UK constitution flashcards

What are the 3 Us for the UK constitution?

Unitary, unentrenched, Uncodified

What does unitary mean?

Sovereignty is located in one place (Parliment)

What does Uncodified mean?

It has many sources, not just one document

What does unentrenched mean?

It can be easy to change (can be done with a majority vote in parliement)

Advantages of UK style constitutions

Strong and efficient executive

Flexible and responsive - laws can be changed easily

Avoids judicial tyranny - Parliament cannot be struck down by the Supreme Court

Disadvantages of UK style constitutions

Sources can be unclear

Confusion over roles of different branches

Executive dominance - ‘elective dictatorship’

Years of the parliment acts

19111, 1949

What did the parliment act 1911 entail?

Lords cannot delay money bill, and cannot veto non-money bulls for more than 2 year

What did the parliment act 1949 entail?

Delaying power of the HoL reduced to 1 year

What was the European communities act?

Legislation that made the UK enter the EU

When was the European communities act signed?

1972

What was the EU withdrawal act?

The acct that started the brexit process

When was the EU withdrawal act passed?

2018

What are the twin pillars of the constitution?

Parliamentary sovereignty

The rule of law

What is the rule of law?

All people and bodies, including the government, must follow the law and can be held accountable if they do not (Partygate)

What are the 5 main sources of the constitution?

Statute law (Acts of Parliament)

Common law (law from decisions made in court)

Convention

Authoritative works

EU law

When was the fixed terms parliment act passed?

2011

When was the fixed term Parliament act repealed?

2022 with the passing of the dissolution an calling of Parliament act

Examples of successful HoL reform

• Parliament acts of 1911 and 1949 (2 year bill delays then further reduction to 1 year)

• Life peerages act 1955 (allowing merit based appointments for life)

• House of Lords act 1999 (significant reduction of hereditary peers to 92)

• Constitutional reform act 2005 (established Supreme Court and removed Law lords from HoL)

Examples of poor HoL reform

• HoL reform bill 2012 (proposed the creation of a partially elected house, faced criticism from backbench’s of both parties), Bill was dropped in 2013

• 1997-2010 Incomplete reforms (a democratic element was planned to be added, there was no clear path forwards so it was dropped)

• Blairs appointment of life peers (over 350 during his premiership, meaning the size of the lords ballooned an counteracted the reforms)

Successful HoC reform

• reform acts (1832, 1867, 1884) significantly expanded the electorate and distribution of seats in the commons

• Parliament acts 1911 and 1949 - reduced the power of the lords and added to the Commons

• Representation of the people act 1918 - extended voting rights to some women, increasing parliamentary legitimacy

Examples of poor HoC reform

• 2011 Boundary review (coalition gov attempted to reduce MP numbers to 600, abandoned in 2013 due to political disagreements)

• 2009 expenses scandal (Independent parliamentary standards authority was created but created confusion over bureaucracy created)

• Fixed term parliament act 2011 (limited PM power to call election but was repealed after a decade)

Successful electoral reform

• Representation of the people acct 1918 (extended the right to vote to all men over 21 and some women over 30)

• Representation of the people act 1969 (voting age was lowered from 21 to 18)

• Secret ballot act 1872 (introduced secret ballot in elections to prevent influence or intimidation by candidates)

Failed electoral reform

• AV referendum 2011 (proposal was rejected by 67% of voters)

• HoL reform bill 2012 (proposed an 80% elected HoL but need gained backbench support)

• Electoral registration and administration act 2013 (moved from household registration to individual, led to a sharp drop in voter registration)

Successful reform on rights

• Human rights act 1998 (incorporated the ECHR into UK law)

• Equal pay act 1970 (made it illegal to pay men and women different rates)

• Race relations act 1965 (criminalised racial incrimination in public places)

Failed reform on rights

• Identity cards act 2006 (compulsory national identity cards, failed due to pubic concerns about privacy, cost and government overreach)

• Trade union act 2016 (stricter regulations on trade unions, was criticised for limiting workers rights to strike leading to protests)

• The “snoopers charter” (Investigatory powers act 2016) (Expanded government Surveillance powers, requiring browsing history to be stored by companies for 12 months, failed due to widespread criticism about privacy ad civil liberties)

Successful reform on devolution

• Scotland acct 1998 (established Holyrood and devolved powers in areas like education, health and justice)

• Government of Wales act 1998 (created a National Assembly for Wales with devolved powers in Health and education)

• Good Friday agreement 1998 (led to the creation of Stormont, devolving education, health and justice)

Failed devolution reform

• North East England devolution referendum 2004 (proposed an elected assembly for the north east, overwhelmingly rejected by 78%)

• English votes for English laws 2015 (introduced to allow English and sometimes Welsh MPs to vote on laws only affecting England solving west Lothian question] seen as too complicated tho so suspended in 2020 and scrapped the next year)

• Welsh devolution referendum 1979 (asked if a welsh assembly should be created, only 20.3% voted in favour)

What is a form of devolution in England?

Metro Mayors (mayors of large metropolitan areas allowing for control over the minutia that affects bigger cities)

When was Holyrood established

1999

What powers does Hollywood have?

Health, education, justice, transport, housing, local government, social security, taxation, economic development

How are Hollywood members elected?

Using AMS (combination FPTP and PR), 129 MSPs with 73 being constituency (elected with FPTP) and 56 being regional (elected with PR)

When was the Senedd set up?

1999

When was Stormont set up?

1998 post Good Friday agreement

What restrictions were placed upon Stormont in the Good Friday agreement?

Power sharing requirement, consent principle (NI remains in UK unless there is a unilateral vote that they want to leave), human rights and equality protections