Key UK historical constitutional documents

Question 1

source 1: MC

Answer 1

-magna carta, 1215
-was a royal charter between King John and his barons in response to the political crisis facing the king
-it set out the principal of equal access to justice, which is still a key part of the UK’s judicial system
-it influenced other documents like the universal declaration of human rights

Question 2

source 2: BoR

Answer 2

-bill of rights, 1689
-its key terms were frequent parliaments, free elections, freedom of speech and the principle of no taxation without parliament’s agreement
-it represents the establishment of parliamentary sovreignty
-it is significant as parliament still meet every year and it established the dominance of parliament. also the principle of free speech is still very important.

Question 3

source 3: AoS

Answer 3

-act of settlement, 1701
-main aim of this was to ensure protestant succession to the throne
-is significant as it’s a case of parliament ‘calling the shots’, and laying down the criteria for the british monarchy
-did nothing to propel england towards a modern democratic state

Question 4

source 4: AoU

Answer 4

-acts of union, 1707
-two acts of parliament: the union with scotland act passed by the parliament of england, and vice versa with scotland.
-through this the kingdom of scotland and the kingdom of england were ‘united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britian’

Question 5

source 5: PA

Answer 5

-parliament acts, 1911/1949
-they severely reduced the power of the house of lords
-in 1911 a law was created that ended the veto of the Lords over legislation and restricted their power to delay a bill for 2 years
-in 1949 the act was modified to reduce the delay to 1 year
-both acts increased the democratic accountability of westminster
-however neither act addressed the issue of the upper chamber, which was mainly compromised of unselected members

Question 6

source 6: ECA

Answer 6

-european communtities act, 1972
-this enabled the accession of the UK to the EEC
-negotatied by Heath
-it was siginficant in the development of the constitution because all legislation had to conform with EU law
-EEC became a key part of the UK political scene