Secondly there is Common Law, Common law includes legal principles that have been developed and applied by UK courts. The courts interpret and clarify the law where there is no clear statute law. Common law takes legal precedent made by judges, for example, the right of homeowners to tackle intruders who enter their property. Government ministers may clarify or amend common law trough Acts of Parliament. The common law also includes customs and precedents that have become accepted practice.
d) It is the role of the judiciary, when interpreting statutes, to fill in the gaps in the statutes. 2. Consider the following statements and decide which statement or combination of statements is correct: i) The judiciary creates law as it thinks is appropriate. ii) The judiciary can create law through statutory interpretation. iii) The judiciary creates law as frequently as Parliament.
SELECT COMMITTEES This is a committee which has been established by a resolution in either house for a special purpose and is usually for a limited time. It is a committee of members of Parliament which investigate and report on a particular matter. Select Committees exist in the British Parliament, as well as in other parliaments which are based on the Westminster model, such as those in Australia and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, committees can be appointed from the House of Commons, like the Foreign Affairs Committee, from the House of Lords, like the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, or as a "Joint Committee" drawn from both, such as the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform. The Commons Select Committees are generally responsible for overseeing the work of government departments and agencies, whereas those of the Lords look at general issues, such as the constitution or the economy.
Common law, which has developed over many years becoming accepted due to court judgements. The laws and customs of Parliament re also a source of the constitution. Works of authority are also referred to as authoritative sources such as books by Dicey or Bagehot. Finally, European Union Law also impacts the UK constitution as the judgements of the European court of Justice, in general EU law has precedence over that passed by Parliament. A codified constitution is too inflexible and cannot adapt to the changing political circumstance, such as society changing.
The role of the executive ‘..includes initiating and implementing legislation, maintaining order and security, promoting social and economic welfare, administering public services and conducting the external relations of the state. The judiciary is made up mainly of professional judges, and their main function is ‘to determine disputed questions of fact and law in accordance with the law laid down by Parliament and expounded by the courts and ..is exercised mainly in the civil and criminal courts.' The question which now arises is whether or not there should be a strict separation of each of the above functions. Locke stated: ..it may be too great a temptation to human frailty..for the same persons who have the power of making laws, to have also their hands the power to execute them, whereby
Concepts of justice, changing social values, morality and social welfare are all conditions that are constantly shifting and it is this shift that creates the need for Law Reform. The conception of justice changes over time across society, both on and individual and communal level. Multiculturalism introduces a range of different cultures, values and mentalities and can often adjust the way of thinking within a society. Human Rights are also a driving force for change in legal systems around the world. For example, Capital Punishment in Australia was abolished in 1967 as it was considered contrary to the human right to life.
[2] Differing interpretations of this decree are the basis for the various theories of the court's foundation. One of the original interpretations was that this decree created the King's Court and the Court of Common Pleas came into existence after the signing of the Magna Carta. [3] However, in the 20th century, legal historians had greater access to historical documents were able to come
THE IMPACT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998 ON ENGLISH PUBLIC LAW David Feldman[1] A keynote address for the conference European Influences on Public Law: 5 years of the Human Rights Act 1998 in English Law and Recent developments in France BIICL Charles Clore House Russell Square London Friday, 7 October 2005 1. In order to gain an overview of the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 in its first five years of operation I want to broaden the focus beyond the courts, and to look at developments occurring in public law in all the settings in which it operates. To this end I will first consider the relationship between the Act and some basic principles of public law, and then think about the effect of the Act on institutional locations in which public law operates, including but not limited to the courts. 2. One can distinguish between the effect of the Act in the courts, its effect on Parliament, its effect on public authorities, and its effect on people and groups in society.
“Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of delegated legislation” This question is asking me to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of delegated legislation. Firstly, delegated legislation is the power given to subordinate bodies to introduce rules within the scope of their authority. Delegated legislation allows the Government to make changes to a law without needing to push through a completely new Act of Parliament. The original Act would have provisions that allow for future delegated legislation to alter the law to different degrees. These changes range from the technical, such as altering the level of a fine, to fleshing out Acts with greater detail; often an Act contains only a broad framework of its purpose and more complex content is added through delegated legislation.
Tudor Parliaments Tudor Parliaments were an essential aspect of English government and administration in the sixteenth century. After the King’s Council, Parliament was the nation’s most important institution; like the Council, it reverberated with activity when it was in session. ‘When it was in session’ is, however, the crucial phrase: we should not speak of Tudor Parliament, but strictly only of Parliaments. Each meeting called by the Crown and ended by it, too, had a separate identity. Indeed it is essential to realize that, unlike the Council, which met regularly in each year of a monarch’s reign, Parliament was very much an occasional institution.