Constitution Flashcards
What are the features of the UK constitution?
- Uncodified (no single written document)
- not entrenched (constitutional laws are flexible + can be altered)
- unitary (power is concentrated in one single institution)
What are the sources of the UK Constitution?
Statue Law
Common Law
Conventions
Works of authority
What is statute law?
It overrides other laws due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.
What is common law?
When deciding on the legality of a case, judges will use previous decisions on similar cases.
What are conventions?
These are established rules of conduct + behaviour - what is expected.
What are works of authority?
Works written by scholars seen as experts in the constitution.
What is parliamentary sovereignty?
The principle that absolute, supreme + unrestricted power lies with parliament.
What are the ‘Twin Pillars’?
- Rule of law - under the law of the country, all person, institutions + entities are equally accountable to the law.
- Parliamentary sovereignty - parliament has the most authority in the UK.
What are the key documents?
Manga Carta
Bill of Rights
The Act of Settlement
Acts of Union
Parliament Acts
European Communities Act
What is the Magna Carta?
1215 - King + government not above the law, nobody should be deprived of liberty or promoters with rout due process of law.
What is the Bill of Rights?
1689 - Regular parliaments, freedom of elections and speech within Parliament.
What is the Act of Settlement?
1701 - Right of Parliament to determine line of royal succession.
What is the 1st Act of Union?
1707, United England + Scotland under one Parliament.
Tony Blair reversed in 1997.
What is the 2nd Act of Union?
1800, Irish Parliament established, 100 MPs given in Westminister.
What are the Parliament Acts?
1911 - Lords can’t delay money bills and veto replaced with 2 year delaying power. Lords had rejected tax - raising ‘People’s Budget’.
1949 - Reduced 2 year delay to 1.
What was the European Communities Act?
1972, UK joins European Economic Community (EU)
European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018, UK leaves EU
What are the Devolution Acts?
Scottish Parliament Act 1998
Senedd opened 1997
Good Friday Agreement 1998
Gave power over great number of issues, Parliament could revoke but unlikely.
What is the House of Lords Act?
1999, Hereditary peers reduced to 92, more lords appointed, more likely informed peers.
What was the Human Rights Act?
1998, Not a bill of righty’s but codified rights comparable to the rest of Europe (European Court of Human Rights)
What was the Magna Carta and what year was it created?
Issued in June 1215 and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law.
What was the Bill of Rights and what year was it created?
1689, The Bill firmly established the principles of frequent parliaments and freedom of speech within Parliament – known today as Parliamentary Privilege.
What was the Act of Settlement and what year was it created?
1701, this confirmed the power of Parliament to determine the succession to the throne.
What was the Acts of Union and what year was it created?
1707, united Scotland to England and Wales, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
What were the Parliament Acts and what years were they created?
1911- The House of Lords had the power to veto (stop) legislation. However, this arrangement was put under pressure when the House of Lords refused to pass David Lloyd-George’s ‘people’s budget’ of 1909. Eventually, the budget was passed after a general election in 1910; a second general election was then fought on the issue of reform of the House of Lords. The result was the Parliament Act 1911, which removed from the House of Lords the power to veto a Bill, except one to extend the lifetime of a Parliament. Instead, the Lords could delay a Bill by up to two years. The Act also reduced the maximum lifespan of a Parliament from seven years to five years.
1949 - Further reduced the Lords’ delaying powers to one year.
What was the European Communities Act and what year was it created?
1972, joined Britain to the European Community (now the European Union), with the eventual effect that EU law takes precedence over UK law.
