Studied by 2 people
1997 welsh devolution referendum results
50.3% yes
turnout of the 1997 welsh referendum
50.22%
1998 Northern Ireland good Friday agreement results
71.1% yes
1998 Northern Ireland good Friday agreement turnout
81.1%
1997 Scottish referendum results
74.2% yes
1997 Scottish referendum turnout
60%
what years was the Northern Irish assembly inactive
2002-2007
2017-2020
2022 →
how could you counter the argument that devolution was unsuccessful due to the Northern Ireland assebly
the welsh assembly has never been suspended
it is very difficult to set up an assembly where both unionists and nationalists can work together, therefore the problem is not devolution but rather the structure of Northern Irelands government
it depends on your criteria, if Northern Ireland could settle an agreement, their power could be just as equal
paragraph structure 30 marker
PEACE
P - point
E - evidence
A - analyse
C - counter point
E - evaluate
statute law
this is law made by Parliament, and is one of the most important sources of the UK constitution, as statute law overrides other laws, (EU laws excepted) due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.
which group in the uk have sovereignty
parliament
examples of a statute law
European community act 1972, human rights act 1998
common law
this is ‘judge-made law’- laws based on precedent and tradition. When deciding on the legality of a case, judges will use previous decisions on similar cases
conventions
these are non-legal established rules of conduct and behaviour- what is ‘expected’.
examples of conventions
the monarch granting Royal Assent (royal approval) to each bill passed by Parliament
the appointment of the Prime Minister (the leader of the Commons’ largest party)
and collective responsibility (all government ministers openly support all government policy).
the salisbury convention
collective ministerial responsibility
parliament will only legislate on reserved matters
monarchs must follow the advice of ministers
what is the salisbury convention
the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election
what is collective ministerial responsibility
It is convention that all ministers publicly support decisions of Cabinet (even if they disagree in private) or its committees or resign
works of authority
works written by scholars seen as experts in the constitution- they outline what is ‘correct’ for the UK constitution. For example, Bagehot’s The English Constitution (1867), Dicey’s An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885).
order of importance for constitution
EU law
Statute law
Common law
Conventions and works of authority
what are the sources of the uk constitution (sccrew)
statute law
common law
conventions
royal prerogative
EU laws
works of authority
which bill established the supremacy of parliament over a monarch
the bill of rights 1689
constitution
a set of principles and rules by which a country is organised and it is usually contained in one document
advantages of a codified constitution
people have entrenched rights
citizens know their rights as it is all written in one document
amendments can still be made, it just has to have popular support.
in the us, how many people need to vote for a right to be changed
¾ of the state
2/3 of congress
disadvantages of an codified constitution
it is inflexible
it gives huge power to judges
it is very vague, which may be a danger. e.g. article ten → no cruel or unusual punishments inflicted
advantages of an uncodified constitution
it is flexible
as there are many more acts, it can be less vague
democratic control as changes are made by parliament rather than judges
disadvantages of an uncodified constitution
not in a single document, therefore can be difficult to understand
rights are unintrenched, therefore they can more easily be removed
federal
laws are different in dirrerent states. law is divided between a central authority and a number of other units
unitary
a single government is in charge, all the power resides in a central govenrment
quasi federal
a federal set-up where despite having two clear sets of government – central and the states, more powers are given to the Central Government. “like federal” e.g. UK
prerogative power
power that can be used without the intervention of the house of lords etc
precedence
when they refer back to a court case for court rulings
branches of the government
legislative
executive
judicial
who makes up the house of lords (origionally)
lords spiritual → archbishops etc.
lords temporal → hereditary peers
life peerages act → life peers appointed by the queen/ prime minister
what is the lords appointment commission
the ability to block peerages
examples of sources of the constitution
the magna carta
the bill of rights
the scotland act
what did the Magna Carta state
It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.
doctrine of implied repeal
if any laws contradict each other, the newer one replaces the older one
ignored conventions
the peoples budget
Nigel Farage challenges the speaker
House of lords tax credits vote
convention about general elections
fixed general elections every 5 years
aim of the constitutional reform of the conservative lib dem coalition (2010-2015)
impliment the wright committees proposals, allow constituents to recall their MP, establish a committee to agree proposals for an elected lord.
what changed in the house of lords reform (lib dem conservative coalition)
select committee chairs are elected by MPs and paid more so there are more independant MPs
other select committee members selected by MPs, not leader of party
E petition system created
allocated 35 days each session to schedule debates etc
how many signatures in an e petition do what?
10,000 signatures → government response
100,000 signatures → scheduled for debate
why might the house of commons reform (lib dem conservative coalition) have gone far enough
e petitions allow the public to have a greater say in matters and committee chairs are more fairly voted for
recall petition (lib dem conservative coalition)
allows constituents to remove MPs before the end of their term
how can an MP be removed
convicted of a crime and given a sentence of 12 months or less
if MPs vote to suspend them for at least 10 sitting days
if they make false or misleading expenses claims
if 10% of constituents sign the petition, they loose their seat
why did the recall petition (lib dem conservatives coalition) go far enough?
allows constituents to remove their MP if they are not doing a sufficient job and they can replace them
house of lords reform aims (lib dem conservative coalition)
planned to phase in elections and new appointed members over 10 years
by the end, they wanted 360 elected members, 90 appointed members, 12 bishops and 8 ministers
house of lords reform what changed (lib dem conservative coalition)
members can now retire
removal of members who do not attend/ get arrested
if code of conduct is broken, members can be expelled
why may the house of lords reform (lib dem conservative coalition) not have gone far enough
aims were far too optimistic, and this was a ten year plan, but the coalition was only in place for five years
who makes up the executive branch
the prime minister
the cabinet
who makes up the legaislative branch
commons
lords
monarch
individual ministerial responsibility
when something goes wrong in the department of someone in the cabinet, they ought to resign
aim of the house of lords reform 1999
to make the house of lords more democratic and representative
two stages of the house of lords reform 1999
stage 1 → remove conservative hereditary peers for more representation, removed all but 92 hereditary peers (from 467)
stage 2 → agree a new process for electing/appointing peers to produce a more democratic chamber. labour was divided over whether they should be elected or appointed so it never happened
aim of constitutional reform act 2005
modifies the office of lord chancellor and changes the functions of some offices
what changed in the constitutional reform act 2005
established a new UK supreme court
reformed the role of lord chancellor → divided job into three separate positions
reformed the process for selecting judges. positions are now advertised and each member of the board is allowed one veto
devolution act 1998 aims
decentralisation; to transfer powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
what changed due to the devolution act 1998
Scottish and Welsh parliament and Northern Ireland assembly
Scotland has the most power as they had the highest majority in favour
also appointed a London mayor
what was the aim of electoral reform (labour reform)
to change how the public desires are expressed in election results
what changed due to the “political parties, elections and referendums act 2000”
limited donations to political parties
electoral commission to oversee elections and referendums and regulate political finance
how much money is dedicated per person in England
£9296
how much money is dedicated per person in Scotland
£11,247
how much money is dedicated per person in Wales
£10,656
how much money is dedicated per person in Northern Ireland
£11,590
which formula determines how much money per person is dedicated in each country
the Barnett formula
what happened in the 1998 Scotland act
devolved power to new Scottish parliament
Scotland was given primary legislative powers (3% above or below taxes)
what powers have been received since the Scotland act 1998
Scotland act 2012
gave them power to raise or lower taxes by 10%
devolved control of stamp duty, land tax and landfill tax
Scotland Act 2016
signed the vow which devolved more legislative powers
devolved income tax power
recognised Scottish parliament as a permanent feature off UK constitution
how has devolution to Scotland impacted voting
SNP is now more dominant in Scotland, voting is more polarised
labour
1999 - 56 seats → 37 now
SNP
1999 - 35 → 69 now
what powers were wales given originally
secondary legislative power (1998 welsh act)
no financial power
conferred model
what new powers has wales received since the 1998 welsh act
government of wales act 2006
confered power model
wales could only make legislation in one of 20 specific policy ‘fields’
welsh devolution referendum act 2011
63.5% → want welsh assembly to make laws on all maters
from conferred to reserved model
wales act 2014
stamp duty, business rates, landfill tax
devolved power for income tax
2017
income tax powers
recognised welsh assembly as perminant
impact on voting of devolved powers to wales
from 1999 to now
labour - 27 → 30
conservatives - 1 → 16
Plaid Cymru - 9 → 13
What powers were originally devolved for Northern Ireland
executive and legislative powers
90 members
3 categories
excepted matters → reserved to Westminster
reserved matters → can legislate with permission
transferred powers
no tax raising powers
largest party of largest community is 1st minister and largest of second largest community is 2nd deputy but they have equal position
what new powers were given to Northern Ireland after devolution
none
how has voting changed in Northern Ireland from 1999 to 2011
UUP - 28 → 16
SDLP - 24 → 14
DUP - 20 → 38
SF - 18 → 29
summary of Northern Irish parties
UUP and SDLP moderate
DUP and SF more extreme
sinn fein has been previously recognised as a terrorist group (?)
Note
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