Multiple Choice Q's for Chapter 2 Flashcards
Which one of the following statements is true?
a) The British Constitution is solely based on statutory and common law rules
b) Constitutional law consists of the law of the constitution and constitutional conventions.
c) Constitutional Conventions are part of the law.
d) Constitutional Conventions can become part of the Common Law in the same way that customs are capable of doing.
b) Constitutional law consists of the law of the constitution and constitutional conventions.
Feedback:
The correct answer follows the views of writers like A.V. Dicey and Sir Ivor Jennings.
Which one of the following statements is false?
a) Constitutional conventions are not binding on anyone.
b) The laws of the constitution are enforceable in the courts.
c) The conventions of the constitution are binding political rules which are not enforceable in the courts.
d) ‘Unenforceable’ means that there is no remedy for breach of a convention.
a) Constitutional conventions are not binding on anyone.
Feedback:
Constitutional Conventions are considered binding on those who participate in the process of government.
Which one of the following is an accurate statement of Sir Ivor Jenning’s test which was judicially accepted by the Canadian Supreme Court in Reference Re Amendment to the Constitution of Canada (1982)?
a) The courts have no jurisdiction to enquire into whether a constitutional convention exists.
b) Constitutional Conventions cannot be stated with the same clarity as legal rules.
c) The existence of a constitutional convention can be determined by asking:
what are the precedents?
do the actors in the precedents believe that they are bound by a rule?
is there a reason for the rule?
d) There is no judicially accepted test.
c) The existence of a constitutional convention can be determined by asking:
what are the precedents?
do the actors in the precedents believe that they are bound by a rule?
is there a reason for the rule?
Feedback:
The incorrect answers are not judicially accepted principles.
Which one of the following statements is not a constitutional convention?
a) The monarch will grant the Royal Assent as a matter of course to a bill which has either been passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords or has received the assent of the House of Commons under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949.
b) Every bill which has passed the necessary parliamentary stages must receive the Royal Assent in order to become an Act of Parliament.
c) His/Her Majesty’s Government must have the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons.
d) Members of the Cabinet do not voice dissent on government policy once a decision is taken. A Cabinet Minister who cannot sustain a Cabinet decision should resign.
b) Every bill which has passed the necessary parliamentary stages must receive the Royal Assent in order to become an Act of Parliament.
Feedback:
The statements in the incorrect answers are constitutional conventions. The correct answer is a legal requirement.
Which one of the following statements is true?
a) The court enforced the convention of collective cabinet responsibility in Attorney General v Jonathan Cape Ltd (1975).
b) The basic legal principle applied by the judge was that the courts have jurisdiction to restrain publication of Cabinet material provided it can be shown that:
such publication will be a breach of confidence;
publication will be against the public interest in that it would prejudice the maintenance of the doctrine of collective cabinet responsibility; and
there is no other facet of the public interest in conflict with and more compelling than that relied upon.
c) Constitutional Conventions are capable of limiting the sovereignty of parliament.
d) There is a binding constitutional convention that there must be a referendum before a constitutional statute is passed.
b) The basic legal principle applied by the judge was that the courts have jurisdiction to restrain publication of Cabinet material provided it can be shown that:
such publication will be a breach of confidence;
publication will be against the public interest in that it would prejudice the maintenance of the doctrine of collective cabinet responsibility; and
there is no other facet of the public interest in conflict with and more compelling than that relied upon.
Feedback:
The correct answer is the ratio in Attorney General v. Jonathan Cape Ltd (1975)
hich one of the following statements is false?
a) The courts never consider constitutional conventions.
b) Although the courts do not grant remedies for breach of constitutional conventions, they do sometimes look at them, at least indirectly, in the course of legal proceedings.
c) The courts may be prepared to take constitutional conventions into account and give an opinion as to their existence and extent.
d) The courts can take notice of constitutional conventions, and sometimes use them, for example, to aid in the interpretation of statutes or of commonwealth constitutions.
a) The courts never consider constitutional conventions.
Feedback:
The incorrect answers are judicially accepted principle
