TB1 Flashcards by Charlie Jones

(The UK Constitution) What is constitutional law?

How and when laws can be made
What the government is allowed to do
The powers courts have
The rights of citizens

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(The UK Constitution) What are the two types of constitution?

Codified (written)

Uncodified (unwritten)

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(The UK Constitution) What are the features of a codified constitution?

One single document which the constitutional rules can be found in
There is no higher law than the constitution
Countries with codified constitutions include Australia, USA, Japan, France, Brazil etc

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(The UK Constitution) What are the features of an uncodified constitution?

Several different documents containing the constitutional rules
The rules are made up of a combination of sources
Countries with uncodified constitutions include the UK, Israel, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia

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(The UK Constitution) What are the sources of the UK constitution?

Constitutional statutes e.g the Human Rights Act
The Royal Prerogative 
Judicial decisions
Constitutional conventions 
EU law, international law

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(UK political system) What are the 5 groups that make up the UK political system?

The Monarch
Parliament 
The Government 
The Civil Service 
The Judiciary

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(UK political system) What is the Monarchy?

UK Head of State
Can appoint MPs and the PM
Can dissolve Parliament 
Can give Royal Assent 
Used to be the ultimate authority

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(UK political system) What is Parliament?

HOC
Elected MPs for each constituency
Overlap with government
650 seats

HOL
Unelected
No role in government
775 peers

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(UK political system) What is the central government?

Runs the country
Formed by party who wins the general election
Makes and implements policy

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(UK political system) What is the civil service?

Supports the government
Runs government policies
Implements the policy

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(UK political system) What is the judiciary?

Adjudicates and solves disputes

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(UK political system) What is a general election?

Dictates the HOC
Determines the political party controlling the country
MPs with the most votes are elected

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(UK political system) What are the 4 peer categories in the HOL?

Hereditary - passed through generations
Life - appointed by the Monarch on advice of the PM
Lords Spiritual - 26 most senior bishops in the CoE
Law Lords - retired senior judges

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(Separation of powers) What is separation of powers and who gave the most accepted version?

Authorities should share the power and exist as separate institutions to prevent tyranny
Most accepted version was given by Charles Montesquieu

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(Separation of powers) What are the powers in the UK?

Legislature - Parliament
Executive - Government
Judiciary

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(Separation of powers) What is pure separation of powers?

The 3 branches of powers are completely separate

(Separation of powers) What is partial separation of powers?

The 3 branches of powers have their own roles but there are some overlaps between the roles

(Separation of powers) The UK has a partial separation of powers. What are some examples of overlaps?

PM and Cabinet are MPs (Exec and Leg)
HOL was the highest court in the UK (Leg and Jud)
Lord Chancellor overlapped all 3 branches

(Parliamentary sovereignty) What are Dicey’s 3 features of parliamentary sovereignty?

Parliament can make and unmake any law on any subject matter
No person or body has the power to question the validity of an Act of Parliament
Parliament cannot be bound by predecessors or bind its successors

(Parliamentary sovereignty) What are the two ways that an Act of Parliament can be repealed or amended?

Express repeal - Parliament passes a new AoP that states it has repealed an older AoP
Implied repeal - a new AoP contains words that contradict an older AoP but doesn’t expressly repeal - the new act will prevail

(The UK and the EU) What is the EU?

The European Union
Economic and political organisation made up of 27 member states
Purposes include to promote peace, borderless trade and movement of people, protection of the environment etc

(The UK and the EU) What are the 3 main institutions of the EU?

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

(The UK and the EU) What is the European Parliament?

The legislature of the EU

Composed of members directly elected by EU citizens

(The UK and the EU) What is the European Commission?

The executive of the EU

Not democratically elected, predominantly civil servants

(The UK and the EU) What is the Court of Justice of the European Union?

Judiciary of the EU | Interprets EU law

(The UK and the EU) What are the primary and secondary sources of EU law?

Primary - mainly from the founding treaties of the EU | Secondary - EU Regulations and Directives

(The UK and the EU) What are EU Regulations?

Completely binding on member states No flexibility Upon coming into force, regulations become law in all member states

(The UK and the EU) What are EU Directives?

Not completely binding on the member states Members must adopt their own legislation to incorporate directives More flexible than regulations

(The UK and the EU) What is the Doctrine of Direct Effect?

Individuals are allowed to enforce their rights and obligations under EU law directly before their own national courts

(The UK and the EU) What is the Doctrine of Supremacy?

Any national law that conflicts with EU law will be rendered inapplicable EU law will take precedence over national law

(The UK and the EU) What is the European Communities Act 1972?

The Act of Parliament that entered the UK into the EU

(The UK and the EU) What are the 3 approaches to UK law conflicting with EU law?

Parliamentary sovereignty prevails approach Lord Denning's construction approach EU law prevails approach

(The UK and the EU) What is the parliamentary sovereignty prevails approach?

Early days of being in the EU it was seen that nothing had really changed UK law was still taken to prevail

(The UK and the EU) What is Lord Denning's construction approach?

Allowed UK court to give effect to EU law without damaging parliamentary sovereignty Makes the presumption that all UK AoPs already comply with EU law so there should be no conflict

(The UK and the EU) What is the EU law prevails approach?

Used now | EU law prevails over conflicting UK law

(Brexit) Why did the UK choose to reverse their EU membership?

Euroscepticism Xenophobia UK was the least well integrated EU member state

(Brexit) What is the Irish problem?

UK's only land border with the EU is in the Republic of Ireland Brexit will terminate the free movement between the UK and the EU Free movement helped the peace in Northern Ireland

(Brexit) What is the possible solution to the Irish problem?

Northern Ireland Backstop NI will take a 'hybrid status' - will still be a part of the UK but can also establish an EU tariff The rest of the UK will be able to diverge from EU rules so may affect unity of the UK