Constitution

Question 1

What does Uncodified mean?

Answer 1

A constitution that is not contained in a single set of documents. For example, the British Constitution.

Question 2

What does Codified mean?

Answer 2

A constitution in which all provisions are written down in a single set of documents. For example, the US Constitution.

Question 3

What is Statute Law?

Answer 3

Any law that has been passed by both Houses of Parliament and gas received the royal assent.

Question 4

What is Common Law?

Answer 4

The body of legal precedent resulting from the rulings of senior judges. Sometimes referred to as case law or judge-made law.

Question 5

What are Conventions?

Answer 5

Unwritten rules and procedures mostly concerned with parliament that facilitate the smooth running of the Constitution. When conventions are broken it can often lead to problems and deadlock.

Question 6

What are Authoritative Opinions?

Answer 6

Views and definitions that are important and regarded as the final word or authority on an issue.

Question 7

What is the Royal Prerogative?

Answer 7

The formal powers of the monarch that are, in practice, exercised by the PM and the government. The modern monarchy must be above party politics and plays only a ceremonial role. Important prerogative powers, such as appointing ministers, making international treaties and calling general elections, lie with the executive and not the legislature.

Question 8

What is the Rule of Law?

Answer 8

The principle that the law is enforced and that it is applied equally to everyone, including the government. No one is above the law.

Question 9

What is Parliamentary Sovereignty?

Answer 9

The principle of the British Constitution that makes parliament (as opposed to the courts of the PM) the ultimate authority.

Question 10

What are Individual Rights?

Answer 10

Rights that belong to each citizen. For example, the right to free speech or to practise their religion or lifestyle choice without discrimination.

Question 11

What are Collective Rights?

Answer 11

Rights that lie with groups of people. For example, members of a trade union or people with disabilities.

Question 12

Outline the 2 things that the Magna Carta (1215) did.

Answer 12

The Magna Carta was an agreement between King John and his barons that established the principle that everyone, including the King, was subject to the law. ESTABLISHED THE RULE OF LAW!

It also established the right to a fair trial. ESTABLISHED THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL!

Question 13

Outline the 2 things that the Bill of Rights (1689) did.

Answer 13

This stated that parliaments must meet frequently, elections must be free and that there must be freedom of speech within parliament. ESTABLISHED PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE!

EFFECTIVELY CREATED PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY!

Question 14

Outline the 2 things that the Act of Settlement (1701) did.

Answer 14

Stated that only Protestants could become the monarch/be married to the monarch. GUARANTEED PROTESTANT SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE!

ESTABLISHED PARLIAMENT’S DOMINANCE + SAID THAT THE MONARCHY EXISTED ON PARLIAMENT’S TERMS!

Question 15

Outline the 2 things that the European Communities Act (1972) did.

Answer 15

Marked in the entry of the UK into the EU. EU ENTRY FOR THE UK!

WEAKENED PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY AS UK LAW HAD TO COMPLY WITH EU LAW!

Question 16

Outline what the Parliament Acts (1911 and 1949) did.

Answer 16

REDUCED THE POWER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS!

1911 Act: Two inconclusive general elections in 1910 resulted in a law that ended the absolute veto of the Lords over legislation and restricted their power to delay a bill for 2 years. ENDED THE LORDS’ POWER TO VETO LEGISLATION + THEIR POWER TO DELAY A BILL WAS REDUCED TO 2 YEARS!

1949 Act: The Act was modified to reduce the delay to just 1 year. THE LORDS’ POWER TO DELAY A BILL WAS REDUCED TO JUST 1 YEAR!

INCREASED THE POWER OF THE COMMONS OVER THE LORDS.

Question 17

What happened to the European Communities Act (1972) in 2016?

Answer 17

It was undone by the Brexit referendum (when the UK decided to leave the EU).

THIS WAS UNDONE BY THE 2016 BREXIT VOTE - PARLIAMENT’S POWER WAS RESTORED!

Question 18

What are the 2 main criticisms of the Magna Carta (1215)?

Answer 18

Only 4 of the Magna Carta’s clauses remain unrepealed today.

The Magna Carta did not address the rights of ordinary people.

Question 19

What is the main criticism of the Bill of Rights (1689)?

Answer 19

The rights’ of ordinary men and women were not covered in this document. The rest of society was ALIENATED by this document that only addressed Parliament’s rights!

Question 20

What is the main criticism of the Act of Settlement (1701)?

Answer 20

Setting the throne to have one religious groups is quite shocking to a modern reader; seems the opposite of a fair and equal society with freedom of religious expression.

Question 21

What is the main criticism of the Parliament Acts (1911 and 1949)?

Answer 21

The Acts were left much undone and neither of them fully addressed the issue of people born into the position of being a Lord - Didn’t address hereditary peers!

Question 22

What did the House of Lords Reform Act (1999) do?

Answer 22

Removed most hereditary peers from the House of Lords; left just 92 peers in the Lords.

Question 23

What was the Freedom of Information Act (2000)?

Answer 23

This Act requires public bodies (such as government departments) to:

• Publish and make available information about their activities.
• Allow members of the public to request information from them; an FOI request.

Question 24

What was the Freedom of Information Act (2000) designed to do? What were its 2 main purposes/functions/aims?

Answer 24

The Act was designed to promote openness and transparency between public bodies that are benefited by the taxpayer - Allow people to see where their money is freely going!

Boost the public’s trust in government organisations!

Question 25

What were the strengths of the Freedom of Information Act (2000)? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 4 here!

Answer 25

• Requests were popular and widespread; over 44,000 were made in 2020!
• Allows the public and pressure groups to identify any sign of corruption in public bodies!
• An investigative tool for journalists. For example, the Act helped provide information for the MPs’ expenses scandal in 2009.
• Allows the public to scrutinise ineffective initiatives. For example, an FOI into a 2006 knife amnesty revealed that it had a minimal impact on the rates of knife crimes.

Question 26

Can you detail what happened in the 2009 MPs’ Expenses Scandal?

Answer 26

18 June 2009 = The details of all MPs’ expenses and allowance claims approved from 2004 to 2008 were published on the official Parliament website. They included details such as addresses, claims that were not approved for payment and correspondence between MPs and the parliamentary fees office removed. This brought further accusations of unnecessary secrecy and allegations that this might have prevented serious abuses from being disclosed.

Question 27

What were the weaknesses of the Freedom of Information Act (2000)? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 3 here!

Answer 27

• Public bodies often refused requests for information due to many reasons, including a risk to national security, cost or because they didn’t think the request was important.
• In 2020, around 50% of all requests were decline (either fully or in part).
• Due to issues reagrding the release of private or personal information, the Act lead to a conflict between an individual’s right to privacy and the collective right of the public to gain access to information about public officials.

Question 28

What was the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (2011)?

Answer 28

This Act followed the formation of the Coalition government between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives after the 2010 General Election.

Question 29

What was the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (2011) designed to do? What were its 2 main purposes/functions/aims?

Answer 29

This Act weakened the power of the Prime Minister to call a snap election by dissolving parliament unilaterally –> This meant that Parliament now needs a 2/3 majority to call a General Election.

It was designed to increase the stability of a potentially fragile coalition government.

Question 30

What happened to the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (2011)?

Answer 30

Following the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto pledge, the Act was due to be repealed in 2021. Labour also promised to repeal the Act if they were elected in 2019.

The Act was repealed in 2022!

Question 31

What were the strengths of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (2011)? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 2 here!

Answer 31

• Allowed the Coalition Government to work in a stable and effective manner over its 5-year term. The political stability was seen as beneficial for economic growth and longer-term policy making.
• This Act was fairer on the junior party of the Coalition Government (the Liberal Democrats).

Question 32

What were the weaknesses of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (2011)? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 3 here!

Answer 32

• The Act was only passed because of political circumstances. If there had not been a Coalition Government, it is unlikely that an Act like this would have been passed.
• Could be argued that the Act failed to protect the Liberal Democrats = Their party membership crashed from 57 MPs to just 9 in 2015.
• PM Johnson got around the Act to call an early election by a vote of 438 to 20 in Autumn 2019 –> Suggests the Act was internally weak and ineffective.

Question 33

How does the British Constitution NOT effectively defend citizens’ rights? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 5 here!

Answer 33

• The uncodified nature of the Constitution means that people are unaware of their rights (whilst in the USA, people are aware of their rights).
• Because of parliamentary sovereignty, no rights are entrenched or inalienable.
• In theory, Parliament could repeal or change laws, whilst the public are powerless against them.
• With Brexit, as UK Law will no longer have to be compliant with EU law, the ‘double lock’ of protection that citizens’ rights used to have will disappear, making people more vulnerable.
• Many laws have loopholes and gaps and they can be ineffective in protecting people.

Question 34

How does the British Constitution VERY effectively defend citizens’ rights? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 5 here!

Answer 34

• Through statute laws and anti-discrimination laws, more rights have been defended, including the right to access information from public bodies.
• Codifying the Constitution would not increase individuals’ awareness of their rights in a meaningful way - Would be ineffective!
• People can use the courts and the legal system to assert their rights and demand public bodies give them the information they have on them!
• The electorate are very unlikely to vote for people who will take their fundamental rights away/ an extremist government would be needed to pass legislation that violates people’s human rights.
• EU law had very little impact of human rights; it mainly was concerned with trading issues.

Question 35

Give an example of where an individual’s right to privacy may be violated in terms of fulfilling the collective right to security. HINT: Phone tapping!

Answer 35

Suspects of terrorism or other serious crimes may have their phone calls monitored.

Question 36

Give an example of where an individual’s right to freedom of speech and opinion may be violated in terms of fulfilling a collective right. HINT: Hate speech!

Answer 36

This individual right may be violated in terms of fulfilling the collective right of a particular group, such as racial minorities, not to be subjected to hate speech.

Question 37

Give an example of where an individual’s right whether or not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 may clash with a collective right.

Answer 37

This individual right may clash with the collective right of those classed as clinically vulnerable to be protected from COVID-19.