Sources and institutions of the Uk constitution

Question 1

Main features of the Uk constitution

Answer 1

• No codified, written document
• Diverse (disparate) sources
• Evolutionary
• Flexible (but the continuity)
• Principle of legislative supremacy
• Balance of power
• Monarch has constitutional role.

Question 2

What we are looking for when we search for a Uk constitution

Answer 2

• Bollingbroke quote from 1743 “an assemblage of laws”
• “institutions”
• “Customs”
• “general system, according to which the community has agreed to be governed.”

Question 3

Three main organisations within an institution

Answer 3

• Legislature
• Executive
• Judiciary

Question 4

Assemblage of laws

Answer 4

Begin with the Magna Carta 1215. MAGNA means ‘big’ or ‘great’. CARTA means ‘charter’.

Question 5

Assemblage of laws - Statues (acts of parliament)

Answer 5

• Bill of rights 1688/9
• Act of Settlement 1700
• Acts of Union 1707
• Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
• Representation of the people (Equal franchise Act) 1928
• Statute of Westminster 1931
• European Communities Act 1972
• Police and Criminal evidence Act 1984
• Human rights act 1998
• Government of Wales Act 1998; Scotland Act 1998; Northern Ireland Act 1998 - Devolution of power to the regions of the Uk
• Constitutional reform act 2005
• Fixed term parliament Act 2011
• European Union (withdrawal) Act 2018
• European Union (withdrawal agreement) Act 2020
• Dissolution and Calling of parliament Act 2022.

Question 6

Bill of rights Act 1688/9

Answer 6

The most important document with regards to constitutions. The limitation moment of the power of the crown. James || was king at the time. Had our own established church of England.

Question 7

Act of settlement 1700

Answer 7

The main aim of this legislation was to ensure a protestant succession to the English throne. In 1707 the act was extended to Scotland.

Question 8

Acts of Union 1707

Answer 8

The kingdom of England and the kingdom of Scotland – which at the time were separate states in personal unio – were in words of the treaty ‘united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain’ An act for a union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland.

Question 9

Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949

Answer 9

The act abolished any power of the house of lords to veto any public bill introduced in the house of commons other than a bill containing ay provision to extend the maximum duration of parliament beyond five years or a bill for confirming a provisional order.

Question 10

Representation of the people (equal franchise Act) 1928

Answer 10

Widened suffrage by abolishing practically all property qualifications for men and by enfranchising woman over 30 who met minimum property qualifications.

Question 11

Statute of Westminster 1931

Answer 11

Sets a relationship between the commonwealth and the crown. The act supposed to give effect to certain resolutions passed by imperial conferences held in the years 1926 and 1930.

Question 12

European communities Act 1972

Answer 12

It gives EU law supremacy over UK national law. Resulted in the United Kingdom joining the European economic community, which had been established in 1958 by the treaty of Rome.

Question 13

Assemblage of laws - Common law sources

Answer 13

• Entick v Carrington (1765)
• Rice v Connolly [1966]
• CCSU v Minister for the Civil Service [1985]
• A & Others [2004]
• Jackson & Others [2005]
• Miller [2017] ; Miller [2019]