The UK constitution including strengths and weaknesses

What is the UK constitution and where is it found?

The UK constitution is uncodified and found in multiple sources

How many out of 5 sources of the Constitution are written?

4/5

Why is the UK constitution not codified?

because it is not contained in a single document

How many key sources are there in the constitution?

5

What are the 5 Key sources

Statute Law

Common Law

Authoritative works

Treaties

Conventions

What is statute Law and an example

Laws made by parliament that are approved by majority HOL and HOC

European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020

What is common law and an example

Rulings issued by the courts including the Supreme court

R(Miller) v The Prime Minister (2019)

What was R v Prime Minister

When Boris Johnson tried to prorogue parliament but it was ruled null and void

What is Authoritative works and an example

books and manuals that have come to be part of the constitution over time

e.g. Ministerial code

What is treaties and an example

International agreements signed by UK parliament

Paris Climate agreement

What are conventions and an example

The only UNWRITTEN part of the Constitution and its traditions that are expected to be followed

E.g Salisbury convention

What is the problem with conventions

Because they are unwritten they are inconsistently applied

What is the UK constitution also?

Unentrenched

What does unentrenched mean

It can be changed pretty easily and the most common way is through Acts of Parliament ( statute law)

What is asymmetrical bicameralism

legislative branches that have two chambers with unequal powers

What are the 4 key examples of UK laws that have significantly amended the UK constitution

Bill of rights

Act of settlement

Acts of Union

Parliament Acts (1911 and 1949)

When and what was the Bill of Rights

1689

established basic liberties for all citizens and parliamentary sovereignty because it made the monarch need to seek consent from Parliament

Established constitutional monarchy

What basic liberties did the Bill of Rights establish

Free and Fair elections, freedom of speech

What is the Bill of rights constitutional monarchy

the idea that the monarchy no longer has absolute power and is bound by the constitution

When and what was the Act of settlement

1701

reaffirmed parl sov and constitutional monarchy

Stated only protestants could go on the throne

When and what was the Act of Union

1707

Created the Kingdom of Gret Britain by uniting systems of england and scotland

Established unitary state- all political power lies in West Minster

When were the Parliament Acts

1911 and 1949

What did the Parliament acts do?

Gave the HOC more power than the HOL creating asymmetrical bicameralism

What happened in the 1911 Act of Parliament

In 1911 HOL lost financial privileges ( ability to amend block delay money bills) and could only delay other legislation for up to 2 years

What happened in the 1949 Act of Parliament

Significantly increased executive power

HOL ability to delay legislation was reduced to 1 year

After one year HOC could pass laws without HOL consent

What does the UK’s uncodified constitution mean? Strength

its political system can evolve

What are 3 examples where the political system has evolved?

Gun Control

Same Sex Marriage

Covid 19 Pandemic

What and why was Gun control changed

After Dunblane shooting 1996 statute law was quickly amended

Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997

When and under what Act was same Sex Marriage changed

David Cameron Marriage ( Same Sex couples) Act 2013

What was the Covid 19 pandemic act changed

Coronavirus Act 2020 transferred emergency powers to executive

public health and economic laws could be passed without debate in HOC or HOL

What is the Argument against having an uncodified constitution

there are areas of vagueness and contradiction

What are 3 examples where the constitution is not always applied consistently

Foreign interventions

Devolution

Protests

What is the examples of UK constitution not being applied consistently Foreign Interventions

PM has prerogative power to deploy troops oversees

Tony Blair held vote in HOC before invading Iraq in 2003

David Cam held votes before military action in Syria and Libya

Theresa May ordered air strikes to Syria in 2018 without holding vote

People got confused on whether it was a convention or not

Why was Devolution not applied consistently with the constitution

Sewel convention states that Parliament should not decide on healthcare and education for devolved nations

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 went against this and affected devolved policy areas such as agriculture

When was UK constitution applied inconsistently on protests

Human Rights Act states all people should have freedom of assembly

Public Order Act 2023 arguably goes against this because police can arrest on suspicion of disrupt

What takes precedence over any other sources of UK constitution which would mean it is applied inconsistently

Statute law over all other law

What can parliament do if statute law is more important? Examples?

Parliament can override court rulings conventions and treaties by passing Statute law

Terrorist Asset Freezing Act 2010

Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011

What was the Terrorist Asset Freezing Act 2010

Supreme court ruled under HM Treasury v Ahmed that Government could not freeze financial assets of suspected terrorists

A month later HOC and HOL passed an Act saying that they could

What was the Fixed-Term parliament Act 2011 for showing how statute law takes precedence

It amended the convention that PMs could chose when to have an election

It got changed to having to be done every 5

This got repealed in 2022