Uk Constitution Flashcards
Sources of the UK constitution
Statute Law
- Law passed by parliament
- Human Rights Act 1998
Common Law
- Law passed down by legal judgements over time
Royal Prerogative
- Residual remaining powers exercised by the monarch
- 2019 Boris Johnson asked the queen to prorogue the parliament
Conventions
- Generally agreed rules/traditions
- Monarch invites the leader of largest party to form a government
Works of authority
- 2010 Cabinet Manual
Principles of UK constitution
Parliamentary Sovereignty
- Parliament is sovereign
- Legislation can not be overturned
Constitutional Monarchy
- Parliamentary sovereignty under constitutional monarchy
Rule of Law
- No one is above the law
Unitary State
- Power centralized
4 themes of constitutional reforms
Modernization
- Of political institutions like HOL
Greater Democracy
- More referendums
Devolution
Human Rights
Modernization Legislation
HOL act 1999
- Removed all but 92 hereditary peers
Constitutional Reform Act 1998
- Created Supreme Court
HOL reform Act 2014
- Allowed existing peers to resign
Greater Democracy Legislation
Referendums Scotland, Wales act 1997
- Referendums for creation of devolved assemblies
Greater London authority Act 1999
- Mayor in London
Fixed term parliament act 2011
- 2/3 for early election
Devolution Legislation
Scotland, Wales, N Ireland act 1998
- Set up parliaments in those countries
Human Rights Legislation
Human Rights Act 1998
- ECHR into UK law
Freedom of information act 2000
Equality Act 2010
- 116 measures against discrimination
How well does the UK constitution protect rights?
Well
- Parliamentary acts
- ECHR 1998
- Supreme Court
Not well
- Brexit removing safety
- Conservative try to remove ECHR
- Many rights poorly established
Should UK constitution be codified?
Yes
- UK is 1/3 countries that has uncodified constitution
- Greater clarity on what is constitutional
- Conventions often broken
- Removing vagueness
- Reduce power of executive
- Entrenches rights
No
- Flexibility
- Goes against UK tradition of evolution
- Judges great power
- Lacked of popular demand
