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Politics Component 2 > Relationships between institutions > Flashcards

Relationships between institutions Flashcards

1
Q

What is fusion of powers?

A

When the executive and legislative powers are intertwined

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2
Q

Why is a separation of powers important?

A

There is a conflict of interest of those who make the laws are responsible for interpreting and dispensing them

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3
Q

What is the legislature?

A

Those who make laws - parliament

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4
Q

What did the 2005 Constitutional Reform Act seek to do?

A

Break final separation between the judiciary and the legislature by moving the Law Lords out of the Lords to create a seperate supreme court, distinct from parliament

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5
Q

Lord Chancellor

A
  • Lord chancellor used to act as speaker of the HoL and was also head of the judiciary, and senior judge in the HoL
  • They head the Ministry of Justice as the Secretary of State for justice
  • They may no longer sit as a judge
  • Now concentrates on constitutional affairs
  • Member of the Privy council and cabinet
  • Points to fusion of powers
  • Constitutional reform act removed the responsibility of head of the judiciary, and chairman of sittings of the HoL; more separation of powers, but still a cabinet minister who supervises the legal system
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6
Q

Appointments to the supreme court

A
  • The most senior figure is stated as the president
  • Justices will usually have served as a senior judge for 2 years, or been a qualified lawyer for 15 years
  • The original members were the law lords
  • When a vacancy occurs, nominations are made by an independent, 5 member selection commission, consisting of the president, and deputy president of the court, and a member of each of the equivalent bodies for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales
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7
Q

What is the role of the Supreme Court?

A
  • It was opened on 1 October 2009
  • It was designed to end the fusion of powers at the highest level of the Uk judiciary
  • It is the only UK wide court and it acts as a final court of appeal for rulings made by the lower courts
  • It also hears appeals on arguable points of law where matters of wider public and constitutional importance are involved
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8
Q

Case Study: Supreme Court and the powers of the devolved bodies

A

In July 2016, the SC overruled Scottish gov’s scheme to introduce the ‘named person’ service, which planned to appoint state guardians, such as health visitors or head teachers, to be responsible for the well-being of children. The SC ruled that the legislation was in conflict with Article 8 of the HRA (right to a private and family life) as it would allow public bodies to share personal info without consent. SC ruled that a devolved body had exceeded its powers

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9
Q

What is judicial neutrality?

A

The expectation that judges will exercise their functions without personal bias

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10
Q

In what ways is judicial neutrality protected?

A

Conflicts of interests: judges must not sit on a case that involves a family member, friend or professional associate

Public activities: Judges must avoid public political activity. They may serve on an official body, such as a government commission provided it does not compromise their political neutrality

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11
Q

What are the problems with neutrality within the Supreme Court?

A
  • Disproportionately white, male and upper class
  • Lady Hale was the only female justice
  • Lady Hale pointed out in an interview in 2015 that of 13 justices sworn in since her own appointment, all were men, all were white, all but two were educated at independent schools, and all but two attended oxbridge
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12
Q

What is judicial independence?

A

The principle that judges will carry out their function free from political interference - they are not influence by other branches of government, particularly the executive

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13
Q

What is judicial independence guaranteed by?

A
  • Judges cannot be removed from office unless they break the law. They have the security of tenure
  • Judges salaries are paid from an independent fund, which cannot be affected by ministers
  • Appointments to the Supreme Court are made by an independent commission, not the government
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14
Q

Concerns regarding judicial independence

A
  • The court is funded by the government
  • Concerns were raised by Lord Phillips during the coalition in 2011 when the government imposed spending cuts on the court as part of the government’s austerity scheme, Phillips argued that the independence of the court was at risk unless it could be allocated pre-set, ring fenced funding. He spoke of a tendency of the MoJ to ‘try to gain the SC as an outlying part of its empire’ (evaluate on frequency)
  • Justice secretary at the time, Kenneth Clarke, dismissed this, he insisted the court was free of political interference, and the gov accepted all its judgements, and the court couldn’t be uniquely permitted to set its own budget
  • The court being a separate building to parliament is a physical sign of its independence
  • If the court is independent, it will not always rule in favour of the gov.
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15
Q

What is one of the most important roles of the SC?

A
  • To interpret the Human Rights Act 1998
  • If it believes that an existing piece of UK legislation is in conflict with the ECHR, it can issue a ‘declaration of incompatibilty’
  • It is expected that parliament will modify the law to bring it into line with the connection
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16
Q

How is the Supreme Court’s power limited?

A
  • Parliamentary sovereignty means the court doesn’t have the power to strike down law
  • There is no codified constitution which legislation could be tested against, meaning the power of the court is limited
  • The gov. tends not to ignore rulings because of democracy and public opinion
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17
Q

What is judicial review?

A
  • Judicial review is the power of the the judiciary to review and sometimes reverse actions by other branches of government that breach the law, or are incompatible with the HRA
  • The court can enquire whether ministers have followed correct procedure when implementing legislation, and examine the actions of public bodies to determine whether they have acted ultra vires (‘beyond ones powers’
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18
Q

Case study: The right of sex offenders to appeal against registration for life, 21 April 2010

A
  • The gov.’s position was that individuals who had committed serious sexual offences must register with the police for life after prison
  • The court ruled that this breached their human rights (right to privacy) and they should have the right to appeal against registration 15 years after leaving jail
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19
Q

Case Study: The case of Private Jason Smith, 30 June 2010

A
  • Private Smith was a serviceman who died of heatstroke on campaign in Iraq in 2003
  • His family brought a case against the Ministry if Defence, arguing that the authorities should have safeguarded him
  • The High Court ruled in their favour, but when this was appealed to the SC, it was overruled, 6 to 3
  • The SC held that the jurisdiction of the HRA didn’t extended to troops in combat situations
20
Q

Case Study: The Al Rawi case and secret hearings, 13 July 2011

A
  • Brough forward by former inmates of U.S. prison at Guantanomo Bay, who claimed that UK security services had contributed to their detainment and mistreatment
  • The security chiefs, supported by the UK government, argued that they must be allowed to give evidence in secret, in the interest of national security
  • SC rejected this on the grounds that it breached one of the principles of a fair trial
21
Q

Case study: HS2 rail link, 22 January 2014

A
  • Campaigners against the government’s planned London to Birmingham high speed rail link requested a judicial review to investigate whether it complied with EU environmental policies
  • The court unanimously dismissed the appeal on the grounds that parliament hadn’t reached a final decision on the scheme, so its merits remained open to debate
22
Q

Case study: Theresa May and Article 50

A
  • 9 months after the Brexit referendum, May activated article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (as she thought it was her prerogative to implement it) which was the mechanism to make Brexit a reality
  • Article 50 provides the mechanism for a voluntary and unilateral withdrawal of a country from the EU
  • Campaigners argued that denying the UK Parliament a vote was undemocratic and a breach of long-standing constitutional principles; they said that overturning Article 50 would mean overturning existing UK law
  • The Supreme Court ruled against the government saying that they can’t trigger Article 50 without an act of Parliament authorising it
  • The government said that it wouldn’t delay Brexit - they planned to trigger Article 50 by the end of March
23
Q

Case Study: Boris Johnson and Article 50

A
  • Johnson advised the Queen that parliament should be prorogued for 5 weeks at the height of the Brexit crisis- he though it was his prerogative power
  • The Court ruled that this was unlawful, void and of no effect
  • Critics said that prorogation would threaten parliamentary sovereignty
24
Q

Case studies for judicial independence

A
  • Theresa May and Article 50
  • Boris Johnson and Prorogation
  • The right of sex offenders to appeal
  • The case of Private Jason Smith
  • The Al Rawi Case and secret hearings
  • HS2 rail link

The court found against the government in high profile cases, which indicates independence
4 against the government
2 in favour of the government

25
Q

What is the European Union?

A

An association of 28 states, originally founded as the Economic European Community in 1957, which has evolved into a political and economic union

26
Q

What are the reasons for the development of the EU?

A
  • Promoting peace (preventing WW3)
  • Economic integration
  • Economic and Monetary Union
27
Q

Stages in the development of the EU

A
  • 1950 - European Coal and Steel Community formed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to remove control of these key warmaking material from individual nations (France vetoed the UK from joining originally, as they believed out interests weren’t in line with Europe)
  • 1957 - Treaty of Rome was signed by the 6 ECSC states, creating the European Economic Community, later known as the European Community
  • 1973 - Britain and Ireland join the EEC
  • 1975 - European referendum; Britain votes by a margin of 2 to 1 to stay in the EEC
  • 1992 - Treaty of Maastricht signed, transforming the EC into the more closely integrated European Union - EU is more political, EEC is economic
  • 2016 - Brexit referendum - Britain vote to leave the EU 52% to leave 48% to stay
  • 2020 - when Britain leave the EU
28
Q

Development of social policy under the EU

A
  • To balance the economic freedoms of the single market, the EU developed a social dimension to ensure that workers didn’t suffer disadvantage and discrimination
  • Another aim was to ‘create a level playing field’ for businesses, countering the danger that, if there were significant inequalities between member states, firms might move to countries where workers’ rights were weaker and labour was cheaper
29
Q

What is meant by supranationalism?

A

Decision making power is transferred to a higher body, which operates independently of nation states

30
Q

What are the pros of supranational institutions?

A
  • Operates independently; more objective and holistic
  • Peace keeping
  • Stronger/richer states can help more vulnerable ones
  • Can enforce global solutions to global problems
  • Resolve disputes between member states and can enforce this
  • Shared resources
  • Joint approach to problems
31
Q

What are the cons of supranational institutions?

A
  • Loss of sovereignty; seems distant and bureaucratic, lack of autonomy
  • Can feel distant and irrelevant
  • Smaller states can feel neglected and bullied
  • Trade
  • Not hugely cooperative
  • Countries may not be treated equally and have differences in power
  • Discourages cooperation
32
Q

What are the different EU institutions?

A

European Commission
European Council
Council of the European Union
European Parliament
The European Court of Justice

33
Q

European Commission

A

Supranational
Consists of officials nominated by each member state government
Proposes EU law - decides policy
Enforces EU laws on member states and other governments
Prepares the EU budget

34
Q

European Council

A

Intergovernmental
Consists of the heads of government of the member states
Meets up to 4 times a year
Takes key strategic decisions, such as the admission of new members

35
Q

Council of the European Union

A

Intergovernmental
Consists of foreign ministers from member states
Discusses different policy areas, such as agriculture, trade or the environment
Takes decisions on whether to adopt legislation, working in co-operation with the European Parliament

36
Q

European Parliament

A

Supranational
The only directly elected EU institution
Has a say in the adoption of the EU budget
Enjoys the right of co-decision on most legislation with the Council of the European Union
Can accept or reject nominations to the commission

37
Q

The European Court of Justice

A

Supranational
Enforces Eu law
Resolves disputes between member states

38
Q

What is subsidiarity?

A

The principle that supranational institutions will only impinge on state sovereignty where necessary e.g. defence, foreign affairs, but not education or health (there is an argument post-Covid that health shouldn’t be protected under subsidiarity)

39
Q

How did the Lisbon Treaty (2007) politicise the EU?

A
  • European Council were given a permanent president, serving a 2.5 year term that can be renewed once
  • System of double majority voting was introduced, enabling legislative proposals to be passed with the support of 55% of the member states, representing at leats 65% of the population (means 45% can be forced into things)
  • Incorporated the Charter of Fundamental Rights (which the UK refused to accept as legally binding)
  • High Representative of Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy was appointed to co-ordinate an agreed EU foreign policy
40
Q

What does the EU have exclusive competence over?

A

Competition policy
Trade with non-EU states
Customs union

41
Q

What do the EU and member states share competence over?

A

The single market
Social and employment policy
Agriculture and fisheries
Regional development
Environmental policy

42
Q

What areas do the EU co-ordinate the individual policies of states for?

A

Common, foreign and security policy
Some aspects of macroeconomic policy

43
Q

What areas do member states have exclusive competence over?

A

National defence
Most taxation
Health
Education
Social security

44
Q

Evidence that British sovereignty is affected by British membership of the EU

A
  • Some parts of policy are disagreed with, but have to be implemented (ECJ ruled that tradesmen’s travel time counted towards 48 hour working week, Cameron’s gov. disagreed)
  • EU regulated the amount of deep sea fish that could be caught, and allowed boats from different member states to have equal access to each others’ grounds - Spanish fishing company sued UK gov, and the law lords followed the ECJ ruling that the 1998 Merchant Shipping Act couldnt be allowed to stand, which established the primacy of EU law over an act of parliament (Factortame Case)
  • The volume of EU legislation means it is difficult for the HOC European Scrutiny Committee to perform their task
45
Q

Evidence that sovereignty is not affected by British membership of the EU

A
  • Government has the ability to opt in or out of certain policies - Major’s gov opted out of the Social Chapter as they didn’t want businesses to be ‘held back’
  • Executive has altered the way it works to co-ordinate British policy in order to get the best available deal
  • Parliament has a responsibility to examine EU legislation and ministers shouldn’t agree to new laws unless it has been debated of reviewed by the House of Commons European Scrutiny Commission
46
Q
A

Politics Component 2 (3 decks)

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