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Doctrine of the parliamentary sovereignty
Parliamentary sovereignty essay
Doctrine of the parliamentary sovereignty
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Question
Parliamentary sovereignty is a key doctrine of the UK’s unwritten constitution. It is undermined by the supremacy of European Union Law.
The concept of parliamentary sovereignty is one of the imperative components of supreme legal authority in UK constitution. The parliament supremacy is the key legislation authority body to all governmental establishment. The parliament on the other hand delegate powers to the local authorities, professional bodies and statutory instruments to pass an act.
Practically, the Parliament has the power to make and dissolve any law which means any law passed by the parliament sovereignty cannot be overruled by any court in the country. Subsequently, no parliament creates a law that a future parliament cannot change. Its only the parliament that is allowed to change or reverse a law passed by parliament.
The UK is also noted to have bit and pieces of written and uncodified constitution which mean the constitution is derived from diverse sources.
The UK becoming a member of European Union since 1973 has undermined the supremacy of parliamentary sovereignty, this is because the parliament is no longer the
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The effect of the incorporation of the right is that it has threatened the authority of parliamentary sovereignty. For example, the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly ruled that banning most prisoners from voting is a breach of their human rights. This issue is perhaps the most politically controversial human rights. The court on the other hand must interpret UK legislation in a way that is compatible with the convention. The Human Right Act also requires courts to construe the domestic law in accord with the Convention right. The courts take a thoughtful approach in deciding Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza case. however, sometimes this is not possible in (Doherty v Birmingham City Council)
However, the UK has remained the same throughout history. Some countries have changed their constitution as a result of civil disorder, while others have changed it just for the benefit of the countries. There have been many attempts in the past to change the constitutional framework of the UK. In 2003, under Tony Blair’s regime, the UK and the US controversially sent troops in Iraq on the basis that it had “weapons of mass destruction” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27852832) As a result a great discussion arose. Would it be any different if the power to declare war would be in the hands of the parliament instead of just the Prime Minister alone?
The Human Rights Act of 1998 was co-founded upon the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. Developed following the ending of the Second World War, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was constructed to further the idealistic principles and endeavours of equality among all human beings, as well as a devout declaration of preventing the reoccurrence of the holocaust and massacres which have occurred as a casus belli . ECHR comprises civil privileges and liberties fundamental to all human beings irrespective of race, gender, age, sexual orientation exclusive of discrimination. The UK government have promptly endorsed the ECHR, recognising the need of ...
Parliamentary sovereignty, a core principle of the UK's constitution, essentially states that the Parliament is the ultimate legal authority, which possesses the power to create, modify or end any law. The judiciary cannot question its legislative competence, and a Parliament is not bound by former legislative provisions of earlier Parliaments. The ‘rule of law’ on the other hand, is a constitutional doctrine which primarily governs the operation of the legal system and the manner in which the powers of the state are exercised. However, since the Parliament is capable of making any law whatsoever, the concept of the rule of law poses a contradiction to the principle of parliamentary supremacy, entailing that Parliament is not bound by the Rule of Law, and it can exercise power arbitrarily.
Bamforth,N. Int. Jnl. Of constitutional law. Current issues in United Kingdom constitutionalism: An introduction 2011 9 (1) 79-85 doi: 10.1093/icon/mor029 (Date of Access: 12/12/11)
Lord Steyn was perhaps the most candid. While he conceded that parliamentary sovereignty is the ultimate controlling factor in the British constitution, he claimed that parliamentary sovereignty is a creation of common law and exceptional situations may arise where the courts have to step in to review legislation of the Parliament, implying that even the sovereign Parliament may be subjected to the rule of law.
One of the most influential and celebrated scholars of British consistutional law , Professor A.V Dicey, once declared parliamentary soverignity as “the dominant feature of our political insitutions” . This inital account of parliamentray soverginity involved two fundamental components, fistly :that the Queen-in-Parliament the “right to make or unmake any law whatever” and that secondly “no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.” . However this Diceyian notion though an established principle of our constitution now lies uneasy amongst a myriad of contemporary challenges such as our membership of the European Union, the Human Rights Act and a spread of law making authority known as ‘Devolution’. In this essay I shall set out to assess the impact of each of these challenges upon the immutability of the traditional concept of parliamentary sovereignty in the British constitution.
The Different Functions of the House of Lords and House of Commons Both the House of Lords and House of Commons carry out many functions in Parliament. Each function plays a vital role, which all interconnect with each other. The House of Commons perform many more functions than the House of Lords but one wouldn’t be possible without the other, in a manner of speaking, otherwise parliament would, perhaps, make political errors. However, the main factor that contributes to their similarities is legislature.
The foundation of the UK constitution is built upon A.V. Dicey’s orthodox theory on the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, that parliament has ‘the right to make or unmake any law’, Parliament cannot bind its successors, and that no institution has ‘the right to override the legislation of Parliament’ . The great benefit of the supremacy of parliament is that Acts of Parliament created by the democratically elected legislature, must be obeyed by the unelected judges. Although parliamentary sovereignty refers to shared powers, between the Monarchy, House of Commons (HoC) and House of Lords (HoL), through the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the HoL lost its power of veto, and the HoC effectively enhanced its powers as the main body of government.
The royal prerogative is a source of constitutional law; it is derived from common law powers that have been handed down from the monarchy to the executive. The significance of the prerogative in constitutional law is that it provides the executive with considerable power to act without following ‘normal’ parliamentary procedures. As Dicey explained, the prerogative is ‘every act which the executive government can lawfully do without the authority of an Act of Parliament’. In constitutional terms, it is therefore important to explore the means by which the UK constitution secures the accountability for the exercise of prerogative powers by the executive. Historically the prerogative was exercised by the monarchy, the majority of powers are now used by ministers, and very few remained the personal preserve of the sovereign.
One problem with the appeal to rights as an argument is that it can often be countered with a conflicting right. Hare supports this by exposing some of the controversies in the abolishing
The concept can be questioned due to distinctions being made between legal, political, external and internal sovereignty. (Heywood, 1997, p143). Due to the existence of a typology, the c... ... middle of paper ... ... article refers to the impact EU legislation, in particular the planned constitution has on UK sovereignty due to EU law overriding national law.
This type of rule of law is upheld through administrative law and by the practice of judicial review. This states out the fact that ‘no one is above the law’ , although there are some aspects that can undermine this factor. Take for instance the powers of the prime minister who’s powers are based solely on the Royal prerogative which is not subject to judicial
No. This is why in some cases it may not be as important to completely separate the three institutions. By having parliament (a sovereign representative body) willing to intervene, it also prevents the abuse of power from an unelected body. This works vice versa; through judicial review, the courts are able to evaluate the judgments of a public body or institution. It is important that this separation exists because it allows for the existence of a system of checks and
A brief history of the meaning this type of government by Credo is that “the constitution exists in no one document but is a centuries-old accumulation of statues, judicial decisions, and tradition” (Credo Cite Here). Furthermore, London plays a crucial role in ruling this type of government. Residing in London, The Royal Crown, House of Commons, and House of Lords exist; not to mention, both the royal family and prime minister also live here. The House of Commons and the House of Lords are very important to the functioning of the entire United Kingdom. Furthermore, the official website of the Parliament gives a good example of the importance by stating “For new legislation to become law, or for changes to existing laws to be made, the House of Commons and House of Lords must both debate, amend and vote on the proposals”. (Parliament, cite here). In addition, the famous royal family also London. Since the Royal Family is greatly restricted by the Constitutional Monarchy there is not much that they can do in terms of politics. However, the Queens or Kings authorization is needed to go into War. Some might argue that London is not the political center of the United Kingdom. Correspondingly, it is true that the other countries in the UK have Parliaments, but London serves as the main one where almost anything needs approval. London also plays a second major role for the United Kingdom.
In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human rights were devised (UDHR). Everyone has the right to liberty, life, freedom from fear and violence. The obligation to protect individuals and groups the States is required to shield them against human rights abuses (United Nations 2013) The Human Rights Act became effective in the UK in 2000. The purpose of the Human Rights Act is t...