The UK constitution: the Executive Flashcards
What is the role of the Executive?
The power of the state in the United Kingdom is divided between and exercised by the three organisations of government: the executive, the legislature (Parliament) and the judiciary (Courts and Tribunals). The basic structure of the executive can be visualised as follows (but bear in mind that the monarch’s role is nominal and symbolic):
· The Monarch
- The Prime Minister and the Cabinet (21 senior government ministers called ‘Secretaries of State’ and Lord Chancellor)
- Government departments (run by politically independent civil servants)
The business of the central Executive (‘the government’) is divided into administratively distinct sections which are…
led by a senior politician, usually referred to as the Secretary of State, though some have special titles, notably the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Secretaries of State are members of the Cabinet.
Within each department or ministry, there are also several junior ministers - the second rank is normally known as a…
…Minister of State and the third rank as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. Colloquially, all these officials are known as ‘Ministers’.
If there is a change of government…
…the Ministers will leave their posts
What is a ‘Cabinet reshuffle’?
When Ministers change departments during the period of time their political party is in power. These changes are made by the Prime Minister.
Civil servants who work in government departments are…
…politically neutral. They do not have to move jobs when there is a change of government.
The core government departments for the purposes of constitutional law are:
(What do they do?)
- The Cabinet Office (responsible, amongst other matters, for national emergencies and constitutional reform)
- The Foreign Office (responsible for relations with foreign states)
- The Home Office (responsible for the security of the United Kingdom and policing)
- The Ministry of Justice (responsible for the administration of the Courts and Tribunals system, and prisons and probation)
- The Treasury (responsible for economic policy, including public spending, i.e. the allocation of taxes paid by the public)
CHaT FM
The powers of government departments are derived from…
- Statute (legislation which has been approved by Parliament)
- Or the common law – usually the royal prerogative
The allocation of funds to government departments requires…
…the approval of Parliament.
What is delegation of power?
This means the lawful exercise of power, granted to a minister by legislation or under common law, to a government official of lower rank working in the same department.
Eg. Consider the granting of passports. This is a prerogative power of the Crown, exercised by the Secretary of State for the Home Department (the ‘Home Office’). However, the Secretary of State could not personally review and decide all passport applications. Therefore, this power is delegated to passport officers.
What is the ‘Carltona principle’?
The principle that the actions of government department officials are synonymous with the actions of the Minister in charge was established in the case of Carltona Ltd v Commissioners of Works [1943] 2 All ER 560 (CA).
The judgment was given by Lord Greene, Master of the Rolls:
“In the administration of government in this country the functions which are given to ministers (and constitutionally properly given to ministers because they are constitutionally responsible) are so multifarious that no responsible minister could properly attend to them […] the duties imposed on ministers are normally exercised [under their authority] by responsible officials of the department. Public business could not be carried out if that were not the case.”
Ministers remain politically answerable to Parliament for such decisions, however.
What are the Limits on the power of the executive?
The government can only act if it is expressly authorised, either by statute or common law, to do so.
If the government acts in excess of the powers it is given, the Administrative Court will intervene – not of its own accord, but if a claim is started against the government.
The legal mechanism by which individuals or groups, who assert that the government has acted unlawfully in this way, can make such a claim, is called ‘judicial review’.
The Crown (government) and its ministers are subject to the following constitutional principles:
- Laws may not be suspended: the government may not suspend any law without the consent of Parliament (Bill of Rights, s. 1).
- Taxation: All taxes require the consent of Parliament. They must be set out in legislation.
- Habeas corpus: the restrictions imposed on the arbitrary imprisonment and punishment of citizens remain an important limitation on government power today and can be traced back a long way into history, including to the Magna Carta (1215).
- Freedom from arrest: there are no longer any common law powers exercisable by the monarch or by government ministers, to issue warrants of search or arrest.
- Impeachment: Parliament can inquire into alleged illegal acts by ministers (though this power has very seldom been exercised).
FILTH
Local authorities are responsible for the…
…implementation of central government policies at the local level, e.g. for the collection of council tax, the maintenance of highways, and decisions about building new housing, as well as applying their own local policies.
- The central Executive means…
…the government, i.e. the departments, run by the Ministers of State, which create and implement government policy. The head of the Executive is the Prime Minister.
