The Constitution Flashcards
Why has the UK constitution developed differently from the constitution of most other nation states
Since Norman conquest 1066 there has not been a historical event that has altered the principles on which we are governed so British constitution has gradually developed over 800 years since the Magna Carta
What does the term constitution mean
determines why a power is located in a nation state and the rules by which it is governed
Name 2 very different constitutions to UK
UKs evolution has evolved without any breaks unlike France and USA where revolutions led to overthrows of the government and the establishment of codified constitution which set out the principles the government would operate
Explain each step to describe how power in Britain has gradually moved away from the crown to Parliament and to democratically elected House of Commons
1 Magna Carta Acts 1215
Forcing King John to accept the 63 clauses of the MC barons placed limits in the power of the monarchy and established crown is not above the law
2 The Bill of Rights 1689
Last Stuart King James 11 was overthrown in a revolution because he was trying to establish an absolute monarchy/ Parliament offered the crown to his daughter Mary and husband William of Orange they had to accept the bill of rights which gave legal force to some rights including summoning of regular parliament, free elections, no taxation without Parliament consent and Parliamentary freedom of speech
3 Act of Settlement 1701
This confirmed idea of parliament over crown by declaring that Parliament had the right to determine the succession of the throne and stated a judge can be removed if agree by both houses, establishing judicial independence
4 Act of Union
England, Scotland and Wales had shared the same monarch since 1603 this act united the parliament of Scotland England and Wales creating the UK although independence of Scottish law was preserved
5 Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
As a result of the lords refusing to pass the Peoples Budget the Liberal PM threatened to asked King George to flood parliament with liberal Peers if it did not accept limit on its powers. The lords relented and in 1911 Act lost its rights of veto and so would not be able to ament=d financial bills such as the budget and could only delay other bills for 2 years. 1949 Act reduced their rights to delay to 1 year. These acts established the democratic legitimacy of parliament by establishing commons over lords
6 European Communities Act 1972
As a result of this act Ik joined the European Ecconomic Community later it was established where cases overlapped European law would take precedence over UK law
7 Devolution 1997
As a result of referendums Scotland and Wales established their own governments and legislations.
8 Brexit 2016
As a result of a referendum in which the public voted in favour of leaving EU parliament enacted EU Act 2020
Britain has a constitutional monarch, what does this mean
holds limited power according to the rule of law
What does the term unitary mean
in a unitary state power is centralized and central government possesses absolute authority - UK parliament is the supreme law making body so UK is a unitary state
Explain the term federal
In a feeder Al state power is shared. Power of central government is limited by the sovereign power of lower levels of government over which it has no power - USA certain states have powers which the central government cannot override
Explain term devolution
transfer of power from central government to regional legislators - these powers are said to be devolved rather than given away
Explain unmodified and codified
a codified constitution is when the constitution is contained in one single document it is entrenched and superior to all other laws. An uncodified constitution comes from a variety of sources and does not represent a higher law
Explain the terms entrenched and unentrenched
codified constitutions entrench constitutional rules making it impossible for them to be altered without a complicated procedure requiring the agreement of more than just 1 legislator. When a constitution is unentrenched the way in which the state is governed and the rights of the citizen can be changed simply by and Act of Parliament
Explain Parliamentary Sovereignty
Parliament is the supreme legislative body, it can enact any legislation for which it has a parliamentary majority as there is authority greater that can veto it.
Explain the rule of law
principle that the same laws apply equally to all citizens including government
When recently was UK as a unitary state challenged
through devolution
The UK is an uncodified constitution made up from many sources
1 Statute Law - Acts of parliament eg 1911 Act which removed Lord s right to veto.Peoples
Act 1928 uk adopted universal sufferage
2 Common Law - how the judiciary interprets meaning of law contributes to development of case law, important when statute law is unclear eg 1991 RvR established principle in common law a husband could be found guilty of raping his wife
3 Conventions - not recognized in statute law but are constitutional procedure eg there is no legal requirement that a member of the Lords can not be PM but Lord Home recognized that it was unconstitutionally unacceptable so resigned his peerage to fight and election, Ministerial code of conduct explains the roles of government ministers including circumstances where they would be expected to resign - rules that are not legally binding
4 Landmark Decsions - come historical events have contributed to the constitution eg Magna Carta has influenced rule of law, petition of rights presented to Charles 1 by parliament set out core rights include in freedom from prison without trail,
5 Authoritative Works - texts of such political significance they contribute to UK constitution eg The English Consitution by Bagehot explains the relationship between monarchy, legislator and executive and May a clerk to House of Commons published Parliamentary Practise which explains in great detail how parliament is operated
6 Treaties - written agreement between 2 or more political bodies eg Maastricht treaty 1993 Lisbon Treaty 2009 further changed UK law
Give an example of a recent piece of work that has become part of the constitution showing it continues to evolve
Gus O’Donnell produced a guide on how the coalition government should be established
At the beginning of the 20th century Asquith government greatly changed the constitution by establishing House of Commons over Lords what was the next big reform how was he able to do it
1997 Blair government had a majority of 179 seats and faced a weak opposition that had just suffered a big general election defeat
New Labour want to shake up democracy and reengage the public in politics through modernization and reform
They believed power was to centralized and rights of citizen were not protected
What were the 4 themes of Blairs reform programme
1 decentralization - power was focused at Westminster and it should be devolved back to the people. Scotland and Wales would be offered their own elected governments and cities and towns given opportunity to elect own mayors
2 democratization - the public should be given more influence over decision making through more use of referendums on important constitutional issues - the House of Lords would be reformed to encourage greater democracy
3 transparency - to encourage greater trust in government and roll of senior judiciary would be reformed Freedom of Information Act would make government more accountable to public
4 Rights Protection - British citizens rights were not protected by codified constitution government committed to incorporations the European Convention of Human. Rights into British Law
What would Blairs 1997 government reform on devolution mean for Scotland and wales
provide greater power to govern themselves
What were the outcomes of the 1997 referendums in Scotland and Wales over whether they wished to have own elected governments
Scotland voted a large majority in favour of having its own parliament
Wales voted in favour of having its own assesmbly by a tiny margin
What big devolution event happened in 1998
Good Friday agreement signed part of which Northern Ireland voted in a referendum in favour of power sharing between unionists and republicans in a devolved assembly
What were the aims of these reforms
Establishing new legislatures and executives in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast would enable the politics to be more suited to the needs of the people in Scotland Wales and NI
It also recognized that from 1979-1997 Scotland and Wales had been governed from Westminster by Conservative governments when they hade consistently voted Labour
In Northern Ireland it was an important part of the peace process
Has devolution been successful
Since the establishment of the governments and legislatures in Scotland and Wales they have acquired significant new powers suggesting it has been successful In NI the difficulty of power sharing has undermined the process
What reforms were introduce in Britain
1 many towns and cities wer allowed to elect their own mayors to make local government more accountable to the public
1998 London voted in referendum in favour of great London Authority made up of an elected mayor and a London assembly who could veto Lord Mayors proposals
Other authorities were offered elected mayors
Why were reforms introduced in the House of Lords in 1999
The majority of the 1330 peers who could attend the lords the majority were hereditary peers (entitled to a place because of their family). They out numbered life peers who were appointed because of their service to the nation
The hereditary principle undermines the legitimacy of the House of Lords
What reforms did Blair introduce
remove the right of hereditary peers. To persuade the lords to accept the reform government allowed the hereditary peers to elect 92 of their number to continue to sit in the Lords and when a hereditary Lord resigns or dies another lord is elected
This is the only democratic element of the lords
What was the governments intention was it successful
Intention was to make the lords a more professional body by ensuring membership was based on merit and acomplishment rather than birth. The reform has effected its membership not its power.
Why have the reforms been seen as controversial
no elected element has been introduced in the lords so although it has greater expertise it still lacks democratic legitamacy
Feeling that lords has become to large
What did Keri stammer propose in 2022
abolish House of Lords and replace with elected assembly of nations and regions
What made Tony Blair less enthusiastic about electoral reform
His majority at the 1997 General Election
What was Roy Jenkins tasked to do
investigate an alternative to first past the post
What did Blairs government do with his report
ignored his report recommending an alternative vote to FPTP
They did however adopt a new electoral system for new devolved assemblies and elected mayors to encourage voter choice and ensure fairer balance of influence
Scottish parliament and welsh assembly would be elected by an additional member system and Northern Ireland by single transferable vote and supplementary vote
Human Rights Act was enacted in 1998 by Blair government why is it important
First time the rights if British Citizens have positively been stated
The Act provides the judiciary important new powers to protect and advance our civil liberties
What does HOLAC stand for
House of Lords appointments commission - nominates a group of life peer cross benchers and scrutinizes appointments made by monarch on recommendation of PM
List 3 important cases involving human rights act
1 Laporte case article 8 of HRA - right to private life and article 10 - the right to freedom of expression were used to show police had illegally acted when they stopped 120 anti Iraq war protestors from reaching RAF Fairford in 2003
2 In HJ and HT v Home office HRA used to argue that the home office had been wrong to deny asylum of 2 gay people trying to escape persecution in their own country . Their defence was that they could not have hidden their sexuality because to ask a homosexual person to pretend his sexuality doesn’t exist denies his right to be who he is
3 1n 2012 US government demanded extradition of Gary McKinnon on accusation he had hacked NASA and Pentagon as he searched for information on UFOs. Because McKinnon had Asperger’s the Home Secretary Theresa May refused the application and imprisonment in the USA as an infringement of article 3 which protects humans from inhuman and degrading treatment
How has incorporating ECof HR into British Law also led to Bette protection of our civil liberties
1 public bodies eg government are now expected to act in accordance with HRA
2 when parliament legislates it should do so in accordance to principles of HRA
Why is the HRA not entirely powerful
It is an act of parliament who have the right to repeal the act and can enact legislation even if it conflicts HRA
Article 15 also gives government right to suspend from certain provision as Blair did after 9/11
Outline an example where the strengths and limitations of the HRA are illustrated
Bel marsh Case 2004
After 9/11 attacks in USA Blair government suspended Article 5 right to liberty so he could keep foreign terrorist suspects without charge in custody
Parliament also enacted 2001 Anti Terrorism crime and Security Act which gave government the authority to keep foreign terrorist suspects in prison indefinitely
Judges issued a formal statement of incompatibility declaring the Anti terrorism Crime Security Act was contrary to article 14, freedom from discrimination of HRA as the foreign suspects were being treated differently to British suspects
Initially government ignored the ruling but then released the suspects because of the bad publicity
Soon after parliament enacted the prevention of terrorism act 20025 which allowed governments to limit the freedom of movement of all terrorist suspects
What was the last major constitutional reform of the Blair government
Constitutional reform act 2005
It ended House of Lords judicial function and established the Supreme Court in 2009 who would dispense justice in a more transparent way
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) would recommend appointments of judges to the justice secretary
Lord Chief Justice was appointed to be a non political figure to preside over House of Lords
List the constitutional reforms of the Conservative lib Dem coalition 2010-2015
1 Fixed term parliament act 2011
2 Electoral reform
3 parliamentary reform
4 further devolution
Why was fixed term parliament act legislated
major power of PM is to decide date of general election
This would be a contavercial decision for coalition so fixed term parliamentary act stated general election should be held exactly 5 years after the date of the last
What did this act achieve
1 greater stability for government
2 made it difficult for a PM to call a snap election for political advantage
3
What else does the act legislate for
a general election if
1 government loses a vote of confidence and
2 a new government with the confidence of House of Commons can not be established or
3 if 2/3 majority of the commons agrees to a general election
When in recent years was this act used
2017 Theresa May
2019 Boris Johnson
Called early general elections because they had the required support of the House of Commons
What happened in 2022
Act was repealed and Pm right to decide was reinstated
Why was electoral reform not a priority
FPTP benefited Labour and conservative parties Blair ignored Jekins commission report to replace FPTP with new system based on alternative vote AV
Why did Cameron agree to a referendum on replacing FPTP with AV
It was the price he had to pay for a LIb Dem coalition in 2010
How did the opponents of change to the system successfully portray the system
Av a complicated system lacking in transparency and the electorate voted in favour of retaining FPTP
What was the coalitions most positive legacy
giving back bench MPs more influence and reducing government dominance in House of Commos
How was this achieved
Most of the recommendations of the
Wright Commitree 2009 were enacted
Most significantly
1 parliamentary backbench committee established to give back bench MPS more control over what is debated in Parliament
2 membership of select committees would be elected by PMs in secret ballot
3 introduce electronic petitions to allow public to directly lobby parliament on issues
What did coalition have in common with Blair government
Give examples
keen to decentralize power and bring decision making to public
1 public voted in Wales for its assembly to be given more legislative powers
2 further powers devolved to Scotland including right to vary income tax
3 introduction of elected police and crime commissioner
What was power of recalls act passed in 2015
It aimed to make MPs more accountable by allowing constituents to demand a bielection if MP was sentenced to prison, is suspended from the commons for minimum of 10 sitting days or has been found to make false allowance claims
State 2 times power of recall act has been used to trigger a bi election
2019 Peterborough MP lied about speeding offenses and was sentenced to 3 months in prison for perverting the course of justice
2019 MP for Breton was convicted of making fraudualant classism expenses
After Camerons success in 2015 what reforms were introduced that impacted on the constitution
1 his promise to commit to an in out of EU referendum
2 Introduction of elected mayors in certain areas
3 English votes for English Laws - the West Lithuanian Question
What was the West Lithuanian question
since establishments of governments in wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland concerns were raised that England was being disadvantaged by MPs from Scotland wales and NI attended Westminster a can voted on legislation that effected England but British MPs could not vote on legislation effecting
The Scotland Act 1998 established Scottish Parliament and devolved several legislative powers from Westminster What did they include
1 local government
2 housing
3 environment
4 law and order
5 education
6 health
7 income tax
What are the powers not devolved called what are they
Reserved to Westminster
1 foreign policy
2 defence
3 immigration
Why are some powers reserved
If Scotland had control over these polices it would be a nation state
What sis the Scotland Act 2012 do
increased Hollywood’s powers to Clyde
1 very the rate of income tax by 10p in the £
2 provide Scottish government with the power to borrow up to £% billion
What took place in 2014
It looked like Scotland would vote for independence so all political leaders in UK promised further extensive powers to Scotland if independence was rejected
What were these extensive powers referred to as
devo max
What were the powers that formed the Scotland Act in 2016
1 determining abortion laws
2deciding air passage duty
3 determining speed limits
4 act stated Scottish Parliament were a permanent feature of Uk constitution and can only be abolished by a referendum
Give examples of how Holyrood has enabled Scotland to develop its own approach to important questions
1 Scotland was the first part of uk to ban smoking in public places
2 Scotland offers free university to Scottish residents
3voting age is reduced to 16 for local elections referendums and elections to Scottish parliament
4 medical prescriptions are free
What indicates that the union between Scotland and Britain is vulnerable
1 collapse of support for labour and the growth in SNP support
2 Scotland voted to remain in EU and SNP argue the post brexit demands for a second referendum are strong
3 Britain is very different to the ones Scotts voted for in 2016
Why has the independence movement had less impact in Wales
1 Wales became part of the English state in medevil times and did not develop their own legal system
2 Labour Party has strong roots in English speaking south wales
3 the party of wales has won most of its support in the welsh speaking parts of north wales and so welsh nationalism has not made the same progress as Scottish nationalism n
What was the outcome for Wales of the 1997 referendum
Less devolved powers than Scotland because the government of wales act established a welsh assembly but were not granted legislative powers instead were given administrative authority in areas of education, health, transport and agriculture
What does administrative authority mean for wales
That they have the power to decide how to implement acts of parliament passed at Westminster
How did wales obtain more legislative powers
the coalition were committed to increasing authority of wales
Government of wales act 2016 provided for another referendum on whether wales shou have further devolved powers and the vote was in favour of wales been given the power to enact primary legislation in the areas where power had been devolved
What was the result of the wales act 2014
more power to wales including control of taxes, stamp duty, land tax and landfill tax
Changed name of welsh assembly to welsh government
What did the 2017 welsh act give wale s
Right to vary income tax by 10p in £
Gave welsh assembly legislative power over electoral arrangements transport and energy
Stated that welsh government is permanent feature of UK constitution and can not be abolished by an act of parliament
What is a major advantage of devolution for wales
wales is consistently more labour voting so have been able to introduce more left wing legislation ie free prescriptions
Wales first part of uk to introduce singe use plastic bag charge
Wales first country in world to declare a climate emergency
What is the history of devolution in NI
1 as a result of partition in 1922 NI was gibbon own parliament
2 this lasted until 1972 when Heaths government imposed direct rule because of the growing violence
3 Catholics (nationalists) felt their needs were being ignored by the Protestant dominated unionist assembly
4 decision made to suspend devolved power to attempt to end the conflict
5 1990 John Majors government opened up covert negotiates with Sinn Fein (links with IRA) to try to achieve a settlement
6 1997 Blair gave peace process a renewed momentum in Good Friday agreement which negotiated a power sharing assembly to represent fairly both unionist and nationalist feelings
When measuring the success of devolution in NI what must the focus be
if devolution has eliminated political violence by enabling peaceful resolution to old violent disagreements
Why was the decision made to elect Northern Ireland assembly in storming by single transferable vote
to give electorate as much choice as possible and make it more difficult for one party to dominate
How is the executive made up
The leader of the largest party is the first minister and the leader of the second largest party is the deputy first minister - they possess equal power
If one resigns the other must also resign so there is a strong incentive for both sides to work together
What primary legislative powers have been devolved to NI assembly
Education
Health
Agriculture
Transport
Policing
Housing
Health
Environment
Name 3 important bills the assembly have passed
1 human trafficking act
2 addressing bullying in schools act
3 houses of multiple occupation act
Describe how because of the tension between republicans and unionists the devolution to NI has not been as smooth as the process in wales and Scotland
1 assembly suspended from 2002 -2007 because of conflict between unionists and republicans
2 2007 assembly reopened after a surprise agreement was reached between democratic unionist party and sinn feint
2017 martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister in protest that the first minister refuse to acknowledge any responsibility for cash and ash scandal
3 his resignation meant she had to resign so direct rule was imposed until 2020
What further problems were caused by brexit for NI Assembly
Ireland remains in EU and NI has left there were fears of a new hard border which would undo much if the reconciliation work
This was solved by the NI protocol which allowed free flow of EU goods across the border
This has increased customs checks between NI and rest of UK which has angered some unionists who feel they are not been treated as fully Bristish
Which problems have not been addressed by reforms since 1997
1 devolution was granted to Scotland Wales and NI but not to England
2 House of Lords has lost most of its hereditary peers but it still lacks democratic legitamacy
3 EC on HR is on or-parted into Brishish law bu UK citizens tights are not entrenched in codified constitution
What do critics of the House of Lords reform argue
That only when lords are elected and accountable to the public will it be able to claim democratic legitimacy
What do opponents of elected lords claim are the advantages of an appointed chamber
1 it contains experts in every field and so scrutiny of committees is highly regarded
2 in case of dispute the commons will always rule as it has democratic legitimacy
3 if both chambers were elected there would be potential for gridlock because both would be able to claim democratic mandate
4 currently lords has many crossbenchers if lords were elected the main parties would dominate
What is the main argument in favour of further electoral reform
That Britain is becoming a multiparty democracy and so the system should be reformed so minority parties have fairer representationh
Should devolution be extended to england
Yes
1 England is most densely populated nation in UK but its citizens are the only ones without their own government
2 The devolved powers of Scotland and Wales have been increase demonstrating how popular devolution so it is illogical for England not to have same rights
3devolution may lead to political resentment that Englands interests are being taken less seriously than those of Scotland and Wales
4 There is a strong sense of regional identity in some parts of England which would make regional assemblies popular and relevant
5 establishment of elected mayors shows how power can de decentralized
No
1 there is limited demand for reform most English people are content their interests are represented at Westminster
2 Westminster brings together MPs from across the country Andy reduction in its power could threaten survival of the UK
3 If each nation in UK had its own legislator it would highlight the differences rather than common values
4 an English parliament could encourage growth of English political partied based on extreme ideas eg EDL and could provide them with the opportunity for influence
5 Not all parts of England have a strong sense of identity
6 more devolution would create another layer of government and could create demographic overload
7 turnout for elected mayors and commissioners has been poor
Argue the points for and against the statement that devolution has been a constitutional success
YES
1 it has addressed the problem that Scotland and Wales were for a longtime governed by a Conservative Party which they had not voted for
2 enabled Scotland and wales to develop policies suited to the wishes of their country
3 although in Scotland it has increased the demand for independence there is no evidence that this is the case in wales
4turnout at elections in Wales and Scotland has improved
5 without devolution there may be even more demand for independence
6 although it is not perfect in NI it has encouraged power sharing
NO
1 it has led to governments in Scotland Wales and NI but no comparable government in England
2 it has created the potential for constitutional conflict between Westminster and Holyrood
3 It can be a step towards independence for Scotland which would weaken global influence of UK
4 devolution in NI was unsuccessful as there have been long periods of unco operation
UK is only one of 5 countries in the world without a codified constitution who are the others
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Canada and New Zealand
What is the result of this for UK
There are few constitution limitations on the legislation that Westminster Parliament can enact
What do critics of UKs uncodified constitution say
british citizens need the protection of the 1976 bill warning that it is danger of becoming an elective dictatorship because there are so few constraints on the influence of government
The way several acts of parliament have extended the power of government by restricting civil liberties would have been much more difficult if rights were entrenched in codified constitution
Why does not having a codified constitution extend power of government
They can introduce legislation that can change the constitution to its advantage
What do opponents of entrenched constitution argue
parliamentary sovereignty allows government to quickly react to a crisis or emergency - protecting the collective rights of society
What do individual rights include
rights to privacy, freedom of religion and right to fair trial
What are collective rights
rights we enjoy as part of a society right to be safeguarded from violence
When might government decide to sacrifice individual rights
When threatened by external violence
Which acts are seen to controversial
serious organised crime and police act 2005 - the right to protest outside parliament was restricted
Counter terrorism and security act 2015 requires universities to monitor debate and deny a platform to speakers who encourage radicalization
Investigatory powers Act 2016 - increased authority given to intelligence service to carry out electronic survalliance on private individuals
Police Crime sentencing and courts act 2022 allows the Home Secretary to ban unacceptable protests
Should the government have a codified constitution with entrenched bill of rights
Yes
1 a codified constitution would represent a higher constitutional law
2 human rights act doesn’t do this because it is an act of Parliament so can suspend it or repeal it
3 the authority of the Supreme Court would be enhanced since it could quash laws it deemed unconstitutional
4 a codified constitution would clarify the relationship between the branches of government and establish where sovereignty lies
5rights of minorities could be recognized in a codified constitution
6 the public can be more politically engaged as they would know what their relationship with government is
No
1 The uncodified nature of British constitution means that it is flexible and can quickly respond to changing social, political and security circumstances
2 an uncodified constitution is more democratic because it puts power in th hands of the elected representatives who are accountable to the electorate rather than unelected judges
3 civil liberties are adequately protected by common law and by human rights act and equality act to protect civil liberties
4 the codified constitution reflects the social and political attitudes of the people who composed it can not keep pace with society change in the way an uncodified constitution can
5 the ambiguity in British constitution is an advantage since it has allowed for the changing relationship England Scotland Wales and NI to the will of the public- this would have been more difficult to achieve if the constitution had been codified
