nature and sources of the british constitution Flashcards
what does constitution mean?
a set of rules
defines a country between the government and the citizens
limits the power of a government
what does codified mean?
constitution is written in one place (USA)
what does uncodified mean?
written in lots of different places/not written in one place (UK)
what does unitary mean?
power lies in one central place (UK parliament)
what does federal mean?
power across all regions (US state governments)
what does sovereignty mean? two examples too
to have supreme power
- UK parliament
- US constitution
What is statute law? one example
- made by parliament (therefore sovereign)
- has to be approved by the monarch
- can be scrapped at any time
- written law
- Rep. of the people act 1918 (women get the vote)
What is common law?
- made by judges throughout cases
- based on the principle stare decisis (latin for staying on what has been decided)
- therefore have to follow previous case decisions
- only made if there is no statute or previous decision
- parliament still sovereign
- deals with ‘open-ended’ aspects of the law
What is EU law?
- still has an impact on UK
- we follow EU laws until we want further change
- European contention of human rights (1956) means that if the Uk go against their HRA ‘98 the EU gov can pull up on it
what is a convention? and an example
- unwritten habits and practices
- tradition
- these codes of conducts make politics work
- e.g. collective ministerial responsibility = defines rel between minsters and cabinet
what type of constitution does the UK have?
uncodified
what type of authority does parliament have?
sovereign
devolved government
parliamentary government gives power to a smaller government
can remove power at any time
examples of devolved governments
NI, Scottish and Welsh
examples of devolved governments being suspended
NI had 3 year suspension 2020
what are the five sources of the constitution?
statute law
common law
eu law
conventions
works of authority
what is statute law?
- made by parliament
- can be removed
- public bills
three examples of statute laws
- HRA Act ‘98
- Scotland Act ‘98 (scottish devolution)
- Rep of the People Act ‘18 (women’s vote)
what is common law?
- made by judges in cases they hear
- based on stare decisis
- only made if no previous statute or decision
what is stare decisis?
- latin for staying by what has been decided
- meaning follow previous case decisions and parliamentary statutes
- parliament is still sovereign
example of stare decisis
- case of Diane Pretty
- had motor neurone disease
- wanted legalisation of assisted suicide, however went against HRA Act ‘98
- then kept their word for future cases
what is common law also known as?
- precedent/case law
what is EU law?
- still has ECHR (1956) involvement
- if UK go against HRA ‘98 then ECHR gets involved in european court of HR
what is a convention?
- unwritten habits, traditions or practices
- make politics workable and are upheld for this reason
- non-legal code of conduct