Constitution

Question 1

Key terms

What is the definition of constitution?

Answer 1

A set of rules determining where sovereignty lies in a political system and establishing the relationship between the gov and the governed

Question 2

What is the definition of unentrenched?

Answer 2

A constitution with no special procedure for amendment

Question 3

What is the definition of uncodfied?

Answer 3

A constitution not contained in a single written document

Question 4

What is the definition of unitary?

Answer 4

A political system where all legal sovereignty is contained in a single place

Question 5

What is the definition of parliamentary sovereignty?

What is the definition of royal prerogative powers?

Answer 5

The principle that parliament can make, amend or repeal any law and cannot bind its successor or be bound by its predecessor

Formally exercised by the monarch therefore they can act against the advice of the prime minister or cabinet however, would only do so in emergencies e.g. power to declare war. The prime minister can carry out this using the Royal prerogative powers without technically needing to consult Parliament.

Question 6

The definition of rule of law?

Answer 6

The principle that all people and bodies including gov must follow the law and can be held accountable if they do not

Question 7

What is the definition of statue law?

Answer 7

Laws passed by parliament

Question 8

What is the definition of common law?

Answer 8

Laws made by judges where the law does not cover the issue or is unclear

Question 9

What is the definition of conventions?

Answer 9

Traditions not contained in law but influential in the operation of a political system

Question 10

What is the definition of authoritative works?

Answer 10

Work written by experts describing how a political system is run they are not legally binding but are taken as significant guides

Question 11

What is the definition of treaties?

Answer 11

A formal agreement with other countries usually ratified by parliament

Question 12

What is the definition of devolution?

Answer 12

The dispersal of power but not sovereignty within a political system

Question 13

Key historical documents that helped the development of the constitution

Answer 13

Manga Carta - a charter agreed by King John, and the barons to promise protection of church rights, imprisonment access to justice and tax. The Magna Carta carries a little legal weight in modern Britain as its clauses have been repealed.

Bill of rights - an act of parliament that sets out basic civil rights. It lays down limits on the power of the monarch and sets the rights of Parliament. Eg. regular Parliament, free elections, freedom of speech in Parliament. It also sets out rights of individuals, including the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

Act of settlement - an act that was passed to settle the succession to the English and Irish crowns on Protestants only. Under the Act of Settlement, anyone who became a Roman Catholic or married one became disqualified to inherit the throne. The act places limits on the role of foreigners in the British government and the power of the monarch. The act was a major cause of the union of Scotland with England and Wales to form Great Britain. in 1704, Scotland pastor at eight of security which gave them the power to choose its own successor to Queen Anne. However, England passed the Act of Union in 1707.

Parliament Act 1911 - 1949
1911 act limits HOL power as HOC can pass legislation as they can veto thus creating legislation without the approval of the HOL In addition, the 1911 act reduced the maximum life of a parliament from 7 years to 5 years.
The 1911 act was amended by the parliament act 1949, which further limited the power of the HOL, by reducing the time that they could delay bills non finance bills from two years to one. The parliament acts have been used to pass legislation 7 occasions including the passage of the Parliament Act 1949 and the Hunting Act 2004. Insuring dominance of an elected house.

The European Communities Act 1972 - The Conservative gov joined European economic community which meant the UK was a part of the European Union. Therefore EU law would take precedence over UK law when the two contradicted each other.

European Union Withdrawal Act 2018- an act that repealed the European communities act due to Brexit and the withdrawal agreement the UK left EU on the 31st of December 2020.

Question 14

The nature of the Constitution

What is a constitution?
What does a constitution set out?
What functions does a constitution have?
What is a uncodified constitution?
Is the UK constitution rigid or flexible?
What is a unitary system?
what is fusion of the powers?
What make up the twin pillars?
What does unentrenched mean and an example?
What does ROL mean
what does a constitutional monarchy mean and what powers do they have?
What is an example of the U.K.’s constitution being stretched?

Answer 14

A constitution is the fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of a government.

-The divisions of government activities outlining which structure will perform which task.
-The power relationship between various institutions, showing the dependency and independence of the operations of one another.
-The limitations of the states authority and the freedoms of the individual citizen and the benefits they are entitled to from the state.

-to provide legitimacy to those in power as they explain what powers each institution has and are often enshrined in law, either the Constitution or statues.
-to protect freedom as they restrain the behaviour of those in office as they set out what those in authority can do, and find the limits of their power
-encourage governmental stability
As they introduce a degree of audit and predictability, intergovernmental arrangements, enabling everyone to understand rules of politics.As they introduce a degree of order and predictability, into governmental arrangements, enabling everyone to understand the rules of the politics.

Where the constitutional rules have been written down but have not been brought together in one single document.

They allow the legislature to change the constitution, simply through a majority of votes in parliameant however it can occur through referendum.

Unitary systems is where all power is concentrated in the hands of central government eg houses of Parliament despite devolved gov.

Fusion of the powers as when the executive is chosen from within the legislature however although the judiciary used to sit in the House of Lords as the highest court of appeal in the land it has now been removed with the creation of the Uks own Supreme Court in 2009 after the constitutional reform act 2005 created an independent judiciary.

Parliamentary sovereignty and rule of law

There is no special legal procedure for amending the UK constitution. Eg Brexit, where the process was drawn out and extended multiple times due to an unconstitution.

The principle that all people and bodies, including government must follow the law and can be held accountable if they do not

monarch acts as non-political head of state under our unwritten constitutions. Formal powers that the UK’s monarch possesses is that of dissolving parliament or giving Royal Assent to legislation. constitutional monarch acts as a visible symbol of national unity, and the exercise of their powers are generally a formality, without the sovereign enacting personal political preference.

The UK’s constitutional traditions were seen to have be stretched when, Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to drive through his legislation on leaving the European Union. One use of executive powers, a weekslong suspension of Parliament, drew a rebuke from Britain’s Supreme Court.

Question 15

5 main sources of the uks constitution

what is statute laws, give examples and why are there significant?
What is common law, give example, significance?
What is conventions, give examples and there significance?
What is authoritative works, give examples and there significance?
What is treaties, give examples and there significance?

Answer 15

statute law - these are Acts of Parliament however not all acts have constitutional significance. They reflect p sov

Acts that have constitutional significance are: Scotland act 1998, which established the Scottish parliament human rights act 1998, which codified the ECH are into law House of Lords at reduce the numbers of hereditary peers to 92 constitutional reform act 2005, created a independent judiciary, European Union withdrawal act 2018, meant the UK was no longer part of EU
these are significant sources due to Parliamentary sovereignty, as statute takes precedent over all of other laws.

common law are laws, created by judges, they exist, where there is no statute, statute, are vague.

Eg R v R made marital rape illegal

They are significant as they update the constitution with modern societal attitudes, when parliament has not legislated on them.

Conventions -customs/traditions that are followed that are important to the constitution’s evolutionary nature as they allow it to adapt. This includes Royal prerogative powers.

Government should resign if they lose an election as they do not have legitimacy, IMR and CMR, salisbury convention, ( Royal prerogative) eg Royal assent, powers of patronage this means appointing ministers, power to dissolve parliament.

Power to dissolve parliament significance is that it’s open to abuse during elected dictatorship. This was seen as Johnson unlawfully prorogue parliament by asking the Queen to end the Parliamentary session early to prevent discussion in parliament of his Brexit deal.

Authorive works - books that explain the political system. It’s a useful guied but they lack legal backing as they are not legally binding.

an introduction to the study of the law of the constitution by AV dicey, 1885, they set out his principle of the twin pillars. The English Constitution, by Walter badehot 1867, establishes the role of the prime minister and Cabinet.

Significance of them is that they are out of date to modern politics.

Treaties - UK is bound by international treaties it signs with eg NATO and the EU.

NATO - UK contributes troops to NATO It also provides 2.25% of its GDP to NATO this is over the requested threshold.

Question 16

Constitutional reform since, 1997

What constitutional reforms have taken place since 1997 - 2010

Answer 16

Devolution
Creation of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament Northern Ireland Assembly through REFERENDUM

Scotland : should there be a Scottish Parliament 74% voted yes and 26% voted no
Scotland : should there be tax varying powers, 64% voted yes and 37% voted no

The use of proportional representation in elections to devolved bodies and London assembly eg
Scottish parliament and Welsh Parliament and London Assembly use alternative members system. Northern Ireland assembly uses STV.

In 2011 68% of the electotrate rejected the idea of a PR electoral system in the UK showing that there is no public appetite for the extension of reform to Westminster

1999 House of Lords act abolished all but 92 hereditary peers, creating
a politically representative house.

constitutional reform act 2005, created an independent Supreme Court. As prior to this at Jaji, sat in the House of Lords, fusing the legislative and judicial branch which led to MPs getting involved in judicial decisions.

In 2022, Labour stated that they would replace the house of lords with an elected house promoting legitimacy. However, they have not followed through with this idea.

freedom of information act 2000 was created to ensure a transparent government, allowing journalists and buyers the right to know about information that was essential to the government making decisions as they are allowed access to information by 100,000 public bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

human rights act 1998 - the human rights act 1998, wrote the European convention of human rights act into UK law. This means people can take the government to court claiming their rights are breached under the ECHR. However, prisoners are denied the right to vote.

Question 17

Constitutional reforms under the Conservative/liberal Democrat coalition government 2010 to 2015

Answer 17

Fixed term Parliament Act 2011 - allowed early election is supported by 2/3 of MPs in the House of Commons
2017 to 2019 shows it’s easy to get a supermajority as the government has larger majority in the House of Commons therefore easier to win the 2/3 threshold. This was seen as problematic therefore repealed by the dissolution and calling of Parliament act 2022 which gives power back to the prime minister and not the majority in the House of Commons showing lost a lot in entrenched.

recall of MPs at 2015 MPs can lose their seats in the House of Commons. If there is a successful recall petition which will trigger a buyer election. This happens if an MP is convicted of an offence and receives a custodial sentence or if an MP provides, misleading information for allowance claims, constituents can sign a petition for six weeks, if they receive 10% of registered Parliamentary electors signatures then they can be removed from the House of Commons. Eg Chris Davis A Conservative MP was convicted of submitting fake expenses document. 19% of registered voters in his constituency signed a petition to remove him from HOC.

Extension of lawmaking powers given to the Welsh assembly this was due to result of a referendum held in Wales in 2011 which in 2014 gave The Welsh assembly tax-raising powers.
After the 2014 Indyref The 2016 Scotland Act gave greater powers to Scotland including tax creating devo max in this region.

Police and crime Commissioner this attempts to ensure that police meet the needs of the local communities and receive a budget of council tax from a particular area. However, turnout is typically very low in these elections around about 15%.

Wright reforms to parliament - established that the chairs of the departmental select committees should be directly elected by the house by secret ballot Instead of whips. It also created the backbench business committee and petitions for over 100,000 signatures were discussed by the backbench business committee in the House of Commons.

Question 18

Constitutional reforms 2015 to 2019

Constitutional reforms from 2019 onwards

Answer 18

English and Welsh MPs were given the ability to veto legislation that only applied to England and Wales meeting legislation affecting those areas had to have the majority of support from MPs represent in those constituencies. However, the procedure for using the veto was very complicated add since 2021, when English votes for English laws, was repealed, the West Lothian question, remains as Scottish and northern Ireland, MPs have the ability to pass or abstain on legislation that doesn’t affect their constituencies.

London assembly and seven regions in England have Metro metres

2019 onwards:
Metro Mayors - Manchester has a directly elected mayor. Andy Burnham, who is elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 as he secured more money for local northern communities during COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 due to the trailblazer devolution deal, he now has full control over Manchester’s budget, allowing him to spend the money accordingly to his own priorities eg transport, skills, housing.

Brexit - EU law no longer takes precedence. The UK is able to form trade deals outside of the EU.

Dissolution and calling of parliament 2022 - it made the maximum term of Parliament for five years instead of whenever the government wanted to set out votes within a 2/3 majority from the whole House of Commons. This repealed the Fixed Term Parliament act in 2011 and revived the prerogative powers of the monarch to dissolve and Summon Parliament.

British bill of rights, potentially repealing the human rights act, weakening rights in the UK - 2022, the government proposed a British Bill of Rights to replace the human rights act 1998. This would weaken the human rights act as the government would feel less constrained to comply with the ECHR and judges don’t have to comply with its rulings. Also Northern Ireland would have weaker rights than Republic of Northern Ireland despite U.K.’s obligation to ensure fairness of protection on both sides of Irish borders as it’s a part of the Northern Ireland peace treaty

Question 19

Role and powers of devolved bodies in the UK - must include all four nations in an answer
England

Answer 19

England: HAS ASYMMETRICAL DEVO
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England has 9 Metro mayors. In 2004 there was a referendum in the north east for devolution, however, 78% voted no showing there is no appetite for English devolution, the electorate are okay with the WestMinister having central power.

Metro Mayors - Manchester has a directly elected mayor. Andy Burnham, who is elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 as he secured more money for local northern communities during COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 due to the trailblazer devolution deal, he now has full control over Manchester’s budget, allowing him to spend the money accordingly to his own priorities eg transport, skills, housing.

In London has the most devolution as it has a directly elected mayor and 25 member London assembly, allowing mayor to have power over policing and transport eg in 2019 the mayor announced the Police in the capital would gain an extra £234m in funding to tackle violent crime in the capital.

English and Welsh MPs were given the ability to veto legislation that only applied to England and Wales meeting legislation affecting those areas had to have the majority of support from MPs represent in those constituencies. However, the procedure for using the veto was very complicated add since 2021, when English votes for English laws, was repealed, the West Lothian question, remains as Scottish and northern Ireland, MPs have the ability to pass or abstain on legislation that doesn’t affect their constituencies.

Question 20

Devolution wales

Answer 20

50% voted yes in referendum for a Welsh assembly shows Welsh Parliament was established due to a referendum showing electrode wanted Devo power away from West Minister, to devolved institutions to tailor policy for their people.

2020, Covid rules up to 30, able to meet outdoors

2023 cost of living policies announced in Wales to remove the need for logos on school uniforms

AO2 devolution to Wales has meant that policy can be tailored to local needs a drone cost of living when the Senned announced school uniform policy to help parents

Welsh elections have high participated suggesting people trust local guv more than UK gov 2022 42% said they trusted local gov more than the UK gov.

2011, Welsh referendum on further primary powers on legislation 64% voted yes

2014 Wales Act gave further powers to wales over tax

2017 further tax varying powers

2021 Welsh Parliament election resulted in informal agreement between Plaid Cymru and labour

Labour is the dominant party and has been in power alone, or in a coalition since 1999

Minority parties achieve better representation due to AMS.

40 members elected in a single member constituency, and 20 from five multimember constituency.

Negative - participation in Welsh Parliament elections have been lower than the general election is an average 63% whereas general elections have been 67% for Westminster. Therefore this shows that people may not see devolution of significant inevitable.

Question 21

Devolution Scotland

Answer 21

Scotland has Devo Max, however, still hasn’t sorted the independence debate in 2022 the Supreme Court rejected the SNP’s second Indyref as the Supreme Court ruled. Another referendum has to have permission of Parliament in SNP‘s leadership debate primary thing. All three candidates criticised Nicola Sturgeon‘s lack of action on independence.

parliament is sovereign as it has supreme power therefore can legally take back power given to devolved regions however, the Scotland act 2016 stated that for the power of Scotland to be changed there must be a referendum showing sovereignty has moved away from West Minister

Scotland Act 1998
In 1997 a referendum was held in Scotland to get support for devolution. The Scots voted overwhelmingly in favour, by 74% to 26% on a 60% turnout. The following year the Scotland Act was passed, granting devolution.

Power over the health service
Power over education
Power over roads and public transport
Power to make criminal and civil law
Power over policing
Power over local authority services
Power to vary the rate of income tax up or down by 3%

Scotland uses AMS its electoral system

Scottish people rejected independence

Scotland wanted to remain in the EU

Devolution has allowed minority party representation to be better as regional uses PR systems, SNP and green in a coalition since 2022

Number of women in Hollrood as a percentage is higher than Westminster 45%, compared to 23%

Negative
Devolution hasn’t solved independence. It has made it worse by Brexit as Scotland was taken out of the EU despite voting to remain, Supreme Court challenge the route to find independence.

Question 22

Devolution NI

Answer 22

108 members in Northern Ireland assembly, elected by STV election every five years since 2011 

Devolution in Northern Ireland has a different purpose as it brings peace. This is due to the good Friday agreement to power share to Northern Ireland resolving conflict between the unionists and nationalists.

2002 to 2007, Northern Ireland power shared between parties collapsed and control was directly given back to West Minister

2016, Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, but we are removed with the UK

2017 to 2022 Northern Ireland PowerShell collapsed again over the renewal, heat incentive

2022 Sinn Fein when is most seats in the assembly for the first time since the creation however, no power share agreement was signed due to tensions between parties over Northern Ireland protocol, and Sinn Fein desire to reunite Ireland

2023 Democratic Unionist party refuses to vote for Windsor framework due to Starmount break, allowing Northern Ireland lawmakers to raise concerns with EU or the laws that will affect them

A positive is that devolution has bought peace and stability to northern islands.

However, the negative is that devolution has not been spread equally therefore allows for Democratic deficient.

Another negative is that the Northern Ireland is executive has not sat for over eight years. It’s been established for devolution arguably has not been working for the people of Northern Ireland and power transferred back to Westminster during this time.

More seats are held by Sinn Fein could prove problematic for unity