the constitution Flashcards
when was the magna Carter? what did it do?
1215- signed by king John, established rule of law should apply to all, including the monarch. also established habeas corpus
when was the bill of rights? what did it do?
1689- invited William of orange and Mary to England.
It established freedom of speech for MPs, regular free and fair elections as well as for the monarch to always adhere to the law.
when was the Act of settlement? what was it?
1701- stated that the monarch should be protestant and cleared up succession to throne
what was the Act of union? when was it?
1707- incorporated Scotland into Great Britain, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
what were the parliament acts of 1911 and 1949?
1911: lords lost its power to regulate public finance and had delaying power for 2 years
1949: reduced delaying period to 1 year
what was the European communities act? when was it?
1972: brought the UK into the European community which became the EU
what does codified mean?
contained in a single document
what does entrenched mean?
constitutional rules are well protected and difficult to change
what does unitary mean?
political power is centred in one single place (Westminster)
what is the nature of the UK Constitution?
uncodified, unentrenched and unitary
what does quasi-federal mean?
a system that acts federal but isn’t actually federal as the power can still be taken back
what are the sources of the UK constitution?
statute law conventions: Salisbury convention authoritative works: erskin may and A.V. Dicey common law: murder laws treaties: Maastricht Treaty
what did the House of Lords act 1999 do?
reduced number of hereditary peers to 92
what new labour reforms were made to the House of Commons?
2004: chairs of committees raise in salary to give greater status
2010: system of electing members of select committees by whole chamber of commons
2010: backbench business committee established
what was the human rights act 1998?
brought the European convention of human rights into uk law, binding on all public bodies. however parliament remained sovereign
what was the freedom of information act 2000?
any documents held by a public body about a citizen could be requested, security services exempt
what electoral reform did the liberal democrats propose?
in 2011 held AV referendum which came back no
what did the constitutional reform act 2005 do?
abolished the law lords and established the independent Supreme Court
what did the fixed term parliaments act 2011 do?
took away PMs power to call election by setting them every 5 years
when would a snap election occur?
if a vote of no confidence was passed with 2/3 majority
when has the fixed term parliaments act been undermined?
in April 2017 Theresa may announced snap election as she achieved 2/3 majority to do so in the commons
also in 2019 election was triggered
what did the Recall of MPs Act 2015 do? what is an example?
gave constituents a chance to recall an MP if a petition with at least 10% of constituents signatures
e.g: 2019 two MPs lost seats as result of recall elections
what did Scotland Act 1998 do?
in 1997 held referendum of Scottish devolution.
the act granted devolution of powers to Scotland e.g health, education, policing varying rate of income tax by 3%
implemented with AMS electoral system
what did Government of Wales act 1998 do?
referendum on welsh devolution held in 1997.
Act granted devolution to wales to set up Welsh assembly, did not have power to pass primary laws or financial
what did the Good Friday Agreement 1998 do?
restored devolved powers for: education, health, transport, policing.
however in 2002 Westminster dissolved Assembly until 2007
what was the Scottish independence referendum result in 2014?
55.3% against independence
what did the Scotland Act 2016 do?
granted further devolution to Scotland on areas such as; law making, welfare, control over income tax and control over some business tax
what did the Government of Wales Act 2014 do?
granted further devolution over: taxes and have limited power to borrow money to invest in housing
what did the Government of Wales Act 2017 do?
the ability to vary income tax by 10p greater freedom in borrowing greater legislative ability Welsh based taxes renamed welsh assembly the Welsh parliament
what did the House of Lords acts 2014 and 2015 do?
2014: allowed members of the lords to resign or retire or to be removed for prolonged non attendance
2015: allowed lords to remove peer who had breached code of conduct
what is English does for English laws?
if a bill only concerned England and Wales then the bill could be vetoed by MPs from that region
when were elected mayors introduced into London?
2000 following a referendum, London mayor granted limited power
how did the coalition reform local government?
introduced elected city mayors with devolved powers in areas such as Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool.
What failures were there of regional English devolution by Labour?
Labour attempted to establish Regional Development Associations with similar devolved powers to devolved assemblies in home nations. However, after a referendum in the North East failed on low turnout, the additional devolution was scrapped.
When was Northern Irish power sharing dissolved from-until? Why?
Northern Irish power sharing was dissolved in 2002 until 2007 following the breakdown of relations between the 2 governing parties in the country.
What failures were there of regional English devolution by Labour?
Labour attempted to establish Regional Development Associations with similar devolved powers to devolved assemblies in home nations. However, after a referendum in the North East failed on low turnout, the additional devolution was scrapped.
How did Labour increase representation of views within Parliament? When did this happen?
Labour established the Backbench Business Committee, which was allocated time inside Parliament to decide what issues they would debate. This was introduced in 2010.
how was the fixed term parliaments act undermined by Johnson?
the fixed term parliaments act was repealed by conservative government in 2022
