uk constitution

Question 1

what is a codified constitution?

Answer 1

• outlines the roles of dif branches and levels of gov and relationship between citizens & the state in a single document eg US
• normally written all at one pt in time, after extreme pol event, upheaval or change.
• ^ UK has never experienced such an extreme event so never been promoted to codfiy

Question 2

what is an uncodified constitution?

Answer 2

• draws upon multiple sources
• eg UK, Israel, New Zealand, Canada
• UK const partly written in statute law but much of our understanding comes from convention too

Question 3

what is an entrenched const? How can US const be changed?

Answer 3

• possess special mechanisms that protect them from short-term amendment
• it implies they are higher law not normal law
• US- 2/3 maj in both chambers of Congress is required to propose an amendment, 3/4 states must vote to ratify it

Question 4

what are unentrenched const?

Answer 4

• const laws or rules can be changed in the exact same way ordinary laws can be altered- via an Act of Parliament
• as PS, can amend const however and whenever it wishes in theory
• UK lack of entrenchment: Fixed Terms Parliament Act 2011- law intro by coalition government & stated GEs would be held at fixed intervals of five years- taking power away from PMs to call GEs within five years at a time of their choosing.
• a future Pa was always free to amend the FTPA, shorten or lengthen time between, or to repeal act all together
• so in 2022- BJ’s Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act repealed FTPA, returning power to PM to choose election dates

Question 5

what is a judiciable const?

Answer 5

• w a codified const, there is a two-tier legal system- entrenched, const arrangements become higher law
• so const is justiciable- becomes role of the highest court in that nation to determine what is constitutional or not and whether ordinary laws passed by a leg body comply with the higher law

Question 6

example of US judiciable const?

Answer 6

• law passed by Congress can be struck down by SC as being unconst using their judicial review
• 2013- SC struck down sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the Shelby v Holder case. This law requires some southern states to seek special permission to change how people registered to vote, in am intention to prevent racist rules being reintroduced
• SC decided it violated const principle that all states should be treated equally
• This process requires judges to interp the meaning of const- when judges’ interps change, they effectively amend the const- INTERPRETIVE AMENDMENTS

Question 7

why is the UK non-judiciable?

Answer 7

• single- tier legal system with uncodified const- no distinction between const law & other laws
• UK, SC enjoys some judicial reviere power but given PS it has no ability to strike down laws it seems unconst (eg Rep of the People Act- prisoners- deemed incompatible w HR but pa refused to accept the decision)

Question 8

in effect, who decides what the UK const is at any one time?

Answer 8

• parliament, due to its lack of codification
• because gov usually dominates pa, means const is often in hands of gov- can act decisively (+under democratic control as van hold to account), yet can radically change it

Question 9

what is legal soveerignity? Is it in UK/US?

Answer 9

• defined as ultimate power and the source of all political power, as enforced by the legal system and the state. anybody that is granted it within a const holds power that cannot be overruled by any other body
• codified consts are themselves legally soverign- if any individual or body abuses const power, they must expect to be limited and sanctioned by the legal system
• in USA, the const is legally sovereign- systme of ‘constitutional sovereignity’ and it is the job of the supreme court to adjudicate when the rules set out in the const have been breached
• UK is dif- Pa is the legally soverigen body- system of parl sov-( legal sov lies under parl)

Question 10

what is a federal const?

Answer 10

• const divides ssov between central and regional bodies, w the dif ‘levels’ of government having their own distinct & protected responsibilities
• USA is most famous eg- US const born out of the deliberation of the 13 colonies (states)

Question 11

What is a unitary const?

Answer 11

sov resides in one location at the centre
- some power may be devolved to regions, but central authority retains the ability to take back this power and and overrule all other bodies
- UK

Question 12

why might ‘quasi federal state’ be a better description of the UK?

Answer 12

• whilst parl is supreme legal auth, in prac tise it has limited say over what happens in Sc, Wales, NI

Question 13

what are the three elements of parl sov in the UK?

Answer 13

• parl can make law on any matter it chooses- nothing is off limits
• parliamentary legislation cannot be struck down by a higher body, such as a SC
• no parl can bind its succesors- parl always has the power to repeal and undo and undo any previous legislation it has passed

Question 14

what is meant by the rule of law?

Answer 14

• main way the rights and liberties of citizens are protected
• everyone is untitled to a fair trial and due legal process
• all citizens must obey the law and are equal under it
• public officials are not above the law
• the judiciary must be independnet of political interference

Question 15

what is statute law? Why is it arguably the most imp sorce of the UK const?

Answer 15

• msde by [arl
• not all laws are of const imp- only those passed that affect how the country is governed are
• given parl is sov, it outranks all other sources of the const

Question 16

give an example of statute law with constitutional significance?

Answer 16

• Fixed term Parliament Act 2011
• introudcued by the coalition gov & stated that GEs would be helf every 5 years- took power away from PM to call elections within 5 years at a time of their choosing
• but as unentrencheed, future parls able to reverse/ change this- BJ in 2022- Dissolution and Calling of Parliament back- returned ppower to PM
• Constitutional Reform Act 2005 ( created UK SC )
• House of Lords Reform Act (removed all but 92 hereditary Peers from HoL)
• ^lab now 2024 all

Question 17

what is common law?

Answer 17

• laws developed by judicial rulings or precednts, est over time

Question 18

what is judicial precedent?

Question 19

what is a convention? are they more or less n’concrete’ than statute laws in uk const?

Answer 19

• sustoms or traditions that have endured throughout history- major means by which the const adapts to changing circumstances
• essential to the functioning of teh UK const
• largely upheld bc of the practical n& political consequences of not doing so. eg if monarch refused to give royal assent, would call into question the future of the monarchy

Question 20

describe 3 connstitutional conventions in the uk?

Answer 20

• how ministers within the gov should resign if they wish to publically criticise the gov- under the principle of ‘collective cabinet responsibility’
• how the HoL should not vote against laws which were incl in a gov’s GE manifesto - Salisbury Convention
• government resigns if it loses a GE/ if it were to lose a VONC

Question 21

what is an eg of a sonstitutional convention being broken?

Answer 21

• conventions are not legally enorcable:
• BJ closing parl down for Br deal- broke convetion
• conevntion: PM should allow HoC to vote on matters abt the UK’s armed forces military action abroad- emerged after TB allowed HoC to v on UK’s involvment in 2003 Iraq invasion
• but 2017- TM ordered strikes against Syrian regime w/o first putting this to HoC vote- ignored convention, said not enough time for it to be debated on

Question 22

what is an ‘authorative work’?

Answer 22

• documents written by constitutional experts explaining how a pol system is run
• not legally binding but are taken as signif guidlines as to how the const works
• eg AV Dicey’s ‘An Introdution to the Study of Law and the Constitution’ 1885- defines two pillars of UK const: parl sov & rule of law

Question 23

what was the 1972 European Communities Act?

Answer 23

European Communities Act (1972) was the piece of legislation that entered Britain into the European Economic Community which would later become the EU.
This gave EEC/EU law precedence over UK law in the case of a conflict.
The Brexit process involves repealing this act.