...To what extent is parliament still sovereign? For many years it has been argued that parliamentary sovereignty has, and still is, being eroded. As said by AV Dicey, the word ‘sovereignty’ is used to describe the idea of “the power of law making unrestricted by any legal limit”. Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution, stating that Parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK, able to create and remove any law. This power over-rules courts and all other jurisdiction. It also cannot be entrenched; this is where all laws passed by the party in government can be changed by future parliaments. In recent years sovereignty of parliament has been a In 1972 the UK joined the treaty of accession, this was a statute law passed by parliament. It stated that the UK was now a part of the EU and therefore must abide by the laws and regulations that would be imposed; over 2,900 regulations and 410 directives were added, 43 volumes of the EU legislation. Due to having joined over 30 years after the initial EU was created, the UK has been made to accept laws that had been made without its input. Whereas now, having joined the EU, we are involved in in their creation - this is a key argument for why we should remain a member. Joining the EU has been agued as being a pinnacle point at which the UK lost its sovereignty, as this was the first time in the history of parliament where absolute power was no longer held. Research done by the TPA (Taxpayers Alliance)...
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...is the notion that Parliament is the highest power in the land and therefore supreme to even the Royal Prerogative. A.V. Dicey, a jurist professor explained it as: ‘The principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty means neither more nor less than this, namely, that Parliament thus defined has, under the English constitution, the right to make or unmake any law whatever, and further, that no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.’ Legislative supremacy involves not only the right to change the law but also that no one else should have that right, however, Parliament has, on occasion fettered itself in order to limit its own powers, for example, devolution to Scottish Parliament and Welsh...
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...Government & Politics Unit 2 * Constitution * Codified Constitution ✓ * Advantages & Disadvantages * Features * Uncodified Constitution ✓ * Advantages & Disadvantages * Features * Is Parliament Sovereign? ✓ * Arguments For and Against * Strengths and Weaknesses of the UK’s constitution ✓ * Constitutional Reforms – Coalition and 1997-2010 ✓ * What are they? * Are they effective? * PM & Cabinet * Features & Functions of the PM ✓ * What must a politician be to becoming PM * What can a PM do? * Functions of Cabinet ✓ * Factors that affect promotion and resignation of a minister ✓ * Powers and Constraints of PM ✓ * Theories of Executive Power ✓ * PM V Cabinet ✓ * Parliament * Functions of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Powers of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Parliamentary Reform ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Relationship between Parliament and Government ✓ * Factors that affect it * How the coalition affects it Constitution: 2 Types of Constitution * Codified & Uncodified Codified Constitution * Constitution where the rules are written down in a single document. Example could be the USA...
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...the Freedom of Information Act of 2000 and the devolution of powers. The electoral system used in the UK has also been subject to discussion over reform however all constitutional reform can be said to have not gone far enough. The House of Lords Act of 1999 removed all but 92 hereditary peers from the House of Lords. This meant that the House of Lords could be seen as more legitimate as both unelected and not appointed peers would be seen as undemocratic and illegitimate. The removal of hereditary peers means that the House of Lords are more confident in their role in scrutinising and blocking legislation as they feel more legitimate. An example of the House of Lords exerting this role is the blocking of NHS reform which led to the government rethinking and amending plans, as well as the Hunting Act 2004. However reform of the House of Lords could be said to have not gone far enough, 92 hereditary peers still remain in the House of Lords, and the Liberal Democrats call for a wholly elected upper chamber, to make Parliament fully accountable. The House of Lords are also limited in the fact that they can only delay legislation for up to a year and therefore not able to check executive power as much as they should be able to. The Human Rights Act 1998 is another example of constitutional reform. The Human Rights Act adopted the European Convention of Human Rights and set it as UK statute law. This allows for citizens to be clearer on the rights and freedoms they possess. This was...
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...institutions, the legislature, the executive, judiciary and the nature and the scope of their powers. Moreover, Bradley and Ewing have defined a constitution as ‘ a document having special legal sanctity which sets out the framework and the principle functions of the organs of government within the state and declares the principles by which those organs must operate’. (A Bradley and K Ewing, Constitutional and Administrative Law (14th edn, Pearson/Longman, 2007), p.4) [1]In the introduction of a state’s constitution, there will be a discovery of a preamble, for example, in the USA the preamble states that: ‘We the people...do ordain and establish this Constitution’. (Article 2 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution.)[2] This shows the society as a sovereign power. An important question that often rises is “Should Britain adopts a written constitution”? This has always been the topic of debate and thus very controversial. Many of Britain’s population believe that there is no important reason to form a written constitution when it has been working perfectly fine so far. Some believe that there is no much difference whether the documents are codified or not. The consequences are not huge. As long as the state is in a good shape and has a stable government, many...
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...How has Coalition Government affected Party Politics in the U.K? The arrival of a coalition government formed between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party in 2010 has affected UK party politics in various ways, the nature of which is looked into below. The governing of a country by a coalition of two political parties with differing political stances will involve negotiation between and some degree of compromise on behalf of the two parties. This is necessary in order to come to some form of agreement on key policies, such as those affecting the economy, unemployment, crime, environmental concerns, welfare, law and order and education, amongst other policy areas. The agreements reached are also, to a certain degree, in a balance of compliance with key political beliefs or philosophies of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in terms of their respective guiding principles on areas such as social justice, the appropriate degree of state intervention and the importance of equality and availability of opportunity within society. The rise to power of a coalition government has made Consensus politics a key feature of UK party politics, since the nature of a coalition involves broad agreement on most basic policies between the two major political parties forming the coalition; the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The ability and will to negotiate and agree is of key importance if a coalition is to be able to govern effectively, in an organised...
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...Different levels of Government in the United Kingdom European Parliament The European Parliament is the only directly elected body of the European Union (EU). They have around 751 members, who are called Members of European Parliament. These are elected from all of the member states, such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Members of the European Parliaments are voted every 5 years. They are supposed to represent the citizens of the European Union in the area they are elected from; so, for example this college is in the Yorkshire and Humber region and our Members of the European Parliament represents all the people in that area. The Parliament drafts European Union. These are the laws that all the countries or members in the European Union must abide from. The European Parliament also has a joint responsibility for sorting out the budgets of the European Union. Since the European Union has an annual budget of around €2.1 Billion, this is a really important responsibility, especially as the money comes from all of the member states and they will want to make sure their money is spent probably and sensibly. Central Government The Central Government is based in London in the United Kingdom at the Houses of Parliament. Parliament has 3 parts to it: The House of Commons, The House of Lords and the Monarch, all of three of these parts have to work together for decisions to be made and actions taken. Only Central Government has the authority to act on behalf...
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...powerful is the UK Parliament? The Westminster Parliament is the UK’s highest political institution, making decisions on issues important to citizens throughout Britain. The Houses of Commons and Lords are responsible for passing legislation, scrutinising the government and debating issues. Retaining a high level of sovereignty despite devolution, seating dominating majority governments and possessing unprecedented constitutional flexibility, the UK Parliament wields a great deal of power. Political scientist Arend (Lijphart, 1999) first branded democracies as ‘consensual’ or ‘majoritarian.’ The UK parliament is said to be majoritarian, with a strong governing party and Cabinet, a lesser presence of small parties, minimal decentralisation,...
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...extent has the location of the sovereignty in the UK has changed? The sovereignty is the supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or community. There are two types of sovereignty, legal and political. Legal sovereignty is the principle that one body has the authority and right to change any law in anyway it wants to, legal sovereignty in the UK has been said to lie in Westminster Parliament. Political sovereignty is where power effectively and actively is used and implemented, in other words who holds political power and who has can influence it. For example, political sovereignty lies with the electorate at election time, but at other times lies with parliament when debating legislation and constitutional statues. Although the UK parliament is a sovereign body, there was devolution to the regions under Blaire, as well as transferring powers to the European Parliament in the Brussels, which firstly happened after Maastrich Treaty in 1992. On the one hand, there was a some transfers of EU, whereby the UK Parliament cannot do anything on certain matters. The UK initially joined the EEC in 1973 since then the EEC has become the EU and has also become increasingly more powerful over the UK as time has passed. It could be argued that the EU is supreme over UK statues and the UK parliament. This is shown in the case whereby the EU allowed Spanish fishing boats to fish in UK waters, because it is EU waters, and every EU citizen...
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...answer the question with these issues in mind. According to Hendrik Jan van Eikema Hommes “if a multiplicity of legal rules displays a juridical unity, we can speak of a legal order or a legal system.” The European Union represents a supranational legal order within the specific fields delegated to the institutions and the competence of the community. This supranational federation is a new political entity which works above the individual national governments which make up its membership. The European Union is considered unique in this respect due to the level of integration which raises the Union from being merely an international agreement to being a supranational entity. Martin Steinfield describes the EU is a “federal order of sovereign states that has to grapple with legal political and economic relations in the wider world”. He also argues that “mixity” is at the heart of the European Union since the union must balance the integrity of its own new legal order against the sovereignty of member states. “Mixity” however doesn’t explain how conflict is resolved within the EU between higher policies and member states. “Mixity” doesn’t explain how the EU has attained harmony and uniformity. Supremacy, in legal and political terms, refers to the hierarchy of authority or the...
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...since 1997, ultimately has not gone far enough in the UK. Such reforms in the UK, including the House of Lords Act 1999 took reform in Westminster to quite a large extent, but this has be limited by a few factors. In addition, the Human Right Act 1998 was another significant reform under the Blair government allowing citizens clearer light on their rights and freedoms, however this Act of Parliament is not entrenched within the UK’s constitution. The electoral system has also been subject to interpretation under constitutional reform such as PR systems used for Scottish Parliament and devolved assemblies. The House of Lords Act 1999 put through under the Blair government removed all but 92 hereditary peers from the House of Lords. This meant that Parliament’s lower chamber could be seen as a more legitimate body as unelected and unappointed peers were seen as undemocratic and illegitimate to the UK political system. This also meant that there would be a more confident role of scrutiny in the House of Lords as appointed peers would be deemed fairer on legislation in the Lords chamber. An example of the House of Lords exerting this new role is the blocking of the NHS reform which led to the government having to amend their plans, as well as the Hunting Act 2004. Conversely, this reform to the House of Lords could be argued to have not gone far enough as 92 hereditary peers still remain, meaning that a number Lords can still be seen as unaccountable to the legislative system. The...
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...world. Many historical reasons are behind the success of this latter country; but the reason that has a special importance in my opinion is the industrial revolution. Leading the global movement of industrialization made the UK today a prosperous country. Citizens enjoy their civil liberties according to the Human Rights Act 1998 which gives further effect to the European Convention on Human rights in the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of Morocco is the most politically stable country in the Arab World. The Alaoui Dynasty reigned and governed the country for several centuries and is still the central pillar of the Moroccan state. The Monarchy is believed to be the rationale for the exceptional stability of Morocco, and few Moroccans would argue the contrary after the events of the “Arab Spring”, yet the country has a long democratization process to achieve. The constitutional reform that was launched by His Highness the King Mohammed VI is a decisive step for Morocco to become a democratic state. Comparing the political systems of the United Kingdom and Morocco is an interesting subject of study. Both countries are very old monarchies but share only some few characteristics. Throughout this essay, we will try to compare the political systems of the UK and Morocco according to the following subjects: the monarchy, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches. II. Body A. The Monarchy Also referred to as the Crown, the British Monarchy is an important...
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...authoritative, highest law of the land. Binds all political institutions – leads to 2 tier legal system ▪ Provisions of it are entrenched, difficult to amend or abolish ▪ It is judiciable, all political bodies are subject to authority of the courts, in particular a supreme court. o Uncodified – increasingly rare, UK one of few ▪ Not authoritative, constitutional laws treated same as ordinary laws ▪ Not entrenched, constitution can be changed through the normal process for enacting statute law. ▪ Not judiciable, judges do not have legal standard to declare that actions of other bodies are constitutional/not constitutional. o However: ▪ No constitution is entirely written, written documents do not encompass all aspects of constitutional practice ▪ No constitution is entirely unwritten, no constitution consisting only of rules of conduct or behaviour. • Unitary and federal o Unitary – establish constitutional supremacy of central government over provincial and local bodies. Reflected in UK via Parliament o Federal – divide sovereignty between 2 levels of government, both central and regional posses a range of powers that the other...
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...in the UK changed in the recent years? Sovereignty is essential and there is nothing you can do to challenge it or take it away. In the UK sovereignty lies within parliament; Sovereignty was placed formally to parliament after the Bill of Rights Act in 1688 when the monarch’s powers were removed. Ultimate power lies in parliament due to the fact that the electorate vote for the members of Parliament in free, fair and regular elections. There are two types of sovereignty that exist, legal and political. Legal sovereignty is the principle that one body has the authority and right to change any law in anyway it wants to, legal sovereignty in the UK has been said to lie in Westminster Parliament. Political sovereignty is where power effectively and actively is used and implemented, in other words who holds political power and who has can influence it. For example, political sovereignty lies with the electorate at election time, but at other times lies with Parliament when debating legislation and constitutional statues. People argue that the EU undermines Parliament sovereignty because national sovereignty of the British ts citizens is the ability of the UK to decide matters for itself. Membership of the EU has meant there has been a loss of national sovereignty. There are now a lot of EU institutions which are also in power with the UK political institutions and sometimes a number of areas which the EU has had an impact on the independent decision making of UK Parliament. It can...
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...How democratic is the UK political system? In the UK we have a political system which is, essentially, democratic. As there are some 63 million people living in the UK, complete democracy – whereby the public decide on everything – would be impossible, as there would need to be constant referendums. Representative democracy means that elected politicians represent each constituency in the country; this aims to be a democratic system where each politician acts in the interests of their constituents. However, this system could be undemocratic as each MP belongs to a specific party, and therefore could vote on behalf of their party rather than with the opinions of the constituents. Although Britain is a democracy, some people and institutions which have power have not been elected by the people. This could be seen as undemocratic. An example of this is the House of Lords; the members are unelected, yet still hold power as bills cannot be passed without being considered by both Houses. The House of Commons could be viewed as more democratic than the Lords, as all MPs are elected, for example Ian Lucas was elected as the MP for Wrexham. The UK has a ‘first past the post’ electoral system. Many seen this as undemocratic as it allows a political party to gain seats in parliament even if another party had thousands more votes. An example is the Green party, who gained a seat in parliament with around 300,000 votes in the last election. UKIP had over three times this amount of...
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