INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UK

Question 1

What is a constitution?

Answer 1

• a type of organisation which
• defines a state’s fundamental political principles
• establishes the** framework of government **
• and guarantees certain rights and freedoms to citizens

Question 2

Is the UK’s constitution written or unwritten?

Answer 2

• unwritten
• there is no single authoritative written document that sets out how government should operate and what rights of individual citizens are

Question 3

Is the UK’s constitution republican or monarchical?

Answer 3

• monarchical
• head of the state is the king who is unelected and head of state due to her position within royal family
• most of his powers are exercised by government on his behalf

Question 4

Is the UK’s constitution federal or unitary?

Answer 4

• unitary
• a single sovereign legislative body with power concentrated at centre (Parliament at Westminster is the supreme law making body)
• a federal constitution will have division of power between central government and regional government

Question 5

Is the UK constitution rigid or flexible?

Answer 5

• flexible
• due to it being unwritten
• the constitution is relatively easy to change because no special procedure is needed to amend constitution

Question 6

Does the UK’s constitution have formal separation of powers/ informal separation of powers?

Answer 6

• informal separation of powers
• there is a significant degree of overlap between the the functions and personnel of the executive ( government) the legislative (parliament) and the judicial branches (courts) of state
• due to unwritten constitution

Question 7

How is the US’s constitution different to UK’s?

Answer 7

1) written constitution
- rules on how government operates, together with Bill of Rights which details rights that ordinary people have
2) republican
- elected president
3) federal system of government
- power split between national government in Washington and various individual states
4) rigid

Question 8

What are the core principes on which UK constitution is based?

Answer 8

• rule of law
• separation of powers
• the supremacy of Parliament

Question 9

Key elements on rule of law?

Answer 9

1) all actions of state or government must be permitted by law
2) laws must be made properly following set procedure
3) laws should be clear and accessible and citizen should only be punished for a clear breach of law
4) law should be certain and citizen should not be punished for an act which was not crime at time they carried out act
5) there should be equality before law and all citizens should have access to legal process
6) judiciary should be independent and impartial(courts should be independent from legislature and executive so judges can uphold law without fear of repercussion from other branches of state)

Question 10

What is meant by ‘the separation of powers’?

Answer 10

• that the three branches of the state should be kept separate in terms of function and personnel (see Charles de Montesquieu)
• this can be difficult and unrealistic
• therefore many constitution have developed concept of ‘checks and balances’
• a method which regulates the relative influence each branch of state holds

Question 11

What is the ‘sovereignty of Parliament’?

Answer 11

• the common law doctrine accepted by courts that legislation created by Parliament takes precedence over common law
• the statutes cannot be overridden by case law
• Parliament can make and unmake any rule it sees fit

Question 12

What are the four principal sources of the UK constitution?

Answer 12

1) Acts of Parliament
2) case law
3) the royal prerogative
4) constitutional conventions

Question 13

What does the Magna Carta 1215 (an Act of Parliament) say about our constitution?

Answer 13

• first assertion of the limits of the powers of Monarch and rights of individuals
• embodies principle that government should be conducted according to law and with consent of governed
• established that nobody is above the law
• King John renounced certain rights
• he respected specified legal procedures
• he understood that his will could be bound by the law
• also introduced right to protection from unlawful imprisonment

Question 14

What does the Bill of Rights 1689 (Act of Parliament) say about the constitution?

Answer 14

• imposed limitations on powers of Crown in its relationship with Parliament
• removed power of monarchy to suspend Acts of Parliament and power to impose taxation without parliament’s consent
• BoR also imposed that Parliament should meet on regular basis, elections to parliament should be free from from interference from Monarch
• and ‘freedom of speech and debates in parliament proceedings should not be questioned in any court or place out of parliament’

Question 15

What part does the Acts of Union 1706-07 play in our constitution?

Answer 15

• united England and Scotland under single Parliament of Great Britain (Parliament of Westminster)
• contained provisions to preserve Scottish church and legal system

Question 16

What does the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 say about our constitution?

Answer 16

• altered the relationship between the House of Lords and House of Commons
• ensured that the will of elected House of Commons prevailed over unelected House of Lords

Question 17

What does the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 say about our constitution?

Answer 17

• relevant to civil liberties
• provides police with extensive powers of arrest, search and detention
• also contains important procedural safeguards so police do not abuse such powers

Question 18

What does the Public Order Act 1986 say about our constitution?

Answer 18

• relevant to civil liberties
• allows limitations to be placed on rights of citizens to hold marches and meetings in public place

Question 19

What does the Human Rights Act 1988 say about our constitution?

Answer 19

• incorporates European Convention on Human Rights into our domestic law
• marks fundamental change in protection of human rights by allowing citizens to raise alleged breaches of their human rights before domestic courts

Question 20

What does the Acts of Devolution says about our constitution?

Answer 20

• developed system of government in various parts of UK (Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly)

Question 21

What does the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 say about our constitution?

Answer 21

• transferred Lord Chancellors powers as head of judiciary to Lord Chief Justice
• permitted HOL to elect own Speaker
• provided creation of Supreme Court

Question 22

What does the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 say about constitution?

Answer 22

• UK’s departure from EU
• ended supremacy of EU law and introduces into the UK’s legal systems the concept of retained EU law

Question 23

How is common law an important source of some key principles of our constitution?

Answer 23

1) residual freedom
- citizens free to do and say as they wish unless strictly prohibited

2) actions of the state must have legal authority
- action taken by state officials (e.g police) must have legal basis

3) Legal disputes should be resolved by judiciary and not monarchy

4) habeas corpus and individual liberty
- now strengthened by statute, habeas corpus, whereby an individual who has been detained by state has right to have legality of that detention tested before court

5) right to a fair hearing
- also contained in Article 6 of the ECHR

6) parliamentary supremacy

Question 24

What is the judicial review of executive actions?

Answer 24

• mechanism which enables that government and other public bodies exercise the powers that they have been granted fairly and do not abuse them

Question 25

Define the royal prerogative. What does it cover?

Answer 25

• essentially what remains of the absolute powers that at one time were exercised by the Monarch and have not been removed by parliament
• it covers:
  A) foreign affairs
• declaration of war and deployment of armed forces overseas
• making treaties
• recognition of foreign states

B) domestic affairs
- the summoning of Parliament
- the appointment and dismissal of Prime Minister
- giving of Royal assent to Bills
- the dissolution of Parliament
- defence of the realm (ie the deployment of armed forces within the UK)
- the exercise of the prerogatives of pardon and mercy
- granting public honours
- the setting up of public bodies to disburse funds made available by Parliament.

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Question 26

Can the Acts of Parliament remove prerogative powers?

Answer 26

Yes.
- e.g Crown Proceedings Act 1947 abolished immunity that Crown previously has in respect of claims against it in contract and tort

Question 27

Define constitutional conventions.

Answer 27

• a convention is an unwritten understanding about how something in Parliament should be done which, although not legally enforceable, is almost universally observed
• conventions fill the gaps left by legal rules

Question 28

State some legal rules and the constitutional conventions that apply.

Answer 28

• legally, monarch is perfectly entitled to refuse Royal Assent, however has a matter of convention, they will always give Royal Assent to a bill that has passed both Houses of Parliament
• legally, the government is the ‘Queen’s government and she can appoint and dismiss members as she chooses, however convention is that they must appoint and dismiss on advice of prime minister
• individual ministerial responsibility
• government ministers are responsible to Parliament
  both for the running and proper administration of their respective departments, and also for their personal conduct. - there must be no conflict of interest between a minister’s
  public duties and their private interests
• collective cabinet (or ministerial) responsibility
• as a whole, and the Government must retain the confidence of the House of Commons.
• a government that is defeated on a vote of ‘confidence’ in the House of Commons must resign (as did the Labour Government when it lost such a vote in 1979).
• the cabinet must be united in public in support of government policy, and so a cabinet minister must resign if they wish to speak out in public against such policy, as
  did Robin Cook in 2003, when he wished to voice his opposition to the war in Iraq
• cabinet discussions must remain secret