Constitution examples

Question 1

What is an example of the constitution being flexible

Answer 1

Theresa May’s ‘Great Repeal Bill’ which would overturn the European Commissions Act 1972 and in doing so remove the supremacy of EU law. Whereas in most western democracies, this would require formal constitutional amendment, in the Uk it can be done through the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and the supremacy of statute law

Question 2

What is an example of Boris Johnson using the royal prorogative as set out by conventions in the constitution

Answer 2

His attempt to porouge parliament in 2019 was ruled unlawful and voided by the UK Supreme Court

Question 3

What are some examples of statute law that have constitutional status

Answer 3

Great Reform Act 1832, Parliament Act 1911 and 1949, HRA 1998, Scotland Act 1998 which created the Scottish Parliament, European Union Act 2020

Question 4

How has the royal prerogative chnaged in recent years?
(x3 examples)

Answer 4

The constitutional reform and governance act 2010 ended ministers royal prerogative powers to negotiate and sign treaties independently, by requiring ratification by parliament. It has also restricted the PMs power to reshape the civil service. However the power to declare war still exists with the PM, ultimately giving them too much power
Papers released in 2013 revealed the monarch has been specifically asked to approve bills relating to perogative powers and was advised by the gov to withold consent to a 1999 private member’s bill which sought to transfer the power to declare war from the monarch to Parliament
The Succession of the Crown Act 2013 made the succession to the crown gender neutral. Some claim this is a win for gender equality but others believe there is no place for a monarchy in the 21st century

Question 5

Example of a convention

Answer 5

Monarch must give royal assent to acts of parliament. If they did not, there would be a constitutional crisis. The last time this happened was in 1707 when Queen Anne refused to approve the Scottish Militias Bill.

Question 6

What is an example of an authoritative work

Answer 6

Walter Bagehot’s The English Constitution (1867) set out the roles of the cabinet and the prime minister, describing the former as the ‘efficient secret of the English Constitution’ and the latter as ‘first among equals’

Question 7

What example highlights that codified constitutions may be amended more easily than made out to be?

Answer 7

The 1958 constitution of the French Fifth Republic has been amended 17 times in 50 years, yet there has only been 17 amendments to the US constitution since the 1791 bill of rights.

Question 8

What was the Fixed Term Parliaments act of 2011?

Answer 8

The Fixed term parliaments Act 2011 ended the perogative to dissolve parliament, as general elections would now be held every 5 years on the first Thursday in May with a 2/3rds supermajority required to hold an earlier one, or a vote of no confidence. This moved power to Parliament (although this was overturned by the Disolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022).

Question 9

Example of the Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011 and hence the reasoning for overturning

Answer 9

During May’s ineffective government, the minority failed to pass the EU withdrawl bill and a period of ‘delay and dither’ followed, where Labour refused a general election in the hope that Conservatives would lose support

Question 10

Why was the 2011 Fixed Term Parliament Act created?

Answer 10

aimed to stabilise the 2010 coalition by limiting the PM’s power to call early elections at a favourable time

Question 11

What are 5 examples that show the constitution is flexible yet threatens the rights of citizens through arbitrary state power?

Answer 11

Repeal of the Fixed Term Parliament Act
The HRA under threat as it has politicised the SC and is used by migrants to avoid legal deportation
Constitutional conventions under strain
Parliamentary sovreignty has been upheld
The power of the Supreme Court over constitution matters is under debate

Question 12

Which party is looking to overturn the HRA?

Answer 12

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto included a mandate to ‘update the HRA’. Johnson arguing for a British Bill of Rights.

Question 13

Which conventions have recently been strained?
(x2 examples)

Answer 13

The Sewel Convention, which governs Westminster’s relationship with devolved assemblies; such assemblies must consent to the gov passing UK wide laws that encroach on devolved power. In the aftermath of Brexit, and the rise of nationalism has seen laws being passed without consent, such as the 2020 UK Internal Market Act, which Scotland has labelled a power grab.
The convention that the government behave responsibly has been broken as Boris Johnson is the first PM found to be guilty of breaking the law in partygate. Similary, despite the Home Secretary Priti Patel being accused of bullying through swearing and shouting, no action was taken

Question 14

What example shows that Parliamentary sovereignty has been upheld?

Answer 14

In 2019, Johnson attempted to porouge parliament for 5 weeks to minimise opposition to the EU Bill. The Supreme Court agreed in the Miller Case that the PM had acted unlawfully, bypassing the constitutional conventions of parliamentary sovreignty.

Question 15

What example shows that the SC may have become too powerful?

Answer 15

Critics argue the Miller Case has politicised the SC, leading to the 2019 pledge in the Conservative manifesto to ensure judicial review is not abused. A 2020 independent review reccommended that the courts ability to give a public body a time limited opportunity to remedy their actions should be recognised rather than just immediately striking it down

Question 16

What was the Wakeham’s comission and what happened to it?

Answer 16

Proposals for stage 2 of reforms to the HOL would have seen the house become part elected part appointed, but changes were never implemented

Question 17

Which acts created devolution?

Answer 17

The Scotland Act 1998, Government of Wales Act 1998 and Northern Ireland Act 1998. These created a Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and NI assembly.

Question 18

Example of an act that followed the initial devolution acts?

Answer 18

Scotland act 2016, gave greater legislative and financial powers

Question 19

What was created in London in 1998?

Answer 19

the Greater London Authority, consisting of an elected mayor, and a 25-member separately elected London assembly

Question 20

How has local government been reformed?
(x2 examples)

Answer 20

London assembly
Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011

Question 21

What was the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and has it been successful?

Answer 21

it replaced existing police authorities with Police and Crime Commissioners. However turnout for these elections have been low and many don’t understand the complex structure of local government

Question 22

What system does the Scottish Parliament use to vote?

Answer 22

AMS

Question 23

What electoral system does London Mayoral elections and PCC votes use?

Answer 23

supplementary vote

Question 24

what electoral system does NI use?

Answer 24

STV

Question 25

What electoral system does the welsh assembly use?

Answer 25

AMS

Question 26

What system does European Parliament use?

Answer 26

regional closed lists

Question 27

What system does the london assembly use?

Answer 27

AMS

Question 28

What is an example of a codified constitution proving to be too rigid?

Answer 28

US legislators are unable to introduce gun control, thanks to the second amendment even after many school shootings

Question 29

Example of a case heard by the Supreme Court?

Answer 29

Begum V Home secretary- resulted in a public debate about the returning of jihadists. All unanimosuly found favour with the Home Secretary as national security concerns outweigh her right to a free and fair hearing

Question 30

What is an example of when derogation was used to suspend the HRA?

Answer 30

In the wake of 9/11, the gov forced a derogation of article 5 - the right to liberty and security- in order to detain foreign nationals suspected of terrorism

Question 31

In what way does the partygate case highlight that we would be better if we had a codified constitution?

Answer 31

Under the uncodified constitution, the executive branch is primarily checked by the legislature - the priviledges committee, rather than the judiciary. But critics have argued that backbenchers cannot be reliable to enforce important constitutional limits and uphold the political system. Given the fusion of powers, it’s unlikely Parliament will hold the PM to account, as over 150 MPs are under collective responsibility and must vote how the government want them to. Similarly, Backbenchers are unlikely to want to undermine a leader who won such a large majority and upon whom they were dependent on a promotion for. 58% of Conservatives then voted for him in a vote of no confidence in 2020.

Question 32

What was the result of the investigations of the priviledegs committee into partygate?

Answer 32

Johnson had committed 5 different contempts against parliamentary priviledge including deliberately misleading the house and the committee

Question 33

Why can it be argued after partygate that the uncodified constitution provies sufficient checks on the leader?

Answer 33

Supporters of the constitutio argue Johnson’s resignation proves political checks imposed by Parliament can be just as effective than legal checks. Despite his landslide majority and colossal mandate, 3 years later he was out and with no seat. Many local councillors failed to perform well in April 2022 and blamed Johnson. His declining power reached a tipping point when Chris Pincher, Deputy Chief Whip resigned over sexual misconduct. Reports that Johnson know about the allegations before promoting pincher led to a wave of resignations. 118 Conservatives then joined Labour to approve the priviledges committee’s reccommendations, forcing him to resign (although its questionable if this would have happened without the Chris Pincher case)

Question 34

Why is Johnson’s claims of ineffective against the Priviledges committee not valid, hence showing the constitution is effective both ways.

Answer 34

When Johnson was ruled unconstitutional for poroging parliament, he argued it was a political question that could only be answered by MPs. However in the partygate case, he said the priviledges committee were bias and that their proceduce was unfair and would had been ruled unlawful if tested in court.

Question 35

What example showed EVEL created two tiers of MPs?

Answer 35

Welsh Labour MP Mark Tami told the HOC how his constituency represented a border area and many specialist hospitals his constituents go to are in England, making it unfair to exclude him from the debate

Question 36

What is an example that EVEL simply delayed time and increased complexity?

Answer 36

Of the 43 votes that used EVEL, English MPs voted no different to UK wide MPs and only four Legislative Grand Committee stages have lasted longer than ten minutes

Question 37

Why is it arguable that EVEL reforms went far enough?

Answer 37

It was never used anyway

Question 38

Why is it arguable that Evel reforms have not gone far enough?

Answer 38

Nothing has been put in place to replace EVEL and this was the only modest devolution ever offered to England and similar scenarios to the 2004 tuition fees could happen again. Some argue an English Parliament is needed

Question 39

What example shows the UK constitution is too flexible?

Answer 39

Not a single opposition MP voted in favour of EVEL in 2015, undermining legitimacy of the house. Simply the Conservatives were trying to out rival certain parties like UKIP who were calling for greater representation

Question 40

What shows that constitutional reform is not flexible and will not succeed without cross party support?

Answer 40

Repealing of Evel 6 year later shows the principle of all MPs being equal was more embedded and enduring than EVEL