uk constitution and constitutional reforms

what is the uk’s constitution?

uncodified and unentrenched

what does uncodified mean?

where the constitution is not contained within a single, written document, instead it is found within a collection of various sources

what are the five sources of the uk constitution?

statue law

common law

authoritative works

treaties

conventions

what is statute law?

laws made by parliament - e.g. the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020

what is common law?

rulings issued by the courts - e.g. R (Miller) v The Prime Minister (2019)

what are authoritative works?

books and manuals that have become considered part of the constitution - e.g. the Ministerial Code

what are treaties?

international agreements signed by the UK government - e.g. the Paris Climate Agreement

what are conventions?

unwritten traditions that are expected to be followed - e.g. the Salisbury Convention

what was the sixth source of the UK constitution?

EU law

what does unentrenched mean?

no fixed, established or deeply rooted - easily changed

how did the bill of rights significantly amend the uk’s constitution

set out the basic liberties for all citizens and established parliamentary sovereignty, it also set out the constitutional monarchy

what other laws have amended the constitution?

act of settlement, act of union, parliament acts 1911 and 1949

examples of how the political system has evolved

gun control, same-sex marriage, covid-19

examples of where the uk constitution isn’t applied consistently?

foreign interference, devolution, protests

examples of inconsistency in foreign interference?

‘deploying troops overseas’ is a PM’s prerogative power, but Blair held a vote in the HoC before invading Iraw

David Cameron held a vote before action in Libya and Syria

May ordered Syrian air strikes in 2018 without a parliamentary vote, creating confusion

example of inconsistency in devolution?

the sewel convention states that parliament should not legislate on devolved matters, but the United Kingdom Internal Market Act (2020) legislated on some devolved matters

examples of inconsistency in protests?

freedom of assembly guaranteed under human rights act 1998, but public order act 2023 allows police to arrest protesters on suspicion of undue disruption

which source takes precedence over the others?

statute law

facts about parliament overriding the terrorism asset-freezing act

in HM Treasury v Ahmed, the supreme court ruled the gov couldnt freeze the financial assets of terror suspects - however law passed within a month that said they could

facts about parliament overriding fixed-term parliaments act

set a fixed 5 year term and date for general elections (however was overridden in 2017 and 2019), and was eventually repealed in 2022

what four major constitutional reforms did Blair pledge under new labour?

democratisation

modernisation

de-centralisation

maintaining the unity of the united kingdom

what is devolution?

the transfer of power from a central government to a regional or local government

how was devolution implemented in scotland?

1997 referendum, scotland act 1998 - transferred primary legislative authority over areas of policy, e.g. education, health, transport, agriculture

how was devolution implemented in northern ireland?

nothern ireland act 1998, northern ireland assembly - transferred primary legislative authority over areas of policy - carried out the power-sharing principles from the good friday agreement

how was devolution implemented in wales?

1997 devolution referendum, government of wales act 1998, national assembly for wales, now the senedd - gradually gained powers

successes of devolution

fairly high turnout in devolved elections - NI average 62%, Scot average 55%

decrease in political violence in NI since devolution

allows for policies such as the public smoking ban and charges for plastic carrier bags to be trialled on a devolved basis before UK wide

failures of devolution

devolved elections in wales have always had below 50% turnout - 38% in 2003, 46.6% in 2021

wales and NI still have low economic activity and productivity rankings

NI assembly has been suspended for over 40% of the time

what did the human rights act 1998 do?

incorporated the european convention on human rights into statute law, enabling courts to issue declarations of incompatibility

impact of the human rights 1998

17 laws have been amended by parliament, although 34 declarations of incompatibility have been issued

how is the human rights act limited?

rulings can often be ignored - e.g. smith v scott on prisoner voting

as the constitution is unentrenched it can be easily repealed

what did the house of lords act 1999 do?

reduced the number of hereditary peers from over 700 to 92, promoted an even split between labour and conservative members

how many defeats did margaret thatcher suffer in the HoL in 11 years

156

how many defeats did boris johnson suffer in the HoL in 3 years?

243

remaining issues in the house of lords

uk remains only democracy that allocates seats based on birthright

hereditary peers offer less than life peers

hereditary peers harms descriptive representation of parliament

how times did hereditary peers speak on average compared to life peers from 2019 to 2024

hereditary peers spoke 48 times, life peers 70

hereditary peers makeup in 2021

over half had attended Eton, and all were white and male

what did the constitutional reform act 2005 do?

abolished the lords of appeal in ordinary or ‘law lords’, replacing them with the supreme court

made it so supreme court judges were appointed by ad hoc selection panels rather than the executive

examples of how the executive still has some influence over judicial appointments?

in 2017 liz truss (then lord chancellor) changed the age limit for lord chief justice, ruling out the favourite, a gov critic sir brian leveson

the lord chancellor can still veto Supreme Court nominations (but the power has never been used)

constitutional change since 2010

fixed-term parliaments act

devolution

brexit

what is the fixed-term parliaments act 2011

amended the PM’s prerogative power to call a general election whenever they want - must be at 5 year intervals - a PM would need support of 2/3rds of parliament

successes and failures of fixed-term parliaments act

provided stability during coalition

easily bypassed in 2017 and 2019

act repealed in 2022

what did the scotland act 2016 do

transferred full control over income tax to scottish parliament and gave additional powers over welfare. also made scottish parliament powers part of the uk constitution - cant be changed without a referendum

a and d of scotland act 2016

fulfilled david cameron’s promise of increased powers for scotland

controversy over blocking of the scottish gender recognition reform bill in 2021 suggests a remaining lack of clarity

what did the wales act 2017 do?

gave the welsh assembly the power to inrease or decrease income tax by up to 10% and began upgrading the welsh assembly to a parliament

a and d of wales act 2017

polls suggest the senedd has grown in popularity among welsh voter since it gained power

granted significant powers to the senedd without the consent of welsh people

acts of brexit

european union (withdrawal agreement) act 2020 - uk left the EU and European Common Market

european union (future relationship) act 2020 - UK and EU must maintain a ‘level playing field’ for trade

northern ireland protocol - northern ireland maintains free trade with the republic of ireland

a’s and d’s of brexit

uk parliament has more control over the laws that it can pass for the economy, boosting parliamentary sovereignty

the uk can now sign trade deals on its own

some argue brexit hasn’t achieved its aims as uk law continues to have many eu regulations and directives

parliamentary sovereignty can be limited by the ‘level playing field’

call for future changes to house of lords

abolition (would give the executive huge power)

reduction in size (less expensive and more efficient, political challenge when reducing)

introduction of a completely or partly elected chamber (become more democratically legitimate, danger of US style gridlock, or threaten HoC)

removing 92 remaining hereditary peers (complete Blair-proposed reforms)

calls for future changes to devolution

increased power for northern ireland assembly (unfulfilled plans to devolve control of corporation tax to NI)

enlarged senedd (increased seats increased likelihood of multi-party system developing, always had under 50% turnout suggesting little interest)

remove uk government’s ability to block devolved laws would increase integrity (some believe this challenges parliamentary sovereignty)

devolve ability to call referendum (could reduce the UK’s democratic deficit, could threaten the unitary state)

calls for future changes to rights protection

replace the human rights act with a bill of rights (some critics argue HRA prioritises individual over collective rights - believes an entrenched bill of rights would be harder to change, however could give too much power to the executive and entrenchment could lead to an outdated constitution)

pros of codifying the constitution

easier to understand and access (UK HRA is 28 pages, US Bill of Rights 1 page)

likely increase the protection of rights in the uk

a codified constitution would be sovereign - executive can no longer easily pass laws that increase their power

cons of codifying the constitution

no agreement over who will draw up the constitution

parliament would no longer be sovereign, changing the whole political system

could create US-style system where unelected judges frequently rule on social issues

codified constitutions quickly become outdated - harder to amend

uk’s system has evolved significantly in recent years

harder for executive to carry out their mandate

unelected judiciary would need to assume more power to oversee constitution

how to amend the republic of ireland’s codified constitution?

simple majority in both chambers and then a confirmatory vote in a referendum