The Constitutional Reform Act was intended to represent a separation from the traditional “fusion” model of the UK Constitution and towards a “more explicit separation of powers”, The Relations between the executive and judiciary would therefore be governed by the Act itself. Traditionally, the judiciary’s overall task was administration. However, it has developed which entailed a minority of the judiciary having political importance. One of the most significant developments which have been made is the introduction of the Human Rights Act which came into force in 2000. It also incorporated The European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
Sovereignty is used to describe the idea of the power of law making unrestricted by any legal limit, Parliamentary sovereignty is part of the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom. It dictates that Parliament can make or unmake any laws as it is the ultimate legal authority in the UK. Parliament is still sovereign as it can make law on any matter and it has legislative supremacy. However parliamentary sovereignty can be questioned due to the membership of the European Union and the Human Rights Act. Parliament can make laws on any matter due to Dicey in ‘Law of the Constitution (1885).’ He said that ‘in theory Parliament has total power.
These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK. They include: - The devolution of power to bodies like the Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly -The Human Rights Act 1998. -The UK's entry to the European Union in 1972. -The Factortame Case The concept of parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom has long been debated. Since the subordination of the monarchy under parliament and the increasingly democratic methods of parliamentary government, there has been the question of whether parliament holds a supreme ability to legislate and whether it should or should not.
It has discussed the different types and styles of assemblies and the chief functions such as to enact legislation, act as a representative body and oversee and scrutinise the executive. It has shown how the role of parliaments is changing and the reality is that legislatures do not initiate many policies, more usually they influence or are executive-dominated. The emergence of disciplined political parties, the growth in the role of government and the increasing strength of interest groups and the mass media has changed the way parliaments and assemblies carry out their roles. However, parliaments possess a unique authority to force politicians and civil servants to account for their actions before a body which still represents the nation and remains an essential element in the architecture of democracy. Bibliography Axford, B., Browning, G.K., Huggings, R., Rosamond, B., (2002), Politics an introduction, 2nd ed.
Sovereignty is in essence ultimate and unchallengeable power, the location of sovereignty in the UK in recent years has changed from one single power and devolved into many unions, treaties and nations within the UK and EU. Parliament is the only body that can make law in the UK. No other authority can overrule or change the laws which the parliament has made. This, then gives the statute law more power and priority over the other sources of the constitutions. This then allows the parliament to change or repeal any law it wants and is also not bounded by the laws made by the previous parliaments.
President Woodrow Wilson wrote “the he Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers’ document, it is a vehicle of life and its spirit is always the spirit of the age.” One must keep this fact in mind when comparing the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation. There was a vast difference in the “spirit of the age” when these documents were drafted. Coming on the heels of the Declaration of Independence and the war against England, and afraid of a dictatorship or a government that did not listen to its people, the Articles of Confederation (which will be referred to as AoC) were written it a way that gave more power to the states. The problem with this type of government was that it was too difficult to enact or enforce laws and the government could not collect enough taxes to support itself. I believe the Constitution did a better job of protecting liberties, specifically in the areas of the federal court system, representation of the people, and the levy of taxes.
There has been a variety of constitutional reforms set up since Blaire’s election into government in 1997, ranging from matters concerning Westminster to legislature, these reforms however have been of mixed impact. One reform set up in 1998 was the human’s rights act. This made it impossible for government to pass legislature unless it fitted with the convention signed by the British Government in 1950. This reform was of great impact as it meant all legislation passed by Westminster and all devolved assemblies must have been given a compatibility declaration from the European Court of Human Rights. This led to the passing of key legislation such as The prevention of terrorism act 2005 and the Criminal justice act 2003 both of which made a great impact on the electorate.
How effectively does the judiciary protect civil liberties in the UK? The UK judiciary has several methods at its disposal that provide an effective protection of civil liberties in the UK. However, in practice there are several shortcomings that make these protections weak in the face of Parliamentary pressure, which will be demonstrated in this essay. In terms of rights protections, perhaps the most important development in the protection of rights in the UK has been the installation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law via the Human Rights Act 1998. This act effectively has provided a concrete document that outlines the rights of citizens.
According to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament is the only body that can make law for the UK. No other body can overrule or change the laws which Parliament has made. The principle of parliamentary sovereignty however cannot be found in statute law, it is part of another source of the constitution, common law. The reason it is not part of statute law is that Parliament can pass, change, or repeal any law it likes and is not bound by laws of previous Parliaments. Therefore if parliamentary sovereignty was an Act of Parliament it would be possible for Parliament to repeal it and destroy the principle.
A constitutional monarchy is a system of government where the monarch’s power is restricted by a constitution and a legislative body. Constitutional monarchies also protect the rights of individual citizens from abuse by the government. The monarch acts as the head of state, but in reality the legislative body makes the laws. Different constitutional monarchies grant different powers to their kinds or queens. Parliament, the legislative body of England, emerged in the late middle ages and ever since has had influence over the English monarchies.