the nature and sources of the British constitution Flashcards
explain 3 examples of milestones within the British constitution
1) magna carta 1215
2) bill of rights 1689
3) act of settlement 1701
what did the magna carta change?
No body was above the law including monarchs and everyone was entitled to a free trial
what did the bill of rights do?
the monarchs power is reliant on parliaments consent
what did the act of settlement do?
only a protestant could become a monarch and that parliament could control the line of sucession to the throne
what did the reform acts of 1911 and 1949 do?
HOL rejected a budget scheme and delayed the bill going through therefore parliament banned them from delaying bills for longer than 2 years and then 1 year
what is rule of law?
the idea that the law applies to everyone,including the government and that everyone is entitled to a free trial
what is an unentrenched constitution?
means that it can be easily changed
what is parliamentary sovereinty?
all authority lies with parliament, no parliament is binded to it’s sucessor and any act can be changed
what is statute law?
all law created by parliament
give an example of statute law
the 1918 representation of the people act where all men and some women could vote
give an example of a convention becoming statute law
in 2011 the convention of that the government in power should resign if defeated in a vote of no confidence
what is a treaty
an agreement signed with another country
give an example of a treaty
brexit
when was the human rights act passed?
1998
when was the equality act passed?
2010
what rights did the equality act 2010 protect?
protect worker and the general public from discrimination
give an example of a use of the human rights act 1998
after the hillsbourough disaster(1989) the families of the victims used the act for proper inquiries regarding the deaths
codified
written down in a legal document
uncodified
laws or regulations that are not part of a written system
statute law
a system of laws that have been approved by parliament
common law
law that is developed through the decisions in court that doesn’t solely rely on statutes or regulations
conventions
an unwritten understanding of how something should be done, not legally enforceable
authoritative opinions
books written by constitutional theorists
the royal perogative
powers which have belonged to the monarch since the middle ages but now exercised largely by gov ministers
rule of law
prevents the abuse of state power and requires the law to be followed by all
parliamentary sovereignty
the main legislative body (parliament) has superiority over all gov instituitions
individual rights
the fundemental liberties that were assigned to an indivdual
collective rights
rights held by a group as a whole rather than individually by it’s members
Constitutional changes since 1997
What was HOL reform since 1997
House of Lords act 1999 - removed all but 92 hereditary peers
Making HOL a mainly appointed chamber mostly on merit rather than birth
Constitutional changes since 1997
Give an example of specialists in the HOL
Lord Norton - politics professor and constitutional expert
Constitutional changes since 1997
Give an example of a lord who can represent people’s interest well
Lord Bird - ex-homeless man and founder of the big issue and represents homeless people
Constitutional changes since 1997
Give 3 reasons why the HOL needs further reform
- Still 92 hereditary peers - an idea that’s pitdated in our meritocratic society
- political parties can make appointments
- 26 Bishops but no other religious representation
Constitutional changes since 1997
Give an example of why more reform is needed in regards to the size of the HOL chamber
2017 Burns report called for a reduction in size of HOL and for term limits
Constitutional changes since 1997
Give an example of a constitutional change in devolution laws since 1997
1998 - Scotland, W ales and Northern Ireland act
- established the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Irish assembly
Human rights act
What did the HRA 1998 do
Human rights act 1998 encoorperated ECHR into UK law
Human rights act 1998
What freedoms does the ECHR hold
- freedom to a fair trial
- freedom of expression
- freedom from discrimination from others
Human rights act 1998
What did the ECHR require states to do
- hold free and fair elections
- abolish the death penalty
- give foreigners the same rights as citizens living in the same country
ECHR
Give an example of how the ECHR was succcessful
Hirst V United Kingdom 2005
challenged the governments blanket ban on all prisoners voting due to ECHR
2017 some reforms were introduced like letting some prisoners have temporary release to vote
ECHR
Give an example of how the HRA 1998 was unsucessful
Government can declare exemption from the HRA
in 2005 the government made control orders to restrict movements of suspected terrorists thorugh exemption of article 5 of the ECHR
Constitutional Reform Act: Supreme Court
What were 3 impacts of the Constitutional Reform act 2005?
- act seperated government and judiciary
- established supreme court
- reformed appointment process
What did the acts of union 1707 impose
UK and Scottish parliament is centralised in westminister with representatives from both regions
- power centralised in UK government
What did the 1972 European communities act propose?
Joined EEC
EU law now takes precedence over UK law - harms parliamentary soveriegnty
What was the 2020 EU withdrawal act
2016 Brexit referendum - removed UK from EU and centralised more UK Power to parliament
What are the 5 main sources of the british constitution
- statute law
- common law
- treaties
- conventions
- authoritative works
What is a treaty?
Agreements signed with other states that the UK are bound to
sources of the constitution
Give an example of a treaty
1951 UKjoined the ECHR - bound to follow the conventions and can be held account by european court of human rights
sources of the constitution
Give an example of statute law
1969 representation of the people act lowered voting age 18
sources of the constitution
Give an advantage of statute law
can be easily changed so public opinion is reflected
sources of the constitution
Give a disadvantage of statute law
tyrannical governments can easily change the consitution in it’s favour
sources of the constitution
What are authoritative works
books that explain the political workings of the UK
sources of the constitution
Give an example of authoritative works
AV Dicey’s writing in 1885 set out parliamentary sovereighnty and rule of law as the ‘two pillars’ of the UK constitution
sources of the constitution
What is an example of common law
the presumption of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ was commmon law for centuries until it became statute law in 1679
sources of the constitution
Give an example of a convention
Salibury convention - HOL does not block anything in a governments manifesto
sources of the constitution
Arguement against salibury convention
Put in place due to conservative majority in HOL that was eradicated by HOL reform act 1999 so it should also be disregarded
sources of the constitution
Argument for salibury convention
based on the HOL being unelected so therefore should not block political policy
sources of the constitution
Give an example of a convention involving the monarch
Convention that the monarch will always give royal assent to an act passed in parliament - last time this was not the case was 1707
developments to the UK constitution
Give 3 main developments of the UK constitution
- EU participation
- Devolution
- HRA 1998
Constitutional changes since 1997
What did the 2011 fixed term parliament act propose
5 years between each general election - prime minister cannot just call an election whenever
Constitutional changes since 1997
give an example of how powers have been devolved to wales
In 2015 the Welsh government was granted control of income tax up to £3 billion per year without requiring a referendum.
Constitutional changes since 1997
GIve an example of how mayors and commissioners have been reformed since 1997
2010-2015 coalition government introduced elected mayors in many cities across europe
Constitutional changes since 1997
What are the 3 major reforms of the constitution after 2015?
- Further devolution to scottland
- recall of MP’s
- devolution outside london
Constitutional changes since 1997
GIve an example of further devolution to scotland after 2015
devo-max - scotland are granted more financial powers, for example income tax
Constitutional changes since 1997
Give an example of recall of MP’s reform since 2015
The 2015 Recall of MPs Act gave constituencies the power to recall any MP who had acted inappropriately or misbehaved.
For an MP to be recalled, over 10% of constituents need to support a petition in favour of it.
Constitutional changes since 1997
GIve an example of devolution being granted to cities outside london in constitutional reform since 2015
In 2016 Manchester was given the power to control its own budget for social care and for healthcare which had previously been controlled by central authorities.
Give an example of the recall of MP’s act being used
2019 Peterborough’s fiona onasanya was sucessfully recally as she did not stand in a by-election
