TOPIC 5.3- The Constitution (The Nature And Principles Of The UK Constitution)

Question 1

What makes the UK’s constitution uncodified?

Answer 1

-not written in ONE single document
-found in multiple places including statute laws,conventions, historical texts
-UK CON IS MULTI-SOURCED

Question 2

Is the UK’s constitution entrenched or unentrenched?

Answer 2

unentrenched

Question 3

What does it mean if the UK’s constitution unentrenched?

Answer 3

Any part of CON can be changed w/ a simple act of Parliament

FOR EXAMPLE:
The Human Rights Act could be scrapped or amended if Parliament passed a law to do so.

Question 4

Does the US have a codified or uncodified entrenched or unentrenched constitution?

Answer 4

Codified
Entrenched

Question 5

A constitution that is entrenched is…

Answer 5

protected from short-term ammendments

Question 6

What does it mean if the US’s constitution is entrenched?

Answer 6

US CON requires a complicated procedure whereby three quarters of the 50 STATES and two thirds of BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS must agree to change the constitution.

Question 7

If UK was to adopt a codified constitution, would it have an unentrenched or entrenched?

Answer 7

ENTRENCHED

if it was not entrenched, codifying the CON would be futile as it could be changed by any Parliament.

Question 8

Define Parliamentary Sovereignty.

Answer 8

The concept that Parliament is the supreme decision-making body in the UK. Legally sovereign.

Question 9

The UK parliament is …?

Answer 9

Sovereign

Question 10

Implications of Sovereign Parliament of UK

Answer 10

-any decision made elsewhere in UK can be overturned by an act of Parliament

-No Parliament is bound by previous decisions

-No Parliament is bound by future decisions

Question 11

Give an example which represents:

No Parliament is bound by previous decisions-

Answer 11

Labour gov was able to devolve power to London after the thatcher gov had abolished the Greater London Council

Question 12

Give an example which represents:

No Parliament is bound by future Parliaments-

Answer 12

Conservative Party can scrap the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, as promised in its 2019 general election manifesto

Question 13

What are the 4 different forms of sovereignty?

Answer 13

Legal sovereignty
Political sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Devolved sovereignty

Question 14

Describe legal sovereignty

Answer 14

refers to formal power, which usually lies where laws are made.

In UK, Parliament is seen to have legal sovereignty

Question 15

Describe political sovereignty

Answer 15

Refers to the body, institution or group that IN PRACTISE holds the most influence over decision making.

In the UK:
-governing party
-cabinet
-PM
often thought of as having political sovereignty IN PART DUE TO THEIR DOMINANCE OVER PARLIAMENT

Question 16

Describe popular sovereignty

Answer 16

Rests with electorate, which votes in referendums and elections, the outcomes of which are IN PRACTISE BINDING ON PARLIAMENT

Question 17

Describe devolved sovereignty

Answer 17

Parliament agrees for other bodies or institutions to take decisions. These ‘devolved’ powers can be taken back by the UK Parliament at a later date.

Question 18

Define the RULE OF LAW

Answer 18

The principle that equal justice should apply to all. This by extension requires the government to follow the law as laid down by the Parliament.

Question 19

Who claimed that the Rule Of Law consists of 3 strands?

Answer 19

A.V Dicey (1885)

Question 20

What 3 strands does the rule of law consist of according to A.V Dicey ?

Answer 20

1- no one can be punished w/o trial

2-no individual of institution is considered above the law, including government which means that all citizens are subject to the same justice

2- an independent judiciary can hold govt. ministers to account and this judiciary ought to be free from governmental interference.
IN PRACTICE this means that citizens can take the govt. to court, and that the govt. must act in accordance with the law, not make arbitrary rules.

Question 21

Rule of law:

Answer 21

the second ‘twin pillar’ of the UK constitution (alongside parliamentary sovereignty). The principle that the law applies to everyone, even those in government.

Question 22

Parliamentary government:

Answer 22

there is a fusion of powers between the executive (the government of the day- Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and so on) and the legislature (Parliament). Parliament provides the government in the members of the government are drawn from Parliament.

Question 23

Constitutional monarchy:

Answer 23

the monarchy in the UK has no real political power, but remains in place- this is due to the fact it is long-established and traditional. The monarch sits ‘above’ the government, but is merely a figurehead (and perhaps a symbol of unity for the country).

Question 24

EU membership:

Answer 24

the UK is a member of the EU. This means that European law can override statute law in some cases (established by the Factortame case of 1991- UK law was that fishing boats had to have a majority of British owners. This was against EU law, so was overruled). The EU issues thousands of policy directives each year, some of which affect the UK. Many areas, such as health, education, social services, are unaffected, but areas such as human rights, environmental policy, consumer affairs are affected. Despite this the UK Parliament retains the power to leave the EU at any time (demonstrated by Parliamentary approval of the triggering of Article 50).

Question 25

Parliamentary sovereignty:

Answer 25

the principle that absolute, supreme and unrestricted power lies with Parliament. JS Mill suggested that Parliament ‘can do anything it wants, except turn a man into a woman’. Parliament is sovereign as there is no codified constitution for judges to use to challenge it, statute laws outrank other laws, and Parliament cannot bind its successors (no law that is made cannot be unmade).

This idea has been challenged though, due to the wider use of referendums (transferring sovereignty to the people), the argument that Parliament is restricted by practical considerations and outside interests, and the issue of EU laws conflicting with statute law.