchy and extended those of parliament

The bill of rights included provisions for:
- regular parliaments
- free elections
- freedom of speech within parliament

Question 6

What was the Act of Settlement and how did it help the constitution. Progress?

Answer 6

• was designed to protect the Protestant succession to the throne because at the time the adherence to the catholic religion = tyrannical rule => motivated by a desire to exclude James II from the throne
• the act established the right of parliament to determine the line of succession to the throne

Question 7

What were the acts of union and how did they help the constitution progress?

Answer 7

• finally placed England and Scotland under one parliament based in Westminster, despite having a shared monarch since 1603
• this served as the basis of the UK until Blair’s new Labour govt passed legislation to set up a Scottish parliament again in 1997
• both this and the act of settlement were to draw together the parts of the UK

Question 8

What were the parliament acts and how did they help the constitution progress?

Answer 8

• reduced the power of the HoL to interfere with the HoC agenda
• 1911 act was provoked by the Lords rejected the tax raising ‘People’s Budget’ - introduced by David Lloyd George
• 1911 act affirmed that the Lords could not delay money bills. Instead, for non-financial bills, the power of veto was replaced with a two year delaying power
• 1949 act reduced this delaying period to one year
• increased the elected HoC power whilst reducing the power of the unelected HoL

Question 9

What was the European Communities Act and how did it help the constitution?

Answer 9

• passed by Edward Heath’s conservative govt, act took Britain into the EEC - the forerunner of the EU
• established the principle that EU law would take precedence over UK law if a conflict occurred
• the Act was repealed - post brexit referendum - on 31 January 2020 by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, although its effect was ‘saved’ under the provisions of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020. -
• defined the UK’s relationship with the EU

Question 10

What are the features of the UK constitution?

Answer 10

• uncodified - the laws and practices are not set out in a single document. Instead, it is derived from a number of sources - some are written down and others aren’t
• unentrenched - meaning that it can be altered relatively easily - like a simple majority in parliament - therefore has a higher degree of flexibility
• unitary - all legal sovereignty or authority traditionally concentrated from a single place like London essentially running the other part of the UK but that has been modified since the devolution in the 1990s

Question 11

What does it mean for a constitution to be entrenched?

Answer 11

• in a codified constitution, constitutional law has a higher status than ordinary law and some or all of its laws are much harder change or reform a law
• example: an amendment to the US constitution requires the support of 2/3 of congress and 3/4 of it to become law

Question 12

Why has devolution led to the creation of a ‘union state’?

Answer 12

• although the power in the centre remains strong, the individual sub-national units are governed in different ways
• the distribution of power between the central and regional governments of the UK can still be altered by an act of parliament

Question 13

What are the two key principles of the UK constitution?

Answer 13

1885 - constitutional theorist A.V Dicey identified that there are two principles:
- parliamentary sovereignty - principle that parliament can make, amend or unmake any law and cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors
- rule of law - the principle that all people and bodies, including govt. must follow the law and can be held to account if they don’t

Question 14

What are the three main ways in which parliament is said to be sovereign?1)

Answer 14

1) legislation passed by parliament cannot be struck down by a higher body, like a constitutional court
- UKSC can interpret but not overturn an act of parliament

2) parliament can make a law on any subject
E.g. the major social changes of the mid 1960s - legalising abortion and homosexuality, making divorce easier to access and abolishing the death penalty - depended on passing acts of parliament

3) no parliament can bind its successor; parliament has the right to amend or repeal any acts passed by previous parliaments
E.g in 2003 parliament repealed section 28 (1998 local govt act), which made it illegal for the local authorities and school to intentionally promote homosexuality

Question 15

What is the rule of law?

Answer 15

Dicey argued that this was the way in which the rights and liberties of citizens are protected
- respect for the rule of law = check on parliamentary sovereignty -which may take away people’s liberties

Under the rule of law:
- everyone is entitled to a fair trial and no one should be imprisoned without due legal process
- all citizens must obey the law and are equal under ur
- public officials are not above the law and they can be held to account by the courts
- the judiciary must be independent of political interference

Question 16

What are the different types of documents that make up the constitution?

Answer 16

• statute law
• common law
• conventions
• authoritative works
• treaties

Question 17

What is statute law?

Answer 17

• all laws passed by parliament => not all laws are constitutional, just the ones that affect the rights of people and the nature of the political system
• most important source as it is underpinned by the concept of parliamentary sovereignty

Examples:
- 1998 Scotland act, Govt of Wales Act and NI act - created devolved legislative bodies, which were given some of the powers previously held by Westminster

Question 18

What is common law?

Answer 18

• legal principles laid down by judges in their rulings in cases - which provide precedents for later judgements
• these are important in cases where it’s unclear how statute law should be applied in practice

Examples:
- presumption that a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty => habeas corpus
- common law protection against unlawful imprisonment, converted into a statute in 1679

Question 19

What are conventions?

Answer 19

• customs and traditions that do not have any legal force but are influential and have been broadly accepted over time
• they can be challenged and changed by parliament

Examples:
- principle established since the 2003 Iraq war; parliament voted that, except in an emergency, the government will not order military action without prior parliamentary approval

Question 20

What are authoritative works?

Answer 20

• works written by experts describing the works of a political system
• taken as significant guides but are not legally binding

Examples:
- Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice, first published in 1844 - explains the rules of parliamentary life

Question 21

What are treaties?

Answer 21

• formal agreements with other counties, usually ratified by parliament; especially agreements with EU countries after joining the EU in 1973 and leaving in 2020

Examples:
- most important being Maastricht (1992), which transferred the EEC into the EU

Question 22

Why was there pressure for constitutional reform in the 1990s?

Answer 22

People wanted modernisation:
- Blair’s New Labour was sympathetic to the idea of constitutional reform as part of their plan to modernise British institutions
- old labour reforms had been primary concerned with economic and social issues e.g. extending the vote to 18 year olds and attempting to pass devolution for Scotland and Wales in 1979
- new labour was more open to the demands of pressure groups like CHARTER 88 - who wanted more open democracy and a stronger guarantee of rights
- before the landslide election of 97, Blair expected he would need support from the Lib Dems - who wanted constitutional changes, esp of the FPTP system

The conservative government of 78-97 had refused to make any constitutional changes:
- therefore pressure was built up for change, esp in Scotland, where the people felt ignored by the distant govt in London
- many conservative policies were rejected by Scottish opinion like the POLL TAX that had been trialled in 1989 before being introduced in England and wales
- climate of opinion where the integrity of traditional institutions were also questioned as many more parliamentarians were accused of corruption in the 1990s

Question 23

What were the key areas of constitutional reform under Blair’s Labour government (1997-2010)?

Answer 23

• HoL reform
• electoral reform - proportional representation
• creation of devolved bodies in Scotland, wales and NI
• human rights act 1998
• creation of the Supreme Court

Question 24

How was the HoL reformed and what was the effect of this?

Answer 24

• before reform, the HoL was dominated with hereditary peers, who owed their titles to inheritance

Reform:
- HOL ACT 1999 - govt ended the rights of all but 92 of the hereditary peers to sit in the Lords
- from 2000 onwards a House of Lords appointment commission nominated a group of peers that were not linked with any party

Effect:
- reduced the influence of Labour’s opponents in the HOL and within the political system because the majority supported conservative governments
- gave the house a more modern appearance => most lords were now life peers, accredited on their merit and reflecting a wide range of fields like business, TU, arts etc

Improvements?
- the PM and other party leaders continue to nominate on party political grounds
- no agreement has been reached on whether HoL should be partly or wholly elected, so continues to lack democratic legitimacy

Question 25

How was the electoral system reformed and what was the effect of this?

Answer 25

Reform:
- forms of PR was introduced for elections to the Scottish parliament and Welsh and NI assemblies and European Parliament

Improvements?
- there was a report commissioned into the voting system used for Westminster - chaired by Roy Jenkins, but no action was taken
- supporters of PR concluded that Labour had no interest in changing the arrangements for Westminster

Question 26

How was the distribution of power reformed and what was its effect?

Answer 26

Cause:
- pragmatism - they were meant to dampen down the support for the pro-independence SNP
- to bring together the unionist and nationalist factions in NI
- although, demand for devolution in wales was always weaker
- govt couldn’t answer ‘West Lothian’ question => Scottish MPs were able to vote on English matters but English MPs had no say on the others
- unequal levels of public spending per head - Barnett formula (J.Barnett) 1978 - which determined relative levels of public spending in each component

Reform:
Devolved bodies were created in Scotland, Wales and NI following referendums in 1997-8

Question 27

What is the Human Rights Act? And what are its limitations?

Answer 27

incorporated the ECHR into UK statute law, enshrining rights, such as:
- rights to a fair trial
- freedom from slavery and degrading treatment
- respect and privacy from family life
All future legislation has to be compatible with the ECHR
- judges cannot strike down incompatible laws but can highlight them for amendment by parliament

Limitations?
- govt derogated from article 5, which stated the rights to liberty and securities, in cases of suspected terrorism
- introduction of control orders in 2005, allowed the govt to limit the freedom of movement of such individuals - highlighting the unentrenched nature

Question 28

What was the new Supreme Court and its effect?

Answer 28

Reform:
2005 constitutional reform act:
- establishment of the SC in 2009 - as the court of highest appeal in the UK for civil cases and criminal cases (except in Scotland)
- eliminated the 12 law lords

Effect:
- previously, senior judges known as the law lords - who also sat in the HOL - did this
-
- developed the separation of powers => the idea that the different branches of government (in this case legislative and judicial) should be separate of each other

Question 29

What were the key areas of reform under the coalition government (2010-15)?

Answer 29

There was a certain amount of agreement between the newly launched coalition in may 2010
- openness to further devolution to Scotland and wales
- parliamentary reform - wholly or partly elected HOL

Question 30

What were the areas of disagreement regarding constitutional reform under the coalition?

Answer 30

• HOL reform and HOC boundary reform
• Electoral reform
• devolution
• fixed term parliaments act (2011)
• recall of MPs act (2015)

Question 31

What was the recall of MPs act (2011)?

Answer 31

Recommended by a committee chaired by Labour MP Tony Wright