Key dates Flashcards
The Magna Carter (1215)
This is where the constitution is generally though to begun, it was an agreement between the King and his barons to prevent the abuse of royal power. It set out the principle that no one (including monarchs) are above the law, and sets out the right to a fair trial for all free men.
The Bill of Rights (1689)
This was the next development of the constitution, put into law by King William III. The Bill of Rights established the idea that the Monarch’s power is reliant on the consent of parliament and set up frequent parliaments, freedom of speech within parliament (parliamentary privilege) and free elections.
Act of Settlement (1701)
This stated that only a Protestant could become monarch and gave control over the line of succession to the throne to parliament.
Acts of Union - Wales (1536 and 1543)
This acts joined England and Wales together and started to form, what we now know as the United Kingdom.
Acts of Union - Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1801)
These acts established the union of Scotland and Ireland to form Great Britain and was the basis of the UK until devolution reforms in 1997
Parliamentary Acts of 1911 and 1949
These both limited the power of the House of Lords. The first was a consequence of the Lords rejecting LLoyd-George’s ‘People’s Budget’ which had substantial tax increases. The 1911 Act prevented the Lords from delaying money bills and prevented them from being able to delay a bill for more than 2 years. The 1949 reduced this ability to delay to just one year.
European Communities Act (1972)
This was the piece of legislation which entered Britain into the European Economic Community which would later become the EU.
This gave the ECC/EU law precedence over the Uk law in the case of a conflict. However, after the 2016 referendum this will cease to exist.
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) of 1953
This was signed by the UK in 1951 and came into force in 1953. This means that all UK government actions needed to be in compliance with the ECHR. This includes articles such as the right to life, and the right to freedom from torture. It requires states to hold fair an free elections, abolish the death penalty, preserve family life and give foreigners the same rights as all citizens in a state.
European Court of Justice 1973
The ECJ protected the rights of UK workers
Data Protection Act 1984
This protected personal information that public organisations held people’s personal information.
The Human Rights Act 1998
This enshrined (made codified) the ECHR into British Law. This means that any public body cannot act in a way that would break the convention and that the judiciary must make rulings that are compatible with it.The Supreme Court can strike down legislation that can be deemed incompatible with the HRA, but for primary legislation they can only issue a “Doctrine of Incompatibility) urging parliament to change the statute, this is due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.
Equality Act 2010
This Act brought together all anti-discriminatory measures into a single document. Protests workers and the general public from discrimination. Included age discrimination and disability discrimination.
House of Lords Act 1999
This removed all but 92 hereditary peers. The Lords became a mainly appointed chamber, with peers appointed based on merit as opposed to by birth with the removal of most hereditary peers
The 1998 Devolution acts
These included the: - Scotland Act - Northern Ireland Act - Government of Wales Act There had been growing demands for Scottish independence and a need to unite the unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland
The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act
This had three major effects
- The Act separated the government from the judiciary
- The Act formed a Supreme Court which separated parliament from the judiciary
- The Act reformed the appointment process for senior judicial appointments
