Studied by 31 people
What are the 6 sources of constitution?
Statute law
Common law
Conventions
Landmark decisions
authoritative works
treaties
What did the Magna Carter 1215 establish?
Placed limitations on the power of the monarchy
Stated that the monarch is not above the law
Stated that one cannot be punished with due process of law
What did the act of settlement 1701 confirm?
The primacy of parliament over the monarchy
Confirmed judicial independence
What have developments of the constitution been?
evolutionary
What type of constitution does England have?
Uncodified
Unentrenched
what does uncodified mean?
It derives from a variety of different sources and does not represent higher law
What does unentrenched mean?
The way the state governs and the rights of citizens can easily be changed with an act of parliament
As a result of parliamentary sovereignty, what are citizens not protected by?
Higher law
What are civil liberties protected by in the uk?
Rule of law
Independence from the judiciary
what does a unitary state mean?
Where power is centralised and the central government possesses absolute authority
How can the uk be said to be a unitary state?
Parliament has absolute authority to enact legislation
What challenges the belief that parliament is a unitary state?
Devolution
What is statute law?
acts of parliament
What is an example of statue law?
parliament act 1911- removed the HOL right to veto - meant that parliament reflected the democratic will of the people
Representation of the peoples act 1928- universal suffrage
Who’s government passed a number of reforming acts which led to the development of the British constitution?
Tony Blairs government
What are 4 reforming acts of parliament passed before 2013?
Scotland act 1998 (established Scottish parliament)
HRA 1998
Equality act 2010
Marriage act 2013
What is common law?
refers to judgements made by judges in important legal cases- set precedent
What did the common law case: Somerset v Stewart (1772) do?
Abolished slavery
What is a convention?
the way in which political activity is carried out through tradition
What is are 3 key “conventions”
Salisbury convention
Collective Ministerial responsibility
The HOC voting on whether to commit British troops to military action
What are 2 key landmark decisions contributing to the constitution?
Magna carter 1215
The bill of rights 1689
What are authoritative works?
texts which have profound political importance that they have contributed to the constitution
What are 2 examples of “authoritative works”?
A.V Dicey’s “introduction to the law of the constitution”
Erskine May- “Parliamentary practise”
who produced a guide to how coalition government should be established in 2010?
Gus O’Donnell
What is a ‘treaty’
A written agreement between two or more political entities
Which source of the constitution is often seen to be as the ultimate source of authority?
Parliamentary statute law
What did the law lords rule in 1991 which undermines the authority of parliamentary statute law?
Factortame case- EU legislation took precedence over domestic law
Note 
Flashcard (45)