Parliamentary Sovereignty Flashcards
What are the two Houses in Parliament and their composition?
House of Commons and House of Lords
HC has 650 elected members
HL is an unelected body and has around 800 peers
- 700 are lifetime peers, appointed for life by Monarch on PM’s advice
- Max 92 hereditary peers – the HL (Hereditary Peers) Bill will, when enacted, remove the remaining hereditary peers from HL
- Also, 26 members of senior clergy sit there
What is the maximum length of Parliament and how often is it called?
Parliament must be summoned every 3 years, but it meets throughout each year
Maximum length of Parliament is 5 years
General elections can be called earlier though vote of no confidence in government or by exercise of royal prerogative power to dissolve Parliament
What is the difference between public and private bills?
Public bills are either submitted to Parliament by the government or by private members (those that aren’t government members and can include Lords)
Private bills relate to a particular person or locality
What are the stages for passing a Bill through Parliament?
- First Reading – formal stage; Bill read out, printed and published
- Second Reading – debate in Commons on general principles of the Bill
- Committee Stage – committee examines the Bill in detail and amendments can be made to the clauses
- Third Reading – consideration of amended Bill and final opportunity to vote
- Bill goes to HL for same 4 stages
- Bill returns to HC with any amendments made by HL
- Once passed through HC and HL, it will receive Royal Assent and become an Act of Parliament
Could go back and forth between them an unlimited amount of times
HC can disregard HL amendments if they disagree
If HL doesn’t accept a Bill in principle, HC can pass it using special procedures from the Parliament Acts (very rare)
What is the meaning of Parliamentary sovereignty?
Parliament is the supreme law-making body
- Can make and repeal laws on any subject
- No parliament can be bound by a predecessor or bind a successor parliament
- No other person or body may question the validity of an Act of Parliament or declare it to be invalid (Enrolled Act rule)
In reference to the UK Constitution, what different functions can statute serve?
Override international law
Override constitutional law
Override constitutional conventions
Alter the constitution
Operate retrospectively
Abolish or curtail aspects of the Royal Prerogative
What is meant by express and implied repeal of statutes?
1) Express repeal – statute expressly states that it is repealing (replacing) an earlier Act of Parliament
2) Implied repeal – where there is any inconsistency between two Acts of Parliament, the later Act will repeal the provisions of an earlier Act where there are any inconsistencies between the two
- More recent act will prevail if there is any inconsistency
How does devolution act as a limitation to Parliamentary sovereignty?
Sewell convention provides that the UK parliament will not normally legislate with regards to devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislatures (Scotland, Wales and NI governments)
How is the ability of implied repeal limited?
Should not apply to constitutional statutes; constitutionally significant statutes require actual intention from Parliament to be changed
Constitutional statutes (like HRA, Magna Carta) can be identified if:
(a) the statute must condition the legal relationship between citizen and state in some
general, overarching manner; or
(b) the statute must change the scope of fundamental constitutional rights.
What other domestic limitations are there on Parliamentary sovereignty?
- Acts of Union of 1706 and 1801 – formed the UK and is said to have resulted in a parliament which was born unfree, due to protections for Scottish laws and religious observance
- Acts of Independence – parliament would be very unlikely to be able to reverse legislation granting independence to former British colonies
- The manner and form debate – can a prior Parliament bind a future one as to the procedure to be followed to enact legislation?
Known as entrenchment theory and has not been tested, but there is significant debate on this - Henry VIII powers – relevant where a specific Act allows a government minister to amend or repeal the relevant statute
- Rule of Law – judges may qualify the principle of Parliamentary supremacy in exceptional cases to prevent Parliament legislating contrary to the Rule of Law
How do the European Convention of Human Rights and Human Rights Act act as a limitation on Parliamentary sovereignty?
Legislation must be interpreted in accordance with convention rights, so far as possible
Where legislation cannot be interpreted in a way which is compliant with convention rights, the courts can make a declaration of incompatibility, but this has no effect on the validity of the act. It may, however, result in political pressure on the government to make amendments or repeal the legislation.
Can Parliament introduce an Act which contravenes a Convention right?
Yes, Parliament can introduce a bill that violates Convention rights, subject to the minister responsible for the bill making a statement on the proposed legislation’s compatibility with Convention rights
The key HRA provision is - ‘A minister who introduces a government bill into Parliament must, before the second reading of the bill, either make a statement that the provisions in the bill are compatible with Convention rights, or alternatively make a statement to the effect
that although they are unable to make a statement of compatibility, the Government nevertheless wishes the House of Commons to proceed with the bill
What is meant by Parliamentary privileges?
HC - Freedom of speech – immunity from legal proceedings
- Can abuse this to defame people with no consequences, even if statements are untrue
HC - Right to control its own composition and procedures – known as executive or exclusive cognisance
- Parliament has sole control of own affairs and procedures
- Courts won’t question the validity of an Act on the basis that correct procedures weren’t followed
MPs and Lords also have immunity from contempt of court
- Only covers proceedings in Parliament and extends to reports on proceedings and committee proceedings
