...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 has a freedom of movement in the EU. Also...
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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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...answer. Full knowledge and understanding of the meaning of sovereignty. Knowledge shown of distinctions between the classic account of sovereignty and political meanings of the softer, more flexible approach to sovereignty. The legal sovereignty of parliament is mainly challenged by the EU. Knowledge of the relationship between the UK and the EU should be full and exemplified. Devolution is often seen as a de facto transfer of sovereignty. Knowledge of the relationships between Westminster and the devolved administrations. Referendums can also be seen in the same light as devolution. Investigation of the transfer of political sovereignty over a long period to executive government and the prime minister. There should be a clear statement of how legal sovereignty remains with parliament. In the UK sovereignty lies within parliament; 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...
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...Unit 1 Government and Policies UK Government 01 P1 There is three main components to the structure of the UK government, the first and most important being the central government(Parliament) this contains the House of Commons and the House of Lords, this is where all the main decisions about how the UK operates happen, the next is the devolved parliaments(e.g. The Scottish parliament and the welsh assembly) these are responsible for managing Scotland and Wales idiosyncratically, the Scottish parliament has the power to produce laws and bills without the need of the UK parliament agreeing, the Welsh on the other hand do not have such powers. Finally there are the local authorities these are made up of County councils, District Councils, Parish Councils etc these do things within certain areas or constituencies throughout the UK. The European parliament also plays a big role in the running and decision making of the UK parliament, Established in 1952, the EP is based in Brussels and Strasbourg, it has also been known to assemble in Luxembourg also, it has 751 members and is run by Martin Schulz, it influences EU laws within the UK and decides international agreements. P2 Each department of the government is important in its own rights, there are too many departments to name here but the main three that support the public services would be: The Ministry of Defence (MoD): The MoD’s main priority is implementing the defence policy set by the government and of...
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...BTEC PUBLIC SERVICES ASSESSMENT 2 Understanding the Democratic Election process in the UK Introduction: What is UK Election? A formal and organized choice by vote of a person for a political office or other position in UK is called Election. According to fixed term parliament act on 15th September, 2011 the next election will be held on 7th of May 2015.The act provides for general elections to be held on the first Thursday in May every five years. There are two provisions that trigger an election other than at five year intervals. A motion of no confidence is passed in Her Majesty's Government by a simple majority and 14 days elapses without the House passing a confidence motion in any new Government formed A motion for a general election is agreed by two thirds of the total number of seats in the Commons including vacant seats (currently 434 out of 650) Previous to this act, the duration of a Parliament was set at five years, although many were dissolved before that, at the request of the Prime Minister to the Queen. ●text: http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general/ Importance of Election Education: Instructors, counsellors and others who work with young people play an important role in Educating new and future voters about the electoral process. For this reason it is important that those who work with youth do what they can to educate youth about the democratic process. In the 2005 British Columbia general election, only 35% of eligible...
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...wording and language is clear to allow any amendments on the bill. In the latter committee, there are two departments – governmental and non-governmental. They examine government departments’ expeditures , policies and policies. There are between 16 to 50 members in the PBC who are selected by Committee of Selection whose 7 out 9 members are ships. On the other hand, there are 11 members in the SCs and to eliminate “the conflict of interest, all the members are backbench members who are elected using the Alternative vote system. 2a What are the main functions of Parliament and how well does it perform them? [5] < This question is a 20-mark question > 3a What are the differences between direct and representative democracy? [5] In direct democracy, people are directly involved in decision-making processes, whereas in representative democracy, people elect MPs who will represent and form a government in Parliament. For instance, some qualified members of Athenian society were involved in decision-making and a referendum is a limited form of direct democracy. Also general elections are kind of parliamentary democracy, they are held every five years to election a representative and a government. There is potential danger that decision-making mechanisms can be affected by an organised faction and demagogue in direct democracy. 4a What is the role of the opposition in British politics? [5] The main role of the opposition is adversarial. The Opposition is not...
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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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...deficit at the heart of the EU? Many Conservative and UKIP politicians as well as supporters of these two parties would argue there is a democratic deficit at the heart of the EU. One of the big arguments as to why the EU has a democratic deficit is that the EU is an elitist organisation. This argument claims that the EU is controlled by a small group with a lot of power. The elite can be separated into two distinct groups: the economic elite and political elite. The economic elite are defined as big businesses that want a big, single market of which to trade in of which the political elite push forward. The political elite constitute: heads of governments, foreign ministers, civil servants and the Commission who have come under a lot of scrutiny by euro-sceptics for being undemocratic. Elite domination can be evidenced by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and Denmark as a member state. The Maastricht Treaty was the most important treaty in terms of change of rules of the EU and Demark wanted to consult with its population before accepting the terms by holding a referendum. The first referendum led to a rejection by the Danish people however a second referendum was held on the issue in which the Danish population agreed to accept the treaty. This is a clear example of the EU not taking no for an answer and shows how the EU is led by an elite that will not take rejection from the population of an EU member-state. This can be evidenced further by idea of an EU Constitution that the elite...
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...How and why should parliament be made more effective? Parliament is the sovereign body in the United Kingdom and so it is vital, for the wellbeing of democracy, that parliament not only exists but is also effective. Parliament plays the role of the Legislative and, as a result, is required to be as effective as possible to assure that laws are well thought out, benefit the whole of society and most of all maintain democracy. However, many people feel that certain aspects within Parliament limit its effectiveness and they feel these features need to be reformed in order for Parliament to carry out its function correctly. Firstly, the most obvious way to make Parliament more effective would be to reform the electoral system. Currently, Westminster elections use the system of First-past-the-post where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins the seats. However, this system is highly disproportionate in both terms of the word as it exaggerates winning votes for example, the Conservatives received 36.1% of the vote and won 47.1% of the seats in the 2010 general election, whereas it penalises small parties such as the Liberal Democrats who won 23% of the vote but gained only 8.8% of the seats. Particularly as FPTP produces landslide majorities, it makes Parliament less effective as the party that wins the general election forms the government and therefore has a large majority in most cases. If MPs belonging to the party vote along party lines all the time, in...
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...of the EU as much of our law is now defined or influenced by EU law; EU law overrides UK statute law. Therefore, there are laws Parliament cannot pass because it has to stay within the EU legal framework. It can be argued that now Britain complies to the EU, conforming it it's regulations and rules, rather than by the nation's own; no longer being sovereign. This is evident in the Factortame case, 1990. The Factortame case led to a series of landmark decisions in UK and EU law. The case confirmed the supremacy of the European Union law over national law in the areas where the EU had superiority. The decision raised a number of particularly significant constitutional issues in the debate in the UK over the argued erosion of parliamentary sovereignty. The judgment in the second appeal before the House of Lords formed part of the UK's uncodified body of constitutional law. Through this case, it became evident that EU law was superior and now the EU had great influence and power over the UK, rather than the reverse. Furthermore, our judicial system is controlled by the European Convention on Human Rights, whereby if a person is unsatisfied with a judicial decision in the UK, they can appeal to the EU for further consideration in a judicial review. Often this has meant that the EU overrides the UK court decision. The EU runs our agriculture and fishing policies, has a major say in our environmental policies, runs our trade and competition policies, and how has some influence over...
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...Unit 1 P1 “Outline the responsibilities of the different level of government in the UK.” House of Commons – It is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The HoC is part of the legislative process of British Politics. It consists of 650 elected members of Parliament, who represent a board spectrum of political parties. Each MP represents a constituency, which is a localised geographical area. There are two ways in which people get elected, it can happen either during a general election or by-election. A big range of political views and interests are represented in the House of Commons, which enables the ‘House’ to ensure that legislation and decisions are well debated by a variety of different people, which political views differ. HoC has a lot of different roles, MP’s are responsible of debating and passing all laws (legislation), controlling finances, protecting the individuals, examining European proposals, and scrutinises the work of the government, policies and administration. Those roles may have extremely wide impact on the country and public services. House of Lords – It is the upper house, the Second chamber, and is also commonly referred to as “the Lords”. The House of Lords can have a variable amount of members. Currently, there are about 790 members who are eligible to take part in the work of the HoL. Members come from many walks of life and bring experience and knowledge from a wide range of occupations. Majority of them are life peers, which...
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...created by Parliament and are known as ‘statute law’ or act of Parliament. The content of statue law is greatly influenced by the European Union including the Human Rights Act 1998. In the case of ‘common law’, the decisions of senior appellate court are included as law. European Union (EU) law takes priority and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) protects those identified rights for the relevant stakeholders. Betten, L. (1999) A key distinction is made in terms of civil law and criminal law. Civil law deals in areas such as family matters, employment and contracts; whereas, criminal law is applicable when it is believed that a crime requires an investigation. Speaight, A. (2012) EU laws have considerable influence in a number of areas related to business and human rights and many treaties and directives are applicable in the UK for employment, security and freedom of movements. European law is highly applicable especially in terms of rights at work and business related law. Betten, L. (1999) English Law and its Sources English law is made up of common law - legislation passed by Parliament influenced by Europe. There are four main sources of English law 1. Statute law 2. Common law 3. European Union law 4. European Convention on Human Rights SOAS Library, Sources of UK Law (online, August 2012) Internal Sources of English Law 1. Parliament (Proactive) Statute law Statute law is composed of the acts and resolutions passed by Parliament. Most...
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...is rejected. Supporters of a codified constitution for the UK say that this will give citizens inalienable rights which cannot easily be manipulated or even overturned by the government. A constitution is based around a general consensus of what people should be able to do or not do. Constitutional agreement forms the foundations of the concept of a rule of law. In the USA, their written constitution means that the relationship between citizens and the law is clearly defined. If a constitutional law is violated, there can be no debate over it. This means that the law has more authority in the land. However, in the UK, there is not one legal standard of our constitution and thus whether or not it was violated can be questioned. This can potentially lead to a moving of the goalposts – if the constitution is not entrenched, it is easy to change. Therefore it is impossible to hold everyone to the same standard even though the rule of law states that everyone is bound by it, because the government can essentially do what it likes in terms of manipulating or changing the constitution to fit its views. Some may argue that this makes a mockery of legal authority. Because the terms of the UK constitution are not defined, it means that unlike the USA, we have no official separation of powers. In America both the government and those who enforce their laws are of equal standing, as outlined in their constitution; in the UK we have no such ‘official’...
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...------------------------------------------------- EU Treaties The European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU member countries. For example, if a policy area is not cited in a treaty, the Commission cannot propose a law in that area. A treaty is a binding agreement between EU member countries. It sets out EU objectives, rules for EU institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its member countries. Treaties are amended to make the EU more efficient and transparent, to prepare for new member countries and to introduce new areas of cooperation – such as the single currency. Under the treaties, EU institutions can adopt legislation, which the member countries then implement. The complete texts of treaties, legislation, case law and legislative proposals can be viewed using the EUR-Lex database of EU law. The main treaties are: Treaty of Lisbon (2009) Purpose: to make the EU more democratic, more efficient and better able to address global problems, such as climate change, with one voice. Main changes: more power for the European Parliament, change of voting procedures in the Council, citizens' initiative, a permanent president of the European Council, a new High Representative for Foreign Affairs, a new EU diplomatic service. The Lisbon treaty clarifies which powers: * belong to the EU * belong to EU member countries * are...
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...Levels of UK Government European Parliament The European parliament has 736 members it represents all 27 members of the EU, even though it is not strictly part of the UK Parliament it still has an impact on our daily lives. 72 of these members are elected from the UK, they represent our country interest. They draft legislation which affects all of the EU member’s countries. They focus all parts from consumer rights to the task of protecting people being killed from dictators and militias. They also attempt to raise country's economic standing and try to develop countries so they are self-sufficient. The European Parliament is the only directly elected by EU body and it represents the people of the EU. Elections have been held every five years since 1979. The last elections were in May 2014. Before that members were chosen from national parliament. The parliament amends, approves or rejects EU laws, together with the Council of Ministers. The parliament also shares authority over the EU budget with the Council of Ministers and supervises other EU institutions, including the Commission. Two of the main responsibilities of the European parliament (EP) are immigration and environment. Immigration - The European parliaments control the inflow of migrants that go into each country, and how many of the migrants go into each country. Their objective is to set up a balanced approach in dealing with legal migration and fighting illegal immigration. Parliament actively supports...
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