Stanton + Prescott MCQs

Question 1

What is the Royal Prerogative?

Answer 1

Powers recognised by the common law as belonging to the Crown, which are then exercised by the monarch, ministers or civil servants.

Question 1

What is the effect of the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022?

Answer 1

Repeals the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 and ‘restores’ the prerogative power to dissolve Parliament.

Question 2

What was the main issue in Miller I (2017)?

Answer 2

Whether Article 50 TEU could be triggered by the government under the royal prerogative or whether an Act of Parliament was required.

Question 3

What was the main issue in Miller II (2019)?

Answer 3

Whether a decision to prorogue parliament was legal.

Question 4

Describe devolution…

Answer 4

The dispersal of authority from a centralised institution to more regional or localised bodies.

Question 5

The United Kingdom in its current form - consisting of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - has existed since…

Answer 5

1920

Question 6

What is a reserved powers model?

Answer 6

A model of devolution under which an exhaustive list of powers are reserved for the UK Parliament and Government, all others presumed to be devolved.

Question 7

What is the Sewel Convention?

Answer 7

A convention explaining that the UK Parliament will not normally legislate for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in matters not-reserved, without the consent of the relevant legislature.

Question 8

AXA Insurance v Lord Advocate (2011) establishes…

Answer 8

Acts of Devolved legislatures CAN be judicially reviewed (but only on the grounds of ultra vires).

Question 9

Which major reform did the Government of Wales Act 2006 introduce?

Answer 9

It established the Welsh Government, separate from the Assembly.

Question 10

Which area of the UK had experienced devolution before 1998?

Answer 10

Northern Ireland

Question 11

What is judicial review?

Answer 11

A claim permitting the review of the decisions and actions of public bodies.

Question 12

Which principle is used to determine whether an applicant has sufficient interest to bring a claim for judicial review?

Answer 12

Standing (locus standi)

Question 13

Why was standing refused in Ex Parte Rose Theatre Trust?

Answer 13

Group was created for purpose of challenging the decision and no single member would have had standing alone.

Question 14

In which case was the institution reviewed found to be a public body, even though it was not created by statute or exercise of the prerogative?

Answer 14

Ex parte Datafin

Question 15

Where is the procedure for judicial review applications set out?

Answer 15

Civil Procedure Rules

Question 16

What has happened since Lord Diplock’s decision in O’Rielly v Mackman?

Answer 16

Has been limited by subsequent cases permitting a more flexible approach to litigating public law issues.

Question 17

What is simple / narrow ultra vires?

Answer 17

When a public body has acted outside the scope of the powers granted to it under statutes passed by Parliament.

Question 18

What is a discretionary power?

Answer 18

A power that allows a public authority some flexibility over its exercise in individual cases, as long as the purpose of the Act that grants the power is being furthered.

Question 19

When can a public authority delegate power granted to it by Parliament?

Answer 19

When the statute granting the power, or another statute, either expressly or by necessary application authorises a public authority to delegate the power to another person.

Question 20

How does the Carltona principle apply to the delegation of power?

Answer 20

Officials within government departments can act in the name of a minister without ant formal delegation of power to them.

Question 21

In Ex Parte Venables (1998), what was found to be an irrelevant consideration?

Answer 21

A petition organised by a national newspaper.

Question 22

Describe the facts of Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation

Answer 22

Challenge to a local council’s decision to permit the showing of films on Sundays, on the condition that children under 15 should not be admitted.

Question 23

How does Lord Greene define unreasonableness in Wednesbury?

Answer 23

Something ‘so absurd’ that no sensible person could ever dream that the act lay within the powers of the authority.

Question 24

Which pre-Wednesbury case also demonstrates the relevance of the ‘unreasonableness’ principle to decision-making?

Answer 24

Roberts v Hopwood

Question 25

In R v Ministry of Defence ex p Smith and Grady [1996], what government policy did the Court of Appeal find not to be unreasonable?

Answer 25

The policy forbidding homosexual individuals from being in the armed forces.

Question 26

In which case did Lord Steyn note the following? ‘[T]here is an overlap between the traditional grounds of review and the approach of proportionality. Most cases would be decided in the same way whichever approach is adopted. But the intensity of review is somewhat greater under the proportionality approach.’

Answer 26

R (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Question 27

In Keyu v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Supreme Court justices did Lord Neuberger say should appropriately be called upon to consider replacing Wednesbury unreasonableness with proportionality?

Answer 27

9

Question 28

What is the test for apparent bias? Porter v Magill

Answer 28

Whether the circumstances would lead a ‘fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real possibility… that the tribunal was biased.’

Question 29

Case establishing that there is no general duty to give reasons at common law.

Answer 29

Ex parte Institute of Dental Surgery (1994)

Question 30

Why did the court hold in Ex parte Coughlan (2001) that the local authority’s assurance created a substantive legitimate expectation?

Answer 30

Because the promise of a ‘home for life’ was made to only a small number of people.

Question 31

Role of Article 15 ECHR

Answer 31

Sets out rights that cannot be derogated from.

Question 32

What is the margin of appreciation?

Answer 32

It affords states a margin within which the ECHR rights can be interpreted and applied in a manner appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and broader context.