Relationships between institutions Flashcards
what is the supreme court?
the highest and final court of appeal for all cases in the uk
what is judicial neutrality?
the principle that judges should hear each case without favour of any political party, but instead apply the law fairly
what is judicial independence?
the principle that the judiciary should be free from influence from any branches of the state
what is elective dictatorship?
the gov with a strong majority is able to do what it likes with little oversight from other bodies
what is judicial review?
the process by which the judiciary may review decisions made by the executive or legislature
what are the four freedoms?
what the EU aims to achieve:
1. freedom of movement of people
2. freedom of capital
3. freedom of goods
4. freedom of movement of services across borders
what is legal sovereignty?
the supreme authority of a body to make and unmake any law with no higher authority to prevent them to do so
what is political sovereignty?
the ability of a body to make changes with their power being given through the people
what is ultra vires?
a declaration by the judiciary that another body has acted beyond its legal powers
what does the European commission supranational institution in the EU do?
- it is the gov of the EU that develop EU policy and ensure that its carried through
what does the council of European union intergovernmental institution in the EU do?
- it is the legislative body that require unanimity when deciding whether or not to accept the commissions proposals
what does the European council intergovernmental institution in the EU do?
- meets 4 times a year to discuss the EU’s direction in the future
what does the European parliament supranational institution in the EU do?
- the EU’s only directed body
what does the European Court of Justice supranational institution do?
- ensures that EU law is applied equally and fairly across all EU member states
what are specific EU policies?
COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY:
- costs 40% of the EU’s budget
- EU farmers were allocated £27.6 billion from 2014-2020
- offers training for farmers
COMMON FISHERIES POLICY:
- sets a quota as to how many of each species of fish can be caught in each area
- uk fishers caught 400,000 tonnes in 2019 but this policy meant that EU fishers could also catch as much (300,000)
what are benefits for the UK being part of the EU?
JOBS:
- over 3 million jobs rely on trade with the EU
- during the EU referendum, the net benefit to the UK economy of EU membership was worth between 4% and 5% of GDP
IMMIGRATION:
- the uk economy has benefited from EU immigration
- EU immigrants come to the uk to join the workforce and so contribute more to the state in taxation than they claim back in benefits
- in 2013 to 2014, non british EU citizens living in the UK paid 14.7 billion in tax
TRADE:
- uk exporters benefit from being able to sell abroad more cheaply while UK consumers benefit from cheaper EU imports
- in 2016, 43% of british trade was with the EU and worth 241 billion
what are disadvantages of the UK being a member of the EU?
CONTRIBUTION:
- the EU contributes more to the EU than it gets directly back
- in 2017, the UK made a net contribution of 8.9 billion to the EU
DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT:
- the EU has been accused of having a democratic deficit, since its gov, the European commission, is not directly elected and the EU’s only directly elected body has less direct influence
PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY:
- british membership of the EU undermines parliamentary sovereignty as its key principle is that representatives are accountable to the public in regular elections
- As a result of the pooling of sovereignty in the EU, parliament has lost its sovereign right to legislate on behalf of the british people
what are ways in which the executive can control parliament?
ROYAL PREROGATIVE:
- the ability of parliament to hold the executive to account is limited to the pressure for the convention to be upheld
- conventions only exist of the PM is conventional
- for example, May bypassed parliament with military action in syria in 2017
GOV MAJORITY:
- “fusion of powers” and FPTP can create an elective dictatorship( as long as the party is united)
- for example, the 2019 parliament with Johnson with his 82 seat majority meant that he could easily pass the brexit deal
PARLIAMENTARY TIMETABLE:
- the gov decide what is voted and debated on in parliament, thus controlling which bills go through and which get shut down
- for example, May blocked calls for other brexit options beyond her deal (20 days are afforded as opposition days but these are rarely used to pass legislation)
-
what are ways in which parliament can control the executive?
VOTES OF NO CONFIDENCE:
- 1979 Callaghan’s gov removed, calling a GE
VOTING AGAINST LEGISLATION:
- backbench rebellions
- for example, may losing brexit votes by 230 votes
- 1986 was the last time a gov bill was defeated at second reading stage
BACKBENCH BUSINESS COMMITTEE:
- bbc chooses the parliamentary timetable 35 days a year and provides issues outside the gov agenda to be discussed, debated and voted on
- in 2020, labour used this to push forward a debate on marcus rashford’s FSM; forcing the gov to make a U turn on policy
