MCQ Flashcards
Which of the following statements is true?
1) where no special process is required to amend a constitution, the system is called rigid
2) The British Constitution is unwritten
3) The united Kingdom is an example of a state in which is a complete separation of powers
4) In a Federal state the federal organs of government are subordinate to a regional organs of government
2) the British Constitution is unwritten
Which one of the following is a key feature of the constitution of a unitary state?
a. The powers of government are divided between a government for the whole country and regional and local authorities in such a way that each region is constitutionally independent within its own sphere.
b. The central government exercises its powers under control of the regional governments.
c. All governmental powers are centralized and although legislative and executive power may be given to regional and local organs of government these remain subordinate to the central legislature and may be overridden by it.
d. The Head of State is an elected president.
c. All governmental powers are centralized and although legislative and executive power may be given to regional and local organs of government these remain subordinate to the central legislature and may be overridden by it.
Which one of the following statements is false concerning the key characteristics of the British Constitution?
a. The UK Head of State is a King or Queen whose entitlement to the throne is determined by the hereditary principle.
b. In the United Kingdom constitutional Law forms the fundamental law of the nation and an Act of Parliament which is repugnant to the British Constitution is void.
c. The British constitution is subordinate to the legislature.
d. The British constitution is flexible.
b. In the United Kingdom constitutional Law forms the fundamental law of the nation and an Act of Parliament which is repugnant to the British Constitution is void.
Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The United Kingdom is a federal state.
b. The United Kingdom is a republic with an elected head of state.
c. The UK legislature is subordinate to the British Constitution.
d. The British Constitution is unwritten, flexible, monarchical, unitary, subordinate to the legislature and based on a partial or limited degree of separation.
d. The British Constitution is unwritten, flexible, monarchical, unitary, subordinate to the legislature and based on a partial or limited degree of separation.
- Which one of the following statements is true in respect of the characteristics of the British Constitution?
a. The British constitution is a based on a neo-liberal political order in which the government is, theoretically at least, accountable to Parliament.
b. The United Kingdom is a one party state.
c. The members of the UK government are accountable to the monarch for their actions.
d. The monarch is accountable to Parliament.
a. The British constitution is a based on a neo-liberal political order in which the government is, theoretically at least, accountable to Parliament.
- Which one of the following statements is true in respect of AV Dicey’s formulation of the Rule of Law?
a. The rule of law is synonymous with social justice.
b. The rule of law is based on supremacy of law over arbitrary and wide discretionary power, equal subjection to the law and the origins of constitutional law in private law.
c. The Rule of Law is purely a political concept.
d. The separation of powers is part of the rule of law.
b. The rule of law is based on supremacy of law over arbitrary and wide discretionary power, equal subjection to the law and the origins of constitutional law in private law.
- Which one of the following is a true statement of the constitutional principle in Entick v. Carrington (1765)?
a. The executive can do nothing without legal authority. Where a public authority claims to have the power to do something it must be able to identify the precise legal source of its powers.
b. The executive can act in the public interest.
c. State necessity is a defence to an action in the tort of trespass.
d. The action for trespass succeeded.
a. The executive can do nothing without legal authority. Where a public authority claims to have the power to do something it must be able to identify the precise legal source of its powers.
- Which one of the following is not one of the key features of government according to law?
a. Public bodies exercising statutory duties must do what the statute requires them to do.
b. The courts are duty bound to correct any abuse of power by the executive and the judges are free to exercise this jurisdiction independently.
c. The law cannot be enforced by the courts against a minister of the Crown acting in his official capacity.
d. The judiciary enforce the law against individuals, institutions, and the executive.
c. The law cannot be enforced by the courts against a minister of the Crown acting in his official capacity.
- Which one of the following statements is false?
a. Judges must preserve the rule of law.
b. A decision to punish an offender with imprisonment may be made by the executive as well as a court of law.
c. Common law rules governing access to the judicial system and judicial review form the cornerstone of the rule of law.
d. Judges must interpret any statute which potentially threatens the rule of law in order to try to ensure, if possible, that it will not achieve this end.
b. A decision to punish an offender with imprisonment may be made by the executive as well as a court of law
- Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The British Constitution is monarchical.
b. The monarch is always chosen by Parliament when a monarch dies.
c. The monarch can sit as a judge in the House of Lords.
d. The monarch can raise an army without parliament’s consent.
a. The British Constitution is monarchical
- Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The Royal Prerogative is the supreme law of the land.
b. The Royal Prerogative is the residue of discretionary or arbitrary authority, which at any time is legally left in the hands of the Crown.
c. The monarch can rule by proclamation.
d. The courts have jurisdiction to create new Royal Prerogative powers.
b. The Royal Prerogative is the residue of discretionary or arbitrary authority, which at any time is legally left in the hands of the Crown.
- Which one of the following statements is false?
a. The monarch has the power to dissolve and summon Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister.
b. The monarch appoints and dismisses ministers.
c. The prerogative powers exercised by the monarch include the grant of honours.
d. Treaties are a legislative act of Parliament.
d. Treaties are a legislative act of Parliament.
- Which one of the following statements is true in respect of the relationship between royal prerogative and statute?
a. When a statute is passed it abridges the Royal Prerogative while the statute is in force so that the Crown can act only under and in accordance with the statute.
b. Crown prerogatives are not bound by the limitations, restrictions, and conditions imposed by the statute.
c. The executive can use the Royal Prerogative to achieve something which is inconsistent with a statutory scheme if it is in the public interest to do so.
d. The executive can use the Royal Prerogative to frustrate the will of Parliament expressed in a statute so that it pre-empts a parliamentary decision on whether or not to do something.
a. When a statute is passed it abridges the Royal Prerogative while the statute is in force so that the Crown can act only under and in accordance with the statute.
- Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The office of Prime Minister is a creature of convention and could thus be abolished without legal formality.
b. The office of Prime Minister was created by statute.
c. At statute law, a new government must be formed within a few days of the publication of the results of a general election
d. The monarch’s powers to appoint and dismiss a Prime Minister are limited by statute and common law.
a. The office of Prime Minister is a creature of convention and could thus be abolished without legal formality
- Which one of the following is not a key role of the Prime Minister?
a. Giving advice to the monarch on the exercise of all prerogative powers concerning the government.
b. Determining the size and membership of the Cabinet.
c. The appointment of the monarch’s private secretary.
d. Advising the monarch on the appointment of senior civil servants, senior members of the judiciary, heads of the security and intelligence services and senior officers of the Church of England.
c. The appointment of the monarch’s private secretary
- Which one of the following statements is false?
a. Members of the Cabinet are all members of the Privy Council.
b. Members of the Cabinet are accountable only to the monarch.
c. The Cabinet determines the policy submitted to Parliament, including decisions as to the contents of the Queen’s Speech and the legislative timetable.
d. The Cabinet determines broad economic policies within which the Chancellor of the Exchequer formulates the budget.
b. Members of the Cabinet are accountable only to the monarch.
- Which one of the following statements is true?
a. Ministers are not accountable to Parliament for the actions or conduct of civil servants within their departments.
b. Only civil servants are sued in the courts for damage caused by their conduct in government departments.
c. A minister is automatically dismissed if there is misconduct or incompetence on the part of civil servants in his department.
d. When a statute places a duty on a minister it may generally be exercised by a member of his department for whom he accepts responsibility and for whose conduct he is accountable.
d. When a statute places a duty on a minister it may generally be exercised by a member of his department for whom he accepts responsibility and for whose conduct he is accountable
