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LW1120: Constitutional and Administrative Law > The Executive > Flashcards

The Executive Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three organs of government?

A

Legislature, executive, judiciary

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2
Q

What is the composition of the legislature?

A

HC, HL, monarch

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3
Q

What is the function of the legislature?

A

To enact statutes (make law)

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4
Q

What is the composition of the executive?

A

HM Government and Ministers

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5
Q

What is the function of the executive?

A

The administration and the governance of the country

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6
Q

What is the composition of the judiciary?

A

The Royal Courts of Justice

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7
Q

What is the function of the judiciary?

A

The adjudication of disputes and the interpretation of statutes

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8
Q

What are Wade’s three definitions of ‘separation of powers’?

A

(1) That no person or body of persons should form part of more than one of the three organs of government
(2) That one organ of government should not exercise the functions of either of the other two organs
(3) That one organ of the government should not interfere with or seek to exercise control over the functions of the other two organs

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9
Q

Which power does the US Supreme Court have that the UK Supreme Court does not have?

A

The power to ‘strike down’ primary legislation (the USSC can declare it ‘unconstitutional’)

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10
Q

Why can the UK’s government be described as having a ‘partial’ separation of powers?

A

There is overlap between the three organs of government: the Queen is part of all three organs; the PM, the cabinet, and the Lord Chancellor are all part of the executive and the legislature

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11
Q

How was the Supreme Court established?

A

By the Constitutional Reform Act 2005

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12
Q

What are the three types of checks and balances on those exercising power in the UK?

A

(1) Judicial checks on the executive (e.g. Belmarsh case)
(2) Political controls on the executive
(3) Checks on the judiciary

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13
Q

What is the executive?

A

In the narrow sense, the monarch, cabinet, PM

In a broader sense, government departments, civil service, army, and police

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14
Q

What are the principal powers of the Monarch?

A

– To open (summon) Parliament
– To close (dissolve) Parliament
– To appoint a PM
– To exercise the right of advice to her Ministers
– To be Head of the Commonwealth
– To participate in formal and ceremonial constitutional events
– To act as Head of the Church of England

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15
Q

What are the powers of the Prime Minister?

A

– Head of the government
– Power to select Cabinet Ministers and appoint other members of the Government (i.e. non-Cabinet Ministers)
– Can engineer a Cabinet re-shuffle, can dismiss Cabinet and non-Cabinet Ministers
– Chairs meetings of the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees
– Coordinates Government policies
– Is responsible for party discipline, e.g. appoints Chief Whips who are employed to keep a watch over backbench MPs
– Is the nation’s chief spokesman in international and domestic affairs
– Is the political Head of the Civil Service
– Communicates the Government’s decisions on policy to the Queen
– Has the power to exercise patronage (e.g. dispensing titles and peerages)

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16
Q

What is the function of the Cabinet?

A

Cabinet decides on government policy and co-ordinates the work of the different departments

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17
Q

What is the function of Cabinet Committees?

A

– Small groups of Ministers, who make decisions
– These decisions are then put to and usually approved by the main (i.e. full) Cabinet
– PMs sometimes use Cabinet Committees
– The most powerful Ministers are in Cabinet Committees

18
Q

What is the purpose of Ministers’ Special Advisors?

A

To ‘assist’ the PM

19
Q

What is the purpose of the Civil Service?

A

– Assist the Government with integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity, regardless of political views
– They administer public services

20
Q

What is delegated (secondary) legislation?

A

A form of legislation that allows the Executive (i.e. Government) to make changes to the law without having to enact new primary legislation (Acts of Parliament)

21
Q

How is delegated legislation formed?

A

The parent Act contains provision for the Executive to make law; the exercise of this power by the Executive typically leads to the creation of statutory instruments (SIs)

22
Q

What are the different forms of delegated legislation?

A

– Statutory instruments (SIs)
– Orders in Council
– Byelaws

23
Q

What are statutory instruments?

A

– They allow sections of an Act to be altered or brought into force without Parliament having to pass a new Act
– The power to do this is set out in the parent Act and is conferred on Ministers

24
Q

What are orders in council?

A

– They are issued by the Queen ‘by and with the advice of HM Privy Council’ and made under powers in a given Act
– Used for a wide variety of purposes, e.g. transferring responsibilities between Government Departments or for exercising control over dominions
– Used when an SI would be inappropriate

25
Q

What are byelaws?

A

Laws of local or limited application, e.g. byelaws in place to help improve everyone’s enjoyment of parks and open spaces

26
Q

What are the advantages of delegated legislation?

A

– Saves Parliamentary time
– Allows people with more knowledge of subject matter to make the law, rather than MPs who may know very little on the matter
– Flexibility
– Emergency powers, e.g. war, famine, civil unrest

27
Q

What are Henry VIII clauses?

A

They enable Ministers to use SIs to alter or repeal Acts of Parliament, e.g. in the 2008 global financial crisis

28
Q

What are some concerns about delegated legislation?

A

– Usurps the sovereignty of Parliament
– Incompatible with the separation of powers
– Can lead to allegations of abuse of power
– Sheer volume of DL makes it difficult to control

29
Q

What are some controls on delegated legislation?

A

– Checks and controls within the parent Act
– Traditional/general Parliamentary safeguards
– Formal rules about bringing (laying) proposed delegated legislation before Parliament
– Parliamentary Scrutiny Committees

30
Q

What are the two types of procedure for SIs?

A

(1) Affirmative procedure

(2) Negative procedure

31
Q

Explain the affirmative procedure for SIs

A

– Requires some SIs to be voted on by Parliament
– Therefore, both Houses must expressly approve them
– If it is not positively approved within 40 days of its being laid, it will not come into effect

32
Q

Explain the negative procedure for SIs

A

– They can become law without a debate or a vote but may be annulled by a resolution of either House
– Unless a challenge is made in the form of annulment (prayer) within 40 days, the SI will automatically come into force

33
Q

Which is more common: affirmative or negative procedure of SI introduction?

A

Negative (90%)

34
Q

What is the Royal Prerogative?

A

Residue powers vested in the Crown which are exercisable by ministers

35
Q

What is significant about BBC v Johns (1965)?

A

It confirmed that new prerogative powers may not be made

36
Q

In which three ways may prerogative powers be exercised?

A

(1) At the personal discretion of the Crown (very uncommon)
(2) By the Sovereign on the advice of Ministers
(3) By Ministers alone, through statutory powers conferred on them but exercised on behalf of the Crown (most common)

37
Q

Give examples of prerogative powers exercised by Government Ministers

A

– Conduct of foreign affairs
– Control of armed forces
– Regulation of terms of civil service employment
– Pardoning offenders

38
Q

What are the five personal prerogatives of the Monarch?

A

– The Sovereign never dies (automatic succession to the throne)
– The person of the Sovereign is inviolable (cannot touch)
– The Sovereign can do no wrong (monarch immune from civil or criminal proceedings: Crown Proceedings Act 1947)
– The Sovereign is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and may declare war or make peace under the Royal Prerogative
– Some honours are still dispensed personally by the Sovereign

39
Q

What are the five main powers of the monarch?

A 
– Royal Assent
– Appointment of the PM
– Dissolution of Parliament
– Dismissal of Ministers
– Award of Honours
40
Q

Which takes precedence: statutory or prerogative power?

A

Statutory power

LW1120: Constitutional and Administrative Law (8 decks)

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