Constitution of the UK Flashcards
what is the standard of proof for criminal and civil proceedings?
criminal: “beyond reasonable doubt”
civil: “on the balance of probabilities”
the functions of a state can generally be divided into 3 roles…
Legislature - body that enacts new law/amends existing law
Executive - formulate or implement policy
Judiciary - body of judges of all levels of seniority
what are constitutional conventions?
“rules of constitutional practice that are regarded as binding in operation but not in law” - developing constitutional laws informally without recourse of the law
what are the two conventions on ministerial responsibility?
Collective Ministerial Responsibility (CMR) - the way in which government ministers should behave and operate as a collective whole.
Individual Ministerial Responsibility (IMR) - intended to regulate how ministers should react if there has been a significant problem or failing in their department.
conventions relating to the judiciary
- judges must not be politically active (to voice judicial bias)
- parliament must criticise the judges’ professional conduct
Which one of the following statements is false?
A. Conventions regulate the relationship between different bodies of state and those within the different parts of Parliament.
B. Conventions fill in the gaps of the UK’s sparse legal constitutional framework.
C. Conventions operate to create standards of accountability within government.
D. Conventions impose rigorous standards of behaviour in public life that must be followed.
E. Conventions modify the effect of some strict legal constitutional rules.
D. false because they are intended to create standards by which those in public life ought to conduct themselves. They should impose a feeling of obligation but, very significantly, they are not legally enforceable.
