US/UK constitution Flashcards
what is that nature of the UK constitution?
uncodified, unitary and unentrenched
what are the principles of the UK constitution?
parliamentary sovereignty, separation of powers
what is the nature of the US constitution?
codified, entrenched
what are the documents of the UK constitution?
Magna carta 1215, bill of rights 1689, act of settlement 1701, act of union 1707, parliament acts 1911 and 1949, 1972 EEC
what are the sources of the UK constitution?
conventions, common law, statute law, authoritative works
what was Dicey twin pillars of the UK constitution?
rule of law and parliamentary sovereignty
what did the magna carta do to the UK constitution?
an agreement that prevented the abuse of power by the monarch, established rule of law
what did the Bill of Rights do to the UK constiution?
power of the monarch was reliant on the consent of parliament, parliamentary privilege
what did the EEC do to the UK constitution?
Britain entered the European Economic Community, EU law now had precedence over UK law.
what did the act of union do to the UK constitution?
Scotland, Ireland with England to form Great Britain
what did the Act of Settlement do to the UK constitution?
only a protestant could become monarch, parliament decided the line of succession
What did the two parliament acts in 1911 and 1949 do to the UK constitution?
1911 - HOL no longer had control over money bills
1949 - could no longer delay a bill up to 2 years, reduced to 1 year only.
what is statute law? and why is it important?
all legislation that is created by parliament, it is an important source of the constitution because of parliamentary sovereignty. other sources can be overridden by statute law.
what is common law?
customs and judicial precedent, decisions that clarify the meaning of statute law, in the absence of statute law.
what are conventions?
customs and practices that are accepted as the way of doing thing, a convention that the government should resign if it is defeated in a vote of no confidence.
what are authoritative works?
books or written guides to the working of the constitution. they are widely respected that are not legally binding.
what are treaties? which affected the UK constitution?
treaties are agreements signed with out countries, those that affected the UK constitution where EEC 1972 and Maastricht Treaty 1992.
what was the influence of ECHR on the UK constitution?
the signing of the ECHR meant that all government actions needed to be in compliance with the ECHR. as well as the ECJ protected the rights of the UK workers.
what legislation protects the rights of UK citizens?
ECHR, Data protection act 1984. HRA 1998, freedom of information act, Equality act 2010
what is the Equality act 2010?
the act brought all anti-discriminatory measures into a single document. no one could be discriminated against there gender, age, sexual orientation, disability etc.
what did the HRA do?
ECHR became codified into British law, that all rights that citizens have to be in compliance with the EU law for human rights, it allows for cases can be discussed in courts in the UK rather than travelling to the ECJ in Europe
how effective has legislation been in protecting rights?UK
HRA has not been entrenched, so it can be replaced and does not offer sufficient protection of rights and liberties. conservatives have planned to replace with the British bill of rights. as well as the rights can be set aside e.g., 9/11
what are individual and collective rights
individual - those that an individual has, enables a free and fair society, protects minorities.
collective - those that groups, religious groups etc.
what is an example of individuals and collective rights conflicting?
after 9/11, the government wished to detain suspected terrorists without trial and evidence that proves that they are a terrorist, but this was ruled against, seen as discrimination. individual protected, but collective could still be seen in harms way.
