UK Parliamentary Sovereignty and Rights

Vocabulary-based flashcards covering key UK legislation, legal principles, and Supreme Court cases regarding human rights and parliamentary sovereignty.

Parliamentary sovereignty

The principle that Parliament can make or unmake any law, and no court can strike down an Act of Parliament.

Human Rights Act 1998

Incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law and allows UK courts to hear human rights cases.

Declaration of Incompatibility

A ruling issued by a court stating that an Act of Parliament is incompatible with the Human Rights Act, though the court cannot overturn the Act itself.

Equality Act 2010

Legislation providing protection against discrimination based on nine protected characteristics.

Protected characteristics

The nine categories under the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Public Order Act 2023

Controversial legislation that created the offence of "locking on" and expanded police stop-and-search powers to prevent disruptive protests.

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022

Law giving police wider powers to restrict protests causing serious disruption, excessive noise, or public nuisance.

Minimum Service Levels Act 2023

Allowed the government to require minimum staffing levels during strikes in the NHS, fire services, rail, and Border Force.

Just Stop Oil

Environmental protesters who have faced arrests and prison sentences under new UK protest legislation.

Sarah Everard vigil

A peaceful gathering dispersed by police during COVID restrictions, which critics argued disproportionately restricted freedom of assembly.

Illegal Migration Act 2023

Legislation requiring people arriving illegally to be removed from the UK, including to Rwanda, which critics argue conflicts with the ECHR and Refugee Convention.

Supreme Court Rwanda ruling (2023)

A unanimous ruling that the Rwanda policy was unlawful because asylum seekers faced a real risk of being returned to countries where they could face persecution.

Judicial Review

A process allowing judges to review whether government decisions are lawful, though it cannot overturn Acts of Parliament.

Miller I (2017)

A Supreme Court ruling that Parliament had to approve triggering Article 50 before Brexit negotiations could begin.

Miller II (2019)

A Supreme Court ruling that Boris Johnson's five-week prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013

Legislation that legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales from 2014.

Section 35 of the Scotland Act

The power used by Westminster in 2023 to block Scotland's Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

Cass Review (2024)

An independent review of NHS gender identity services for children that led to restrictions on puberty blockers.

Entrenched rights

Rights that are legally protected and difficult to change; in the UK, rights are not entrenched due to parliamentary sovereignty and the lack of a codified constitution.