The UK Constituion

Question 1

Define individual rights?

Answer 1

Rights that belong to each citizen e.g. the right to free speech or to practise their religion or lifestyle choice without discrimination

Question 2

Define collective rights ?

Answer 2

Rights that lie with a group of people e.g members of a trade union or people with disabilities

Question 3

Define rule of law ?

Answer 3

The principle that the law is enforced and that it is applies equally to everyone including the goverment

Question 4

What type of constitution is the UK constitution and explain it? What is unitary?

Answer 4

-The British constitution is uncodified, meaning is not found in one single document or place
-the British constitution is defined as unitary meaning most of power lies with the centre, namely the westminister parliament

Question 5

Why have some political commentators defined the current constitution as quasi-federal ?

Answer 5

The development of devolved assemblies in the UK regions has weakened the centralised power by taking control over important matters such as education, health etc

Question 6

Define parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 6

The principle of the British constitution that makes parliament the ultimate authority

Question 7

What does the phrase “no parliament can bind its successors” suggest? And give example?

Answer 7

This suggest that what on elected parliament enacts as legislation a later parliament can change or revoke
- for example the UK membership of the European Union, Parliament vote to join what was then termed the EEC through the European communities act 1972. This act was later repealed by the laws that enabled Brexit, namely the European Union (withdrawal) act 2018 and the European Union (withdrawal agreement) act 2020

Question 8

Under what law does the British constitution operate ? Give an example ?

Answer 8

-The British constitution operate under the rule of law, this means the law applies equally to everyone, including those who make the law
-For example the prime minister and ministers must not exceed their lawful powers, even though they themselves made the law in the first place , if they do their actions can be challenged in the courts and they can be found guilty of acting ultra virus

Question 9

Which politcal writer defined parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law as the ‘twin pillars’ of the British constitution ?

Answer 9

A.V Dicey

Question 10

What are the main sources of the British constitution ?

Answer 10

-constitutional statue law
-common law
-the royal prerogative
-conventions
-works of authority
-international agreements

Question 11

Define statue law ?

Answer 11

Any law that has been passed by both Houses of Parliament and received royal assent

Question 12

Which form is the most important source of the British constitution ? Why?

Answer 12

-Statue law
-Because includes laws that define who can vote and human rights

Question 13

Give me examples of voting and human rights ?

Answer 13

Voting: the representation of the people acts 1969 which lowered the voting age from 21-18
Human: the human rights act 1998 which incorporated the European convention on human rights into UK law

Question 14

How did European law indirectly forming part of the British constitution mean ?

Answer 14

-This mean that European laws and treaties such as Lisbon treating signed in 2007 automatically took precedence over any laws passed by Westminster and were binding on the UK government
-This represented a clear if ultimately temporary limit on parliamentary sovereignty

Question 15

Define common law ?

Answer 15

Common law is the body of legal precedent resulting from the rulings of senior judges

Question 16

What laws do common law compromise ?

Answer 16

Common law comprises laws or rights passed down over the years by legal judgement in the courts, a process known as judicial precedence

Question 17

Give an example of common law ?

Answer 17

For example while there is not one specific law that makes murder a criminal offence there is the obvious notion that it is a crime and has always been viewed as such by the state

Question 18

What matters had statue law over time had to dealt with ?

Answer 18

The punishment of murder such as abolishing the death penalty 1965

Question 19

Define royal prerogative ?

Answer 19

The formals powers of the monarch that are in practise exercised by the prime minister and the government

Question 20

What type of power does royal prerogative grant ?

Answer 20

They range from high profile powers, such as the power to seek a dissolution or prorogation of parliament to less well-known ones such as the issuing of UK passports

Question 21

Give an example of royal prerogative ?

Answer 21

In August 2019 prime minister boris Johnson sought the queens permission to prorogue parliament for a longer than usual period of 5 weeks

Question 22

Why was this controversial ?

Answer 22

This move was seen by his critics as an attempt to avoid full scrutiny of the government brexits proposal

Question 23

When was the date moved too ?

Answer 23

31st October

Question 24

What happened at the court ?

Answer 24

Protraction was duly granted but then subsequently ruled illegally by a unanimous 11-0 judgement of the UK Supreme Court in September 2019 which was the option that the action was unlawful

Question 25

Define conventions ?

Answer 25

Conventions are unwritten rules and procedures mostly concerned with parliament that facilitate the smooth running of the constitution

Question 26

What an example of conventions ?

Answer 26

One good example is the Salisbury Addison convention 1945, following labours landslide election victory the then Tory dominated House of Lords agreed not to delay any of the manifesto promises of clement atlee’s new Labour government which included the establishment of the NHS

Question 27

What another important convention ?

Answer 27

Another important convention is that after a general election the monarch formally invites the leader of the largest single party to form a government.

Question 28

How is this convention complex when there’s a hung parliament ?

Answer 28

When there’s is a hung parliament such as 2010 general election, the leader of the party with the most seats is invited to be prime minister, in 2010 it was David Cameron

Question 29

What would have happened if David Cameron did not secure a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrat’s ?

Answer 29

The queen would then have appointed labour leader, Gordon brown to be PM

Question 30

What the most important convention in terms of legislation ? And why is it so important ?

Answer 30

-The monarch gives royal assent to all bills that have been passed by both Houses of Parliament -the last refusal of royal assent was in 1707, denial of royal assent today would create a constitutional crisis

Question 31

Define works of authority ?

Answer 31

Works of authority, compromise a variety of books and documents that deal with areas including parliamentary procedures and the responsibilities and duties of governments and ministers

Question 32

Give me an example of works of authority ?

Answer 32

-Walter bagehot the English constitution 1867 -A.V.Dicey introduction to study of the law of the constitution 1885 -The cabinet manual 2010

Question 33

Explain Walter Bagehot’s English constitution 1867 ?

Answer 33

Bagehot sought among other things to distinguish between dignified and efficient aspects of the constitution. For example the monarch was clearly the dignified part of the constitution having no real political power by the time the book was written while the cabinet held most of the real power, emerging as it does from the house of commons the ultimate authority in the English constitution

Question 34

How does Bagehot describe the cabinet ?

Answer 34

A combining committee

Question 35

Explain A.V.Dicey’s introduction to the study of the law of the constitution 1885 ?

Answer 35

-Dicey did not only focus on his twin pillars of democracy but also conventions such as the king must assent to or cannot veto any bill passed by the two Houses of Parliament -He also strongly asserted the notion of parliamentary sovereignty, commenting that parliament was an absolutely sovereign legislature and that under the English constitution it posses the right to make or unmake any law whatever.

Question 36

Explain the cabinet manual 2010 ?

Answer 36

-This was produced by the cabinet offices at the start of the coalition government to offer a guide as to how the British government and parliament would work -the project was initiated by former PM Gordon brown

Question 37

What key laws have contributed to the development and evolution of the British constitution ?

Answer 37

Magna Carta 1215 Bill of Rights 1689 Act of settlement 1701 Parliament Acts 1911, 1945 European Communities Act 1972

Question 38

Why did the Magna Carta come to place ?

Answer 38

It was a royal charter of rights agreed between the king John and his baron in response to the political crisis the king was facing

Question 39

Among its 63 clauses which one remains the most important till today ?

Answer 39

All free men have the right to a fair trial

Question 40

What does the Magna Carta represent ?

Answer 40

On the on hand the Magna Carta represent the first formal attempt to try and limit the powers of the monarch and place him or her under the rule of law.

Question 41

Which document have the Magna Carta clauses influenced ?

Answer 41

-American Declaration of Independence, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights

Question 42

How is the Magna Carta still limited in the development of the British constitution ?

Answer 42

-many of the terms were specific and particular to that period in history, essentially it was a peace treaty which was unsuccessful as it did not intend as a major turning point either in universal human rights or the balance of power in the realm. -only four of its clauses including the right to justice remains un-repealed today

Question 43

What was the bill of rights 1689 ?

Answer 43

-the bill of rights established parliamentary sovereignty and parliamentary state -through the introduction of free election, freedom of speech within parliament and no taxation without parliaments agreement

Question 44

Why is the bill of rights 1689 significant ?

Answer 44

-very significant as parliament continued to meet every years since 1689 -the bill also established the dominance of parliament over the monarchy, meaning the latter would now exist only on the terms set by Parliament -in addition the principle of free speech for MPs and peers when speaking in parliament prevails to this day -the creation of a parliamentary state is an enduring feature of the British political system

Question 45

How is thr bill of rights still limited ?

Answer 45

-the bill of rights did not cover the right of ordinary men let alone women - Britain was far from being a democratic state in 1689 and this was a parliament composed of wealthy male landowners -such development would not occur until the succession reform acts from 1832 onwards, reaching a conclusion only in 1928 when women were granted the vote on a fully equal basis to men.

Question 46

What was the act of settlement 1701 ?

Answer 46

The main aim of this legislation was to ensure a Protestant succession to the throne.

Question 47

Why is the act settlement 1701 seen as a milestone ?

Answer 47

This can be seen as a milestone because this was a case of parliament calling the shots and laying down the criteria for British monarchy -lineage and bloodline key features of a hereditary institution mattered less than meeting Parliament requirements for a Protestant heir

Question 48

How is the act of settlement still limited ?

Answer 48

However this act did nothing to propel England/Britain towards a modern democratic state, in fact settling the throne on one religious group strikes the 21st century reader as a retrograde step in terms of equality and fairness

Question 49

What was the parliament act 1911 ?

Answer 49

-It ended the lords absolute veto over legislation and restricted their power to delay a bill for 2 years -they were also prevented from delaying ‘money bills’ or budgets

Question 50

What was the parliament act 1945 ?

Answer 50

The act was modified to reduce the delay to just one year

Question 51

How was both the acts of 1911 and 1949 significant ?

Answer 51

-Both acts significantly increased the democratic accountability of Westminster, no longer could the unelected chamber frustrate the will of the elected house -In effect it meant that any bill passed by the commons would now automatically become law after a year.

Question 52

How are both act still limited ?

Answer 52

-it left much undone as the House of Lords still compromised of unelected members who owed their place due to hereditary privilege. -life peers were only introduced in 1958 with the life peerage act and Blair 1999 reforms to the upper house which removed most hereditary peers failed to introduce any elected elements

Question 53

What was the European communities act 1972 ?

Answer 53

This measure enable the accession of the United Kingdom to the European economic community, negotiated by Conservative prime minister Edward Heath

Question 54

How many hours of debate and how many vote did the European communities 1972 gain and why is this significant ?

Answer 54

-it took about 300 hours of debate and narrowly passed in its second reading with 309-301 votes, a reminder that euroscepticism has a long history in UK politics

Question 55

Why is the European communities act 1972 important ?

Answer 55

-this measure was important in the development of the British constitution because under the terms of the UK membership all legislation had to conform with European law which represented an incursion into the hallowed doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty -along with this ac further measures were passed such as the single European act 1987 and the Lisbon treaty 2007, during the UK membership the EEC/EU became a major part of the British politcal scene and indirectly of the British constitution

Question 56

How is was the European communities act 1972 still limited ?

Answer 56

-the loss of parliamentary sovereignty was temporary, this act is a classic example of what one parliament gives, another takes away -with the EU withdrawal act of 2018 and 2020, the 1972 act was repealed -also the European law although very important in certain areas such as agriculture, fisheries and trade, it had far less impact on other key policy areas such as defence and education therefore could be argued that it did not fundamentally change the way UK does domestic policies

Question 57

What did Blair promise in his speech at the 1994 labour conference ?

Answer 57

The biggest programme of change to democracy ever proposed

Question 58

What are the main themes of Blair 12 constitutional bills in the first parliamentary session ?

Answer 58

-modernisation of politcal institutions such as the House of Lords and the rung of the judiciary -greater democracy in the political system for example elected majors and more referendums -the devolution of many powers away from the centre -an emphasis on human rights especially those of minority groups

Question 59

How did th conservative coalition government 2010-15 differ from Blair’s ?

Answer 59

They pursed a more modest programme of ongoing constitutional changes, including a referendum on replacing the electoral system for general elections, limiting the powers of the PM to dissolve parliament and increasing the powers of devolved administration in Scotland and Wales