Constitution Flashcards
Define sovereignty:
Refers to absolute power. In the case of the U.K., sovereignty in legal terms is said to reside in Westminster
Main features of the U.K. Constitution:
Uncodified - not contained in a single author active document
U.K. Operates according to the rule of law
Unitary - draws all power into a central source
Sources of the U.K. Constitution:
SCREWC
Statue
Common law
Royal prerogative
European law
Works of authority
Conventions
Where is sovereignty located in the UK?
Legal sovereignty is located in Parliament
Strengths of the UK constitution:
Flexibility
Provides strong government
Cannot be ignored
Codification would undermine principle of parliamentary sovereignty
Weaknesses of the UK constitution:
Too easy to change
Rights are still not adequately protected
Since most of the constitution is unwritten it is unknowable
How has parliament lost sovereignty:
THE PREPD
Treaties
Human Rights Act
European Law
Pressure Groups
Referenda
Electorate
Party Government
Devolution
Features of a codified constitution:
Roles of different branches and levels of government and the relations between the citizen and the state are brought together in a single document - codification implies entrenchment
What is the constitution?
Set of principles, written or unwritten, that establishes the distribution of power within a political system
Nature of the British constitution:
Unitary - power is the same across the country and ultimate power lies with Parliament in Westminster
Establishes political process
Limits government power
Nature of a constitution:
Gives rights to the citizens
Determines nationality
Rules for amending
Codification:
Process of setting out the constitution in an organised way in a single document
Advantages of codification:
Make it clear
Give every citizen easy access to it
Easier to solve disputes
Gives citizens something to identify with
Disadvantages of an uncodified constitution:
Many argue that because the UK constitution is uncodified it does not exist
Parts of it may be written but there is no one single document which creates confusion
What is a two tier legal system:
When a country has a codified constitution there are usually two types of laws. Higher laws, which have power rights of citizens; and lower laws which apply to the administration of the state
Arguments suggesting there is no UK constitution:
It is uncodified - not organised into any single document, but is scattered in many different sources and some parts are unwritten
Constitutional statutes do not have more authority than other statutes. There is no basic and higher law
Constitutional laws cannot be entrenched due to parliamentary sovereignty
Arguments suggesting there is a UK constitution:
There is a general sense of a constitution
Tradition is a very powerful influence within the UK. Governments are reluctant to infringe independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression, primacy of the cabinet
There are accepted forms of constitutional rules
Public act as guardians of constitutional principles by voting out governments that have offended against these principles
Arguments for an uncodified constitution:
Flexibility - UK constitution is rooted in society so it changes in order to take into account changes in society
Executive power - good to have a government that can handle issues easily
Traditional conservatism - worked first many years why change it now
Arguments for a uncodified constitution
Difficulty in changing it - immensely difficult to gather constitution into one document as it stems from so many different sources
Much of the important parts of the constitution are already codified - Human Rights Act 1998
Arguments for a codified constitution:
Human rights - no real safe guards for HRA as parliament is sovereign and can and does sometimes threaten to remove it
Government is too powerful
Clarity - if people knew what their rights were they would feel less voter apathy and get involved
Modernity - UK seems out of touch with the rest of the world and especially the EU
What is a unitary constitution:
Unitary constitution sovereignty lies firmly in one place, parliament. And although it may devolve power it still has the power to recall this
What is a federal constitution:
In a federal system sovereignty is distributed between central bodies and regional institutions. This usually happens when a number of regional bodies come together and agree to give sovereignty to the central body but still protect regional differences
Sources of the U.K. Constitution:
Parliamentary statues - acts of Parliament that have effect of establishing a principle
Constitutional conventions - unwritten rule that is considered binding in political communities
Historical principles - principles that have developed over years such as sovereignty of parliament
Sources of the U.K. Constitution:
Statue - laws passed by parliament
Common law - laws that have been used throughout history such as PMs prerogative powers
Royal prerogative- practices and traditions that give powers to the PM to declare war or provide titles
European law
Main characteristics of the U.K. Constitution:
Uncodified
Not entrenched
Constitutional monarchy - royal prerogative
Sovereignty of parliament - parliamentary government
Party government
Unitary government
Sovereignty in the UK:
Legal sovereignty - parliament is the legislature and is the only power that can pass/repeal laws
Political sovereignty - political power lies with the electorate at the time of an election, but otherwise with government
The EU and the constitution:
Parliament passed the Europeans committee act in 1972 allowing Britain to join the EU
EU law is superior to British law - established in the Factortame case
British courts must implement EU law
Where has sovereignty in the uk gone?
Parliament remains fully legally sovereign as all law must be passed by Parliament, and where it has devolved these powers it can take them back, with regards to the EU
Parliament has to effectively accept the result of a referendum
A lot of power has gone to government or the PM, through the prerogative powers he uses on behalf of the crown
Attitudes towards constitutional reform from different parties:
Conservatives believe reform should not be a conscious policy but more natural procedure as it would disrupt political process of UK
Labour very interventionist and made active change to the Constitution under Blair
Lib Dems have been keen to see an entrenched HRA
