Parliament and Parliamentary Sovreignty

Parliament Composition

Consists of the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the Monarch.

Parliament Functions

Include scrutinizing government work, passing legislation, debating key issues, approving funding, and providing personnel.

House of Commons Composition

650 MPs elected through constituencies, with a cap of 95 ministerial office holders.

House of Lords Composition

Not elected, includes hereditary and life peers, and senior clergy of the Church of England.

Parliament Meetings

Must be summoned every 3 years, but meets throughout the year by convention.

Parliament Duration

Maximum 5 years, with the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 setting fixed election dates.

Parliamentary Session

Divided into sessions ending when prorogued by Royal Decree.

Public Bill

Changes general law, can be government or private members' bills.

Delegated Legislation

Power given by Acts of Parliament to ministers to make rules/regulations.

Parliamentary Sovereignty

Parliament is supreme law-maker, not bound by predecessors, and no one can question its Acts.

Enrolled Act Rule

Courts cannot question or invalidate an Act once entered onto the Parliamentary roll.

Unlimited Legislative Competence

Parliament has no limits, can override international law, constitutional conventions, and alter the constitution.

Repealing Legislation

Parliament can expressly or impliedly repeal legislation.

Domestic Limitations

Include Acts of Union, devolution, Acts of Independence, and limits on the Doctrine of Repeal.

European Limitations

Include supremacy of EU law, types of EU legislation, direct effect, and conflict between UK and EU law.

Retained EU law

EU legislation that the UK has decided to keep until the end of the transition period.

Types of EU legislation

Directives, regulations, decisions, and recommendations, with retained EU law encompassing some of these.

Human Rights Act 1998 incorporation

Key provisions weakly incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.

Human Rights Act 1998 impact on parliamentary sovereignty:

Section 3

Courts may stretch legislation to align with Convention rights.

Section 4

Allows for a declaration of incompatibility if legislation cannot be made compliant.

Parliamentary privilege

Parliament's main privileges include freedom of speech and exclusive cognizance over its affairs.