Parliamentary sovereignty Flashcards
What type of power did Tony Blair use to take the UK to war in Iraq in 2003 or Margaret Thatcher sending the task force to the Falkland Islands?
Prerogative power of the crown
Do PMs need parliamentary consent to commit British troops as a matter of law?
No
What is the Dicey definition of prerogative power?
- Discretionary/arbitrary authority left in the crown
- Every act the executive government can lawfully do without requiring authority of an act of parliament
Which courts are the arbiters of the existence and extent of a claimed prerogative power?
Administrative Court and upwards
Have all of the old monarchical powers eroded?
No, some significant ones remain
Who exercises powers of the monarch?
Government on behalf of the monarch
What lead to the Miller case?
Government’s attempts to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval
What was the effect of the HoL decision in GCHQ?
extended reviewability of prerogative powers
What is a constitutional monarchy?
Where monarch is head of state but not political head of government and whose powers to govern are limited
What powers is most government business conducted under?
Statute
In areas where royal prerogative still retains significance, how is the power usually governed?
By convention
What are the ministerial prerogative powers relating to?
- Judicial system
- Foreign affairs
- Defence of the realm
What is the home secretary’s judicial prerogative power?
To pardon those convicted of criminal offences prosecuted by the crown (prerogative of mercy)
What are the foreign affairs prerogative powers?
- Grant/revoke passports
- Recognition of other soveriegn states/representatives
- Making/ratifying treaties
- Governance of British Overseas Territories
What is defence of the realm?
Armed forces, war and times of emergency
What are the monarch’s prerogative powers on the advice of the PM?
- Appointing/removing ministers
- Appointing PM
- Assent
- Creating peers/granting honours
- Dissolve + prorogue parliament
What are the crown’s legal prerogatives?
- Not bound by statute unless express/inferred
- Not subject to contempt
- personal immunity from prosecution or being sued for a wrongful act
How can prerogative power be controlled?
- Public law (judicial review)
- overriding effect of statute
- political pressure
- changes to convention over time
Is prerogative power legitimised by parliament?
No
How is the use of prerogative power primarily controlled?
Through the courts
Why does prerogative power have legal enforceability?
Because it is recognised and accepted by courts through the common law.
Who determines how and to what degree courts can control use of prerogative power?
Judges