Constitution Flashcards
Which 9 laws contribute to the nature of the constitution
-Magna Carta 1215
-bill of rights act 1689
-act of settlement 1701
-act of union 1707
-parliament acts 1911 and 1949
-European communities act 1972
-devolution 1997
-brexit 2016
What was the Magna Carta 1215
-charter of rights signed by king John after barons war
-by forcing king John to accept the 63 clauses of the Magna Carta, barons placed limits on the power of the monarch. Established principle that monarch is not above the law
-contains first statement of principle of habeus corpus- one can not be punished without due process of the law- right to trial
What was the bill of rights act 1689
Established constitutional monarchy
-included summoning of regular parliaments, free elections, no taxation without consent of parliament and parliamentary freedom of speech
What was the act of settlement 1707
-confirmed primacy of parliament over the crown by declaring parliament had authority to determine succession of the throne.
-also confirmed judicial independence by stating judge can be removed on agreement of both houses
What were the parliament acts of 1911 and 1949
1911- House of Lords lost its right of veto and was only allowed to now delay years for up to 2 years
1949- reduced right of delay from 2 years to 1
Both established democratic legitimacy of parliament by asserting the primacy of the commons over the lords
What was the European communities act 1972
-uk joined European economic community.
-1991 factortame case- principle that in cases of overlap, European law would take precedence over domestic law
What was devolution 1997
- Scotland and wales established their own governments and legislatures. Subsequent legislation has increased their powers and stated that they can only be abolished through referendums in each country
What was brexit 2016
Parliament enacted eu act 2020- uk left eu so restarting British sovereignty and carrying into uk law all former eu laws
What are the 6 sources of the constitution
-Statute law
-common law
-authoritative works
-landmark decisions
-conventions
-treaties
What is statute law and give 4 examples
-act of parliament contributing to uk’s uncodified constitution
EXAMPLES
-HRA 1998- incorporated echr into British law
-HOL act 1999- removed all but 92 hereditary peers
-equality act 2010- codifies into one parliamentary statute all previous anti discriminatory legislation
-marriage act 2013- legalised same sex marriage
What is common law and give 3 examples
-how the judiciary interprets the law and they can set precedents
EXAMPLES
- BUSHELL 1670- sir John vaughn declared in favour of all jury, stating judge ‘may only try to open eyes of jurors but not to lead them by the nose’- established independence of jury
-ENTICK V CARRINGTON 1765- the principle, executive can not infringe civil liberties of its citizens without legal justification established enduring precedent protecting British citizens from arbitrary and autocratic government
-R V R 1991- established principle that husband can be found guilty of raping wife
What are conventions and give 3 examples
-represents accustomed way in which political activity is carried out- not legally binding
EXAMPLES
-Salisbury convention- House of Lords does not oppose 2nd or 3nd reading of legislation that was in winning party’s manifesto
-2003 by allowing House of Commons to vote on military action in Iraq, Blair established commitment of British forces to military operations
-public should be consulted in referendums to legitimise proposed changes to the constitution
What are landmark decisions and give 2 examples
Historical events
-Magna Carta 1215- recognising limits can be placed on authority of crown
-petition of rights 1628-sets out rights including freedom from arbitrary imprisonment and right of parliament to grant taxation
What are authoritative works and give 2 examples
Influential works
-Walter bagehot- English constitution 1867- explains relationship between monarchy legislature and executive
-a.v dicey- intro to law of constitution 1885- explains how constitution rests upon ‘twin pillars’- parliamentary sovereignty and rule of law
What are treaties and give an example
International agreements
- as a result of communities act 1972- uk accepted treaty of accession which prime minister negotiated. It made uk a signatory to the treaty of Rome 1957 which meant uk accepted all European community law
Blair’s thought about constitution
For Blair, the British constitution was urgently in need of reform. Power was too centralised in Westminster and the rights of the citizens were insufficiently protected. Since the government was so remote and unaccountable, the public had become disengaged from politics. New Labour wanted to reinvigorate democracy through extensive constitutional reforms. As Blair put it, ‘modernisation is the key’.
Aims of reform
The New Labour government elected in 1997 pledged to carry out sweeping reforms of the constitution with the following aims:
• to make the UK generally more democratic
to bring the constitution into line with other modern systems
• to decentralise power away from central government
• to improve the status of human rights in the UK
Pressure for reform
-Demands for modernisation: Tony Blair’s New Labour Party was sympathetic to the idea of constitutional reform as part of its plan to modernise British institutions. Old Labour had adopted some political reforms, such as extending the vote to 18 year olds in 1969 and attempting to pass devolution for Scotland and Wales in 1979. However, it had been primarily concerned with economic and social issues. New Labour was more open to demands from pressure groups such as Charter 88 (later renamed Unlock Democracy), who wanted more open democracy and stronger guarantees of citizens’ rights. Before winning a large independent majority in the 1997 election, Blair expected that he might need support from the Liberal Democrats, who were also committed to constitutional change - particularly reform of the first-past-the-post electoral system.
• The experience of Conservative rule, 1979-97: The Conservative governments had refused to undertake constitutional reforms. This had helped to build up pressure for change, especially in Scotland, where the population felt ignored by a distant government in London. Scottish opinion rejected a number of Conservative policies. For example, the unpopular poll tax had been trialled there in 1989 before its introduction in England and Wales. Accusations of corruption or
‘sleaze’ against many parliamentarians in the 1990s also helped to create a climate of opinion where the health and integrity of traditional institutions were questioned
Changes under labour- House of Lords
When the Labour government took office in 1997, the upper house was dominated by hereditary peers who owed their titles to inheritance. 2 years later, the government ended the right of all but 92 of these peers to sit in the Lords. House of Lords reform would reduce the influence of Labour’s opponents within the political system, as the majority of hereditary peers supported Conservative governments.
The removal of most hereditary peers also gave the Lords a more ‘modern’ appearance. The majority of its members were now life peers, who were supposed to have been appointed on grounds of merit, reflecting a wide variety of fields of activity, including politics, business, the trade union movement, the arts and the military. No political party now enjoyed a dominant position in the Lords.
Changes under labour- electoral reform
-although the government commissioned a report into the system used for Westminster, chaired by Roy Jenkins, no action was taken
-Supporters of proportional representation concluded that, having won a crushing victory under the old system, Labour had no interest in changing arrangements for Westminster.
Labour reform- devolution
Labour’s devolution reforms were a pragmatic package, designed to damp down support for the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and to bring together the conflicting unionist and nationalist factions in Northern Ireland.
Demand for devolution in Wales was always weaker and the Welsh Assembly did not gain comparable powers to those of the Scottish Parliament.
The government had no answer to the so-called ‘West Lothian question’: the anomaly that Scottish MPs at Westminster were able to vote on purely English matters, yet English MPs had no influence over issues devolved to the Scottish Parliament
An attempt to set up elected regional assemblies in England was abandoned after the only area in which a referendum was held to test public opinion, the North-East, decisively rejected the idea in 2004.
Labour reform - human rights act
-this act incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR) into UK statute law, enshrining rights such as those to a fair trial, freedom from slavery and degrading treatment, and respect for privacy and family life. All future legislation had to be compatible with the ECHR. Judges could not strike down laws that were incompatible with it but could highlight such legislation for amendment by Parliament.
-The limitations of the Human Rights Act were demonstrated by the government’s decision to ‘derogate from’ (declare an exemption from) Article 5, which gave individuals the right to liberty and security, in cases of suspected terrorism. The introduction in 2005 of control orders, which allowed the authorities to limit the freedom of movement of such individuals, highlighted the unentrenched nature of the act
Labour reform- creation of supreme court
The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act led to the establishment, 4 years later, of a Supreme Court as the highest court of appeal in the UK for civil cases, and (except in Scotland) for criminal cases. Previously senior judges known as the Law Lords, sitting in the House of Lords, had performed this function. This development is an example of the separation of powers - the idea that the different branches of government (in this case law-making and judicial) should be independent of each other.
What were the areas of disagreements under the coalition government
• House of Lords reform and House of Commons boundary reform: Plans for a mainly elected House of Lords were dropped after a rebellion by 91 backbench Conservative MPs. The Liberal Democrats, who were the more committed of the two parties to a democratically chosen upper house, retaliated by blocking the implementation of legislation designed to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600. The effect would have been to produce a smaller number of constituencies, of more equal size, so that that all votes would have had more equal value across the country. The Liberal Democrats halted the change because it would have mainly favoured the Conservatives. However, after the end of the coalition, the new Conservative government confirmed that the reform would be introduced in time for the 2020 general election.
• Electoral reform: A referendum was held in May 2011, with the two parties taking up entrenched positions: the Conservatives campaigned strongly to retain first past the post, while the Liberal Democrats argued for the adoption of the Alternative Vote (AV), only to see their proposals rejected by 68 per cent of those who voted. This was a major disappointment for the Liberal Democrats, for whom progress towards a change in the voting system had been a priority in negotiating the coalition agreement. They had in fact preferred the proportional Single Transferable Vote system, but had opted for AV as the maximum that they expected to gain at the time.
