Ministerial Responsibility (L11) Flashcards
What does the Ministerial Code state about collective ministerial responsibility and what is the effect of this?
“Ministers should be able to express their views frankly in the expectation that they can argue freely in private while maintaining a united front when decisions have been reached. This … requires that the privacy of opinions expressed in Cabinet and ministerial Committees, including correspondence, should be maintained.”
Effects:
- There is a single Government position on any agreed issue.
- Internal deliberations as to how that position was arrived at remain confidential.
- May be formally suspended by the PM in special circumstances. E.g. Ministers were allowed to campaign differently in Brexit referendum.
What does the Ministerial Code state about individual ministerial responsibility?
“Ministers have a duty to Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies.”
What is the most important case regarding ministerial responsibility?
R v Home Secretary, ex parte Fire Brigades Union [1995] 2 AC 513.
What did Lord Mustill say in Ex parte Fire Brigades Union?
“The executive carries on the administration of the country in accordance with the powers conferred on it by law”.
“The courts interpret the laws, and see that they are obeyed. This requires the courts on occasion to step into the territory which belongs to the executive, to verify not only that the powers asserted accord with the substantive law created by Parliament but also that the manner in which they are exercised conforms with the standards of fairness which Parliament must have intended.”
