UK GOVERNMENT -CONSTITUTION

What were 3 historical events that led to the development of the constitution?

-The Magna Carta

-The Bill of Rights

-The Parliament Acts

What was the Magna Carta?

A document signed in 1215 forcibly by King John at the hands of nobles to establish rights for English people

What evidence is there in the Magna Carta?

-Clause 12 established the idea that raises in taxes could only be done with the consent of the people

-Clause 61 empowered a committee of 25 nobles to scrutinise the king

-Clause 39 set the basis for habeus corpus by protecting people from imprisonment without a fair trial

What was the Bill of Rights?

What did the Bill of rights contain?

-A document made by William of Orange to gain the crown but only on conditions that guaranteed Protestant succession and Parliamentary sovereignty in 1689

-Laws could only be made with parliamentary consent

-Freedom of speech was protected in parliament without fear of prosecution

-People could petition to the king without a fear of scrutiny

What was the issue with the Bill of Rights?

It was not entrenched and so could easily be repealed by future parliaments

What were the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949?

-These acts attempted to limit the power of the House of Lords seen who were seen as increasingly undemocratic due to the fact they were not elected

What evidence is there for the parliament acts?

The 1911 parliament act limited the ability of the house of lords to veto legislation completely and only allowed to block it by 2 years which was reduced to 1 by the parliament act 1949

-It stopped them from having control over financial bills

What did the parliamentary acts ignore?

The composition of the House of Lords as completely undemocratic and dominated by people who inherited the title

What was the European Communities Act 1972?

It passed in order for the UK to join 3 European institutions including the European Economic community and meant that laws passed by the EEC(later EU) would automatically take effect in the UK without the need to pass statute law in parliament.

Give an example of what was included in the European Communities Act

Under Section 2(1) EU laws such as regulations and treaty articles became automatically part of UK law, without the need for new Acts of Parliament and If there was a conflict between EU law and UK law, EU law would take precedence with over 4,000 EU regulations beingf directly applicable in the UK at any given time during EU membership

When was this act taken back?

During the EU Withdrawal Acts of 2018 and 2022, thus bringing parliamentary sovereignty back

What is the nature of the UK constitution?(3 U s)

-Uncodified

-Unentrenched

-Unitary

What is an example of the Uncodified nature of the constitution?

Conventions

What is an example of the unentrenched nature of the constitution?

In 2011 the Fixed Term Parliaments Act was created which limited the Prime ministers power to call elections early unless there was a 2/3 majority in the House of Commons and that elections would be scheduled to take place every 5 years on the first Thursday in May but this act was repealed in 2022 in the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022

What does Unitary mean?

This means sovereignty lies with the centre(parliament) rather than power lying with individual regions or states( parliamentary sovereignty)

Give an example of the unitary power of parliament

2017 POWER GRAB

What are 3 principles of the UK constitution?

-Parliamentary sovereignty

-Rule of Law

-Parliamentary Government

What is an example of Parliamentary sovereignty?

-In June 2023, the Court of Appeal made a decision, finding that Rwanda could not be deemed safe for asylum seekers due to the risk of human rights violations, particularly under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment even so the UK passed the safety of Rwanda bill in 2024

Give another example

--In the Al Rawi vs security service 2010 the idea that closed material procedure could not be used in civil trials unless expressly authorized by parliament due to matters of fair rights and stopping the disadvantage to the claimant was undone by parliament which created the Justice and Security Act 2013

What does Rule of Law mean?

This means that everyone in the state should be treated equally under the law including those who make the law themselves

Give an example of the Rule of Law?

In June 2021 Matt Hancock was caught on CCTV images engaging in sexual activity with Gina Coladangelo with who whom he was having an affair, thus he was forced to resign as health secretary for contravening social distancing guidelines imposed by Hancock’s own department. Hancock faced significant criticism and accusations of hypocrisy.

What does a parliamentary government mean?

A parliamentary government is a political system in which the executive branch derives its legitimacy and authority from the legislative branch (parliament) and is directly accountable to it.

Give an example of how the government is seen as parliamentary?

In the UK, the government must maintain the confidence of the House of Commons to remain in power. If the government loses a vote of no confidence in the Commons, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet may have to resign as seen with James Callaghan and his labour government who resigned following the ‘Winter of Discontent’ which included worker strikes from low wages, thus showing how the prime minister is there as ‘primus inter pares’ .

What are the sources of the UK constitution?

-Common Law

-Statute Law

-Royal Prerogative

-Treaties

-Conventions

-Authoritative Works

What is common law?

When decisions made by judges in previous legal cases are used to deal with future cases in court

Give an example where common law is used?

Chang Wing-Siu vs The queen(1985) established the idea of joint enterprise whereby if you were involved in encouraging or assisting a crime you were held responsible aswell. Also Chang argued that the trial judge had not effectively informed the jury on how to handle specific types of evidence which could have unfairly influenced the verdict.

What is Royal Perogative?

What is an example of Royal Perogative?

-The formal powers of the monarch which are bestowed upon parliament

-Boris Johnson sought to prorogue parliament in 2019 for more than 5 weeks in order to avoid scrutiny over the governments Brexit proposals but this was declared illegal by the supreme court stating that it had the effect of preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification

What is statute law?

What is an example?

-Official government laws that have been passed through both houses of parliament and have received royal assent

- Rwanda Safety Act 2024

What is a treaty?

Give an example?

-A written agreement made between two or more countries

-The treaty of Rome 1957 whereby the EEC was established which forced the UK to align all its laws and economic policies with that of Europe, thus Influencing domestic and foreign policy as well as agriculture .For example 35% of all the UK’s trade was with EEC related countries

What is a convention?

Give an example?

-Unwritten rules and principles which help the smooth running of the constitution

-The Salisbury convention established the idea that the house of Lords cannot block a piece of legislation which puts into action a manifesto promise by the elected government. This was made by Viscount Salisbury in in the 1940s who at that time was the leader of the conservative opposition in the House of Lords and agreed not to block labour’s post war legislation

What are authoritative works?

Books and documents which provide guardiance for areas such as parliamentary procedures and constitutional disputes

Give examples of authoritative works?

-A.V Dicey’s ‘Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution’(1885) established the ideas of parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law as the key outstanding principles that should govern the way the UK constitution functions

-These were heavily referenced to in the case of Jackson vs the Attorney General which considered limits on parliaments power

Why did Blair create the 1997 reforms?

He believed that the rights of the people were not sufficiently protected and that power was to centralised in Westminster

What were the Four major reforms Blair made?

-Modernisation

-Democratisation

-Decentralisation

-Human rights protection

What is modernisation?

The process by which outdated or inefficient procedures used by executive and civil services are reformed to bring them into line with modern day values.

What is Democratisation?

The process by which public participation in the political process is encouraged through elections and referendums

What is Decentralisation?

The process by which decision making powers are devolved to national assemblies around the country and hence won’t just lie with Westminster

What is Human rights Protection?

The safeguarding of individual rights from infringement by governments, organizations, and other individuals through the strengthening of the judiciary

Why did Blair decide to create these reforms?

Why did David Cameron create reforms as well?

-He believed that power was too centralised at Westminster and that people were not engaging in politics

-To appease the lib Dems with who he had a coalition government with from 2010-2015

MODERNISATION

Why is the House of Lords Act 1999 not a success of the reforms made to modernisation?

While they wanted to remove all of the hereditary peers 92 out of the 1330 hereditary peers still remained and 25 years later in 2024 this is still the case due to the lack of a completed second stage of reform, hence the practice which goes against the core values of Britain has continued

What is the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012?

The Bill aimed to completely remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords by creating an 80% elected and 20% nominated system but was rejected by 91 conservative backbench MPs

What is the House of Lords Act 2014?

This Act enabled members of the House of Lords to retire or resign or be removed for criminal offences. By 2022 8 peers had been removed for non-attendance including Baron Wolfson and 146 decided to retire.

What bias can be seen in the appointment process?

In Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list he appointed Charlotte Owens the youngest life peer and former advisor at 29 to the House of Lords who had very little political experience and undermined the idea that the House of Lords is meant to be a hub of expertise and knowledge

DEMOCRATISATION

What is the fixed term Parliament Act 2011?

The fixed term parliament took away the power of the royal prerogative from the prime minister which allowed them to prorogue parliament and ask for an early election and so unless there was a 2/3 majority by MPs elections would be held 5 years .

-Boris Johnsons attempt to call an early election in 2019 to break the Brexit Deadlock was denied 3 times as labour and other parties did not want a BJ majority fearing a no deal Brexit and so in 2019 he created the Early Parliamentary Election Act

Why does the fixed term parliament circumvention act go against democratisation?

Fixed-term elections provide predictability and stability in the democratic process, allowing voters and political parties to prepare fairly. Circumventing the law reintroduces uncertainty and can lead to elections called opportunistically, which can erode public trust in the fairness and integrity of the democratic system.

What is the Greater London Authority Act 1999?

Although it allowed for a directly elected mayor of London who had devolved powers like handling the health budget and the government act 2000 which contained provisions for more elected mayors in other cities only 17 of the 54 places requested to have their own locally elected mayor and in Torbay they elected theirs in 2005 and got rid of them in 2016

What is the Recall of MPs Act 2015?

Give an example of an MP this happened to

-MPs are recalled by their constituents which triggers an election in the local area if they have committed a crime with a custodial sentence or been suspended by the house for more than 10 sitting days

-Fiona Onasanya who attempted to pervert the court of law in July 2017 when she committed a speeding offence and claimed that she wasn’t the one who was driving

DECENTRALISATION

What is the Scotland Act 1998?

When the Scottish Parliament was originally given primary legislative powers such as control over education which is evident with the fact it offers free tuition which means the government pays upto 750 million a year for the benefit of 120,000 students yearly and that all teachers must join the General Teaching Council for Scotland

What is the downside of devolving power to Scotland?

Scotland’s control over its own policies is still limited as seen with how they don’t control major taxes like income tax or VAT fully and how they still rely on block grants from the UK government

What is another Act?

The Greater London Authority Act 1999?

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION

What is the Human Rights Act 1998?

It enshrined most of the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law which included the right to life , liberty and fair trial etc and meant that cases could be heard in UK courts instead of in Strasbourg which means This means decisions can be better tailored to domestic legal traditions and policies and give Individuals have easier access to UK courts

What is the issue with the Human Rights Act 1998?

-During times of threats to national crisis the government can gain exemptions from the HRA :This is seen when the government forced through a derogation from Article 5 of the ECHR to allow the detention of foreign nationals under the 2001 anti terrorism act which included Abu Qatada ( who had links to Al Qaeda)

-So calls have been made to repeal the Act by former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and make a British Bill rights

-Rwanda Act( Parliamentary Sovereignty overrides HRA)

What is the Freedom of Information Act 2000?

Give an Example

An act that gives individuals greater access to information held by official bodies via requesting from the Information Commissioners Office.

-Heather Brooke ,a journalist, used the FOI to gain information on spending by MPs which led to the incarceration of 5 labour MPs and 2 Conservative MPs

What is the issue with this act?

Out of the 11,000 requests received between July and September only 40% were answered

What are the Advantages of a codified constitution

-Entrenched nature would protect the people rights against possible revoking of acts via simple majorities in parliament

-Aids in allowing complete understanding of laws

-It prevents disputes between devoved assemblies and central government

Give an example of where lack of entrenchment of rights has effected the people

Rwanda Safety Act 2024

Give an example of where the constitution doesn’t allow complete understanding of laws

Boris Johnsons attempt to prorogue parliament in 2019 to avoid scrutiny over Brexit for 5 weeks was against convention as by convention it would normally be a lot shorter period and the supreme court had to intervene

Give an example of where there have been disputes between devolves assemblies and central government

In 2017, after the UK voted to leave the EU, a conflict arose over which powers returning from Brussels should go to Westminster and which should go to the devolved governments.The Scottish Government argued that areas like agriculture and fisheries—previously under EU control but within devolved competence—should return directly to Holyrood.However, the UK government retained control temporarily, sparking accusations of a “power grab

Give three disadvantages of a codified constitution

-It limits the flexibility of laws and the governments ability to adapt to changing times

-Limits parliamentary sovereignty which is a core principle of UK government

-Limits the power of devolved assemblies

Give an example of where the flexibility of laws has helped the government

In 2010 after the general election no party won an outright majority but the system was flexible enough to adapt and quickly create a new set of principles that establishes a coalition government and hence both David Cameron and nick Clegg formed one with lib Dems and conservatives

Give an example of where parliamentary sovereignty is shown

Rwanda Safety Act 2024

Fixed term Parliament act repeal

Give an example of where an uncodified constitution can increase the powers of devolved assemblies

-Scotland Act 1998

Why do some people believe a British Bill of Rights is necessary?

-HRA is shown to be inefficient at protecting rights

-HRA limits public accessibility and understanding

-British Bill of Rights can deal with the imbalance between individual and collective rights

Give an example of how the HRA limits understanding of laws

In the case of Anderson vs Home Secretary 2022 it allowed the Home Secretary to set the minimum term for prisoners serving mandatory life sentences (e.g., for murder). But UK courts ruled that this was incompatible with Article 6 of the ECHR and said that determining minimal term sentences was the job of the judicial branch and not executive

What is an example of how the HRA does protect rights though?

Under Section 3 of the HRA courts are required to interpret UK legislation ‘so far as is possible to do so’ and that if they can’t they issue a declaration of incompatibility . thus leaving the final decision up to parliament

-Also Jordan negotiated a treat with the UK that they would not used evidence obtained through torture and so Abu Qatada was deported

How can the HRA be shown to not effectively protect Rights?

-Rwanda Safety Act 2024

Why could the HRA being removed and replaced by the Bill of Rights be bad for human rights?

Parties like the conservatives are more concerned with diluting rights than strengthening them as shown with how some want Article 3 of the ECHR around freedom from torture to be limited to prevent terrorism

How does the HRA conflict between individual and collective rights?

In 2012 the UK was blocked by the ECHR from being able to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan as he risked going to a trial where evidence obtained through torture may be used which went against the terms of the ECHR.