Relations between branches

Question 1

As a liberal democracy what does the UK require

Answer 1

A clear separation of power between the executive and the judiciary

Question 2

Who are the judiciary and what do they do

Answer 2

Represent the courts and judges who are responsible for the justice system in UK

Question 3

What are the lower courts

Answer 3

Crown court and magistrate who resolve cases

Question 4

What are senior courts why are they important

Answer 4

High court, spurt of appeal and Supreme Court - they set legal presidents that can be referred to in subsequent cases

Question 5

Why is the work of senior courts important

Answer 5

Parliament enact laws but their meaning and relevance has to be worked out by judges - how it is to be interpreted, creating the president called case law

Question 6

What is the highest court of appeal and how is it made up

Answer 6

1 Supreme Court
2 established in 2009
3 made up of the most senior judges in the country
4 its judgements carry legal, constitutional and significant importance
Head of Supreme Court is known as the president

Question 7

Before the court of appeal what was the highest court

Answer 7

House of Lords where 12 law Lahore’s gave judgements

Question 8

What was the issues with the House of Lords being the highest court

Answer 8

The fact that the most senior judges sat in the lords breached the principle of separation of power - where judiciary should be separate from the legislature

Question 9

How did the change come about

Answer 9

Blairs commitment to modernising the constitution in 2005 a reform act was passed which removed the law lords from the House of Lords and estabished the supreme court

Question 10

How is this separation of power made obvious

Answer 10

1 The chief justices make the judgements
in a separate building from where law is enacted
2 its work is more open to public scrutiny

Question 11

How is membership of the Supreme Court determined

Answer 11

1 By 5 member selection commission made up of the most senior judges in the UK
2 Their nominations are passed for approval to the justice secretarty who can reject nominations .
3 Once agreed the PM asks the monarch to make the appointment

Question 12

Why is it so important that the justice and Supreme Court are independent of the legislature and the executive

Answer 12

1 Rule of law depends on judges not being influenced by the government
2 So that decisions are based on principles of justice
3 Judges are expected to be neutral so judgements should never be influenced by social or political prejudice

Question 13

In what ways can the Supreme Court claim to be neutral

Answer 13

1 housed in a building opposite Parliament so a physical separation
2 Judges are not allowed to be members of a political party
3 judges salaries are not set by parliament but they follow senior salaries review body and so no government can influence judiciary through financial incentives
4 Since act of settlement in 1701 whic ensure Protestant succession to the crown a senior judge can only be removed if agreed by both houses, this ensures judges can act according tho how they think the law should be interpreted without fear of loss of office
5 Reform act of 2005 removed law lords from House of Lords so further promoting independence
6 2005 reform act also designed to make appointments to judiciary more transparent
7 court cases and judgements are in the public domain so any prejudice or bias shown by a judge would be quickly published
8 unlike other uk courts Supreme Court can be photographed and live streamed to inform how judgements are reached
9 when a case is been heard it is SUB JUSTICE this means parliament can not express and opinion as it undermines judicial independence

Question 14

What is judicial independence

Answer 14

Judges must be independent of control or persuasion by executive of legislation - judges can only fairly administer justice if they are separate from other parts of government and can act without government pressure

Question 15

What is judicial neutrality

Answer 15

Law requires no political bias. Judgements that judges reach must not be influenced by personal prejudices

Question 16

What are the criticisms of the independence and neutrality of Supreme Court

Answer 16

1 its members are generally from elite backgrounds and so favour the establishment
2 members are so privilidged that their decisions are unlikely to reflect on how the law impacts modern society - so stops neutrality
3 Supreme Court is dominated by males
4 government still retains some influence over the appointment of justices of the Supreme Court as the selection of Supreme Court must pass to justice secretary who can reject nominee - justice secretary does not need a legal background and is member of the cabinet.
5 in matters concerning government the court can be pulled into political disputes which compromises its impartiality

Question 17

In what ways does the Supreme Court limit the authority of the executive and parliament

Answer 17

1 as UK does not have codified constitution Supreme Court can not refer to a higher constitutional law when giving judgments making Supreme Court in UK less powerful than in other countries that do have codified constitution
2 UK judges can refer to European Convention on Human Rights developing case law does not represent a higher law as it was enacted and so can be repealed

Question 18

What are the constitutional and political functions of Supreme court

Answer 18

1 deciding if a public body including government has acted beyond its authority
2 establishing where sovereignty is located within the UK
3 declaring when government has acted against human rights act
4 determine the meaning of law so setting judicial precedents that must be followed in future cases,

Question 19

How does Supreme Court determine if the actions of government is lawful

Answer 19

Through a judicial review which hold public bodies legally accountable for the decisions they make

Question 20

What is ultra vires

Answer 20

Acted beyond your authority

Question 21

Give examples of when the Supreme Court had to decide if government had gone beyond ultra vires, not followed procedure, acted irrationally or against the European convention on human rights

Answer 21

1 Gina Miller case 2017
After 2016 referendum government claimed it could begin process to leave EU but Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision stating government didn’t have this authority as parliament enacted
legislation to to take UK into EU so it was Parliaments responsibility to enact legislation to remove UK from EU

2 Joanna Cherry 2019
PM Boris Johnson announced he was going to suspend parliament for 5 weeks (PMs do have the right but the because of the amount of time Parliament would not sit caused acccusations that the PM wanted to limit opposition to his EU withdrawal plan and so his actions were motivated by self interest.
As a result Cherry brought cases against PM alleging that government was illegally seeking to limit pariaments sovereign right to hold government to account. Initially the case was lost but at an appeal at supreme court it was found PM had acted illegally to suspend parliament for such a long time when such big issues were being debated.

3 HJ and HV v Home Secretary 2010
2 men from Iran and Cameroon claimed asylum in the UK because they were gay and would suffer in their home country. Home office refused asylum on the grounds if they hid their sexuality they would not suffer persecution. When it reached Supreme Court it decided against the home office

4 Al Rawi and others v security service
When a former prisoner of Guantanamo Bay claimed British security services shared responsibility for his imprisonment and ill treatment the British government argued that the evidence of the heads of security should not be given in public in case it breached national security. Supreme Court decided in favour of the detainees

5 Shamima Begum

2015 Begum aged 15 travelled to Syria with 2 other girls so they could join Islamic state. In 2019 Home Secretary Sajid Javid removed British Citizenship on the grounds that she was a threat to national security. In 2020 the court of appeal judged Ms Begum be allowed to return to Uk to appeal her judgement. Home office responded they would not allow as it would pose a significant risk to national security. When the case went to Supreme Court it went in favour of Home Secretary

Question 22

What are the limitations of the Human rights act Give an example

Answer 22

It is not a higher constitutional law and can not be used by the Supreme Court to strike down legislation
Belmarsh case 2024 - when Blair government used powers given by anti terrorism crime and security act 2021 to hold foreign terror suspects indefinitely without trial. Law lords declared this as discriminatory according to the European convention on human rights since British terrorist suspects were not being treated in the same way. Government accepted the ruling and they were released but soon after government introduced legislation to monitor the whereabouts of these and other foreign terrorists suspects using control orders.

Question 23

Why is the executive accountable to House of Commons

Answer 23

Because of parliamentary sovereignty and the House of Commons represents the British people expressed through the MPs they elect

Question 24

What is elective dictatorship

Answer 24

1976 Lord Halisham said the ability of British government to dominate parliament meant that essentially it was an elective dictatorship

Question 25

Which arguements support Halishams view that executive have so much power

Answer 25

1 government has lots of control over parliamentary business limiting opportunities for opposition to debate legislation
2 since public bill committees hallways have a government majority and are whipped it is unusual for opposition to significantly amend legislation at committee stage
3government with large parliamentary majority should be able to rely on support of its MPs to pass what it wishes
4 government can change law using secondary legislation over which commons have less power to scrutiny
5 the Pm possess the power of patronage - government whips can offer ambitious backbenchers opportunities to join government or withhold opportunities - encourage loyalty
6 Royal prerogative means the PM does not have to consult parliament on use of British military
7 according to Salisbury convention House of Lords should not stop governments legislation that was part of the manifesto as it is against what public have voted for

Question 26

When and why does the relationship between parliament and the executive change

Answer 26

When government is a minority it finds it more difficult to pass its legislation programme or if the opposition is united around a strong leader who is expected to win the next election it can undermine the confidence of the government

Question 27

Give 2 examples of weak parliamentary influence

Answer 27

1 Thatchers strong leadership over conservatives was in contrast to the fractured Labour Party who were forming SDP in addition they had won the Falkland’s War so Thatcher increased her parliamentary majority
2 97 Blair won a landslide election giving him majority of 179 seats - the party were totally united around him conservatives was also divided by EU and poor leadership

Question 28

Give 3 examples of strong parliamentary influence

Answer 28

1 74-79 Wilson won 74 General election but only with a majority of 3 when Callaghan took over the labour leadership in 76 labour majority disappeared Callaghan was forced to establish a confident and supply agreement with Liberal Party 77-78, When this ended government struggled until defeated in a a vote of confidence forcing a sudden GE won by Thatcher
2 2017 May called snap GE to try to win larger parliamentary majority making it easier for her to pass the Brexit legislation but conservatives lists seats and she became PM with a minority administration, she was forced to establish a confidence and supply agreement with Democratic Unionist party. It made it difficult to pass Brexit legistlation without a majority made worse over growing divisions in the party over Brexit
3 2019 when Johnson became PM he faced uncooperative Hof C His Brexit proposals were even more unpopular and he suffered the humiliation of parliament siezing control of parliamentary business and enacting the Benn Bill extending the Brexit deadline if a fair deal was not reached.w

Question 29

Which reform in 2009 made the Hof C and Hof L relationship stronger with government

Answer 29

Former Labour MP Tony Wright recommended in its report Rebuilding the house ways in which powers of backbenchers could be increased - they formed the basis of the coalitions parliamentary reform programme

Question 30

What were the reforms

Answer 30

1 2010 back bench buisness committee was estabished allowing backbenchers to determine the issues that wanted to debate for 35 days each parliament -means they can raise important topics for debate even if government is against them
2 since 2010 chairs of select committees and members of select have been elected in a secret ballot previously whips had selected chairs so loyal MPs normally selected
3 Liaison’s committee is made up of heads of select committees who regularly question PM
4 electronic petitions can be sent directly now to parliament and House of Commons committee decides which are to be heard.

Question 31

What is the impact in the House of Lords with replacement of hereditary peers with life peers

Answer 31

House of Lords can claim greater professional expertise and be more confident opposing government
It has lost the in built conservative majority

Question 32

What is the EU

Answer 32

Established in 1957 by treaty of Rome when Maastricht treaty was ratified it was renamed European Union

Question 33

What are the aims of the EU

Answer 33

To encourage peace prosperity and liberal democracy across Europe so banishing the proper t of war by eliminating differences and jealousy

Question 34

What are the four freedoms

Answer 34

The free movement of goods, services, capital and people through which European economic unity is to be achieved

Question 35

Why would war between Eu nations be unthinkable

Answer 35

By eliminating national barriers there would be so much prosperity through the interconnections

Question 36

How was monetary union agreed

Answer 36

At the Maastricht treaty 1993

Question 37

When was the euro introduced as trading currency

Answer 37

2002

Question 38

What else did the Maastricht treaty establish

Answer 38

1 The European Central Bank to set a common interest rate for members
2 The inclusion of social chapter to establish certain rights for all workers in EU

Question 39

State a term of the Lisbon treaty 2009

Answer 39

1 charter of fundamental rights of EU

Question 40

Has the European movement achieved its objectives

Answer 40

Yes
1 by 2022 the EU went from 6 to27 members
2 expansion of EU has encouraged democracy in former communist states in Eastern Europe
3 the European charter of fundamental rights has embedded civil liberties for European law
4 the implementation if the 4 freedoms means that the EU is now the biggest single market in the world
5 in 2022 the EUs GDP was worth $17.9 trillion making it the 2nd biggest economy in the world
6 The euro is the worlds 2nd reserve currency
7 The Eu has provided a global lead on issues such as combating climate change and responsible for the most environmentally friendly legislation in the world
8 when Russia invaded Ukraine the EU agreed the strongest sanctions in its history and committed significant military support to Ukraine

NO
1 The expansion of the EU has diluted its purpos making it more difficult to achieve a united European response to issues
2 despite the hard sanctions against Russia member states could not agree to extend them to a complete ban on Russian oil and gas
3 The commitment of some states to democratic principles of the EU is disputed undermining EUs sense of common purpose
4 The austerity programme demanded by European Commission and central bank in response to the euro crisis have undermined support for EU in south European countries
5 the removal of barriers to free flow for workers has encouraged the rise of populist parties across Europe that are committed to protecting their workforce from foreign competition
6 t6he migrant crisis has exposed tensions between the liberal Germans and french governments and more defensive state eg Hungary and Italy
7 little progress has been made on establishing a European sense of identity. National identities have been strengthened because of austerity, free movement of workers and the migrant crisis.

Question 41

What are the 6 main institutions if the EU and how do they operate

Answer 41

1european commission - the government of the EU. Each member state sends a commissioner to represent the interests of the EU not their own state. Headquarters are in Brussels and it is responsible for developing EU policy and ensuring it is carried through.

2 Council of European Union - a legislative body of EU. Here relevant government ministers decide if to accept legislative proposals.

3 European Council - meets 4 times a year it develops EU foreign policy and makes strategic decisions about future of EU.

4 European Parliament - the only EU elected body and shares legislative and budgetary control with the council of the European Union. It is accountable to parliament and parliament elects the president of the commission

5 European Central Bank - based in Frankfurt it implements EU economic policy and sets common interest rates for members

6 European court of justice - ensures European laws are applied equally and interpreted the same way.

Question 42

What are the benefits for the UK

Answer 42

1 provides us with duty free access to the worlds second biggest economy- UK exporters benefit from being able to sell abroad more cheaply and up consumers benefit from cheap imports

2 UK economy has benefited from EU immigration - immigrants joined UK workforce and so contributed in tax more than took in benefits

3 more than 3 million jobs relied on trade with EU -

4 as a result of 4 freedoms British entrepreneurs could set up businesses anywhere in EU, students could study freely in EU, elderly could retire to an EU country and claim British pension.

5 EUs Erasmus programme encouraged educational exchange across EU

6 part of Maastricht treaty safeguards workers rights

7 European charter of fundamental rights was incorporated into European law - this increased rights of workers and immigrants in UK

8 EU is worlds most advanced example of liberal approach to global politics bringing together independence=t nation states in a union

Question 43

What are the arguments against membership of EU

Answer 43

1 British membership challenges parliamentary sovereignty - key principle of democracy is the representatives are accountable to public in regular elections.
2 EU been accused of having democratic deficit at its heart because its government is not direct elected and its only elected body European Parliament has less direct influence

3 it creates another layer of unnecessary law which as it applies to all members may not serve the interests of a country’s citizens

5 common agriculture policy (CAP) helps protect EU farmers by subsidizing them and protecting them form non EU competition - UK has some agricultural basis so little benefit to us

6 In the CAP scheme UK is discriminated as we subsidise this scheme which discriminates against the developing world and goes against free market principles

7 evidence suggests that UK has potential to engage further global trade rather than prioritising European market

8 UK contribute mor to EU than it gets back

9 instead of intergrating Europe through the 4 freedoms it has had the opposite effect in some member states like UK - rather than develop a European identity it has encouraged xenophobic resentment especially in C2 D and E voters who generally gained less from EU

Question 44

What has UKs historic relationship been with European partners

Answer 44

UK joined EEC in 1973 and rarely had an easy relationship
In ups and 80s Labour saw membership as a barrier to socialism
More recently conservatives have focused on loss of national identity and threat to parliamentary sovereignty

Question 45

What was the reason for the lack of UKs commitment to EU

Answer 45

It didn’t join until 16 years after it was established and so had to accept rules which conflicted with British interests
We are an island state and have developed separately from the continent and have avoided being conquered by Napoleon and Hitler building a separate British identity

Question 46

When Cameron pledged to hold an in/out referendum on UKs membership of EU why was it widely expected UK would vote remain

Answer 46

1 PM and most of cabinet labour and Lib Dem leader campaigned to remain
2 The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) argued for the economic advantages of membership
3 of the Bank of England and chancellor of the exchequer stated Brexit would push uk in recession and cost 820 000 jobs in 2 years

Question 47

What did the leave campaign focus on

Answer 47

1 restoring britains sovereignty especially among C2 D and E voters

Question 48

What was the result of the referendum

Answer 48

Very close remain 48% leave 52%

Question 49

When did UK officially leave European Union

Answer 49

31.01.20

Question 50

What are the impacts of Brexit on UK

Answer 50

1 full restoration of parliamentary sovereignty
2 4 freedoms no longer apply
3 uk can negotiate its own trade deals
4 Rishi Sunak said “have proper control over our borders”
5 led to conflict with EU members over territorial issues
6 raised significant constitutional tensions in UK democracy
7 Brexit has undermined integrity of UK as results differed across constitutional parts of UK
8 Northern Ireland protocol was establish allowing free flow of goods between north and south of Ireland some see this as a threat to Northern Ireland’s UK membership and so DUP withdrew from power sharing leading to collapse if Northern Ireland’s governemtn

Question 51

What is political sovereignty

Answer 51

Ultimate form of sovereignty as legislature depends on public consent to govern - At each general election British public reclaim their soveriegnty

Question 52

What is legal sovereignty

Answer 52

Right every parliament has to enact whatever legislation they choose-no power greater than an act of parliament

Question 53

UK is a unitary state explain

Answer 53

Sovereign authority is located in one place Westminster unlike federal system in US power is not shared with federal governments or states.

Question 54

Are referendums legally binding

Answer 54

No they determine public opinion but it would be constitutionally dangerous to ask the question and ignore the result

Question 55

What is the purpose of the Supreme Court

Answer 55

To ensure parliament does not act above its powers

Question 56

What is royal perogative

Answer 56

Exercised by PM and means certain areas parliament is not sovereign - eho is in cabinet is decided by PM

Question 57

Is the Westminster parliament sovereign

Answer 57

Yes
1 parliament legislated to leave EU this means even when uk was part of EU parliament reserved right to enact legislation to repeal membership
2 since IK does not have codified constitution there is no law higher than parliamentary statue
3 although European convention on human rights has been enacted through human rights act it is no different from any other act and can be repealed or suspended
4 parliament could abolish devolved assesmblies by an act
5b parliament is not legally bound by the result of a referendum

NO
1 Devolved governments of Scotland and wales can only be abolished by parliament following a referendum
2 there is now a convention that major constitutional decisions should be agreed by the public in referendums rather than parliament
3 parliament accepted the result of the referendum to leave although most MPs disagreed with it suggesting political sovereignty of public is more powerful that Westminster parliament
4 Westminster parliament is not sovereign in those areas involving PM exercise of royal prerogative
5 UK Supreme Court determines where sovereignty lies in UK