This is because this act has persuaded judges to rule more confidentally rather than having to follow instructions of the common law e.g precedents. This means that judges are able to make more effective decisions and increase their own independance and improve lives for other people. For example, in the case of Catherine Zeta Jones with Hello Magazine 2001, the court was able to rule clearly that the article 8 'right to privacy' outweighed the magazine's article 10 'right to expression' and therefore Zeta Jones' wedding was allowed to remain private. This clearly shows that the protection of civil liberties in Britain are very effective. Although, on the other hand the soveriegnty of parliament does widely interfere with the judicarys ability to protect civil liberties in britain.
Strenghs of representative democracy. Representative democracy is a modified version of democracy that flourished between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries across Europe and America, where people elected representatives to make decisions on their belhalf rather than people assemble at regular intervals (known as direct democracy), as for example in Ancient Greece when democracy first started. Political philosophers also agreed but because they believed that people could not govern themselves. In Britain, representative democracy (or sometimes described as parliamentary democracy) more or less started to evolution the late seventeenth century when a Bill of Rights was agreed between monarchy and parliament that gave power to Parliament to sanction any law wanted. This was then followed by The Great Reform Act of 1832, where they introduced a system for the election of MP's, by the 20th century Britain had its separate parties.Then in 1945 the first truly modern election manifesto appeared with a clear program of reform and thus made representation farer.
It is through laws that policies of government are laid down for implementation. It does however have many constitutional roles to fulfil such as the power of the purse, oversight, foreign policy and legislation. It can be argues that Congress does fulfil its constitutional roles as it may deliver effective over sighting, legislation, money bills, representation and foreign policy that may provide good checks and balances. However, most would argue that Congress may not carry its roles effectively thus leading to poor scrutiny (sometimes over scrutinising) which leads to ineffective fulfilment of constitutional roles. The principle organ of the US state is to legislate, represent and scrutinise the other, safely separated, branches of the government.
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.
Representative democracy has been able to flourish in recent years as elected individuals who make decisions are arguably more knowledgeable than the electorate themselves. There is a greater sense of accountability to elected individuals to the public and more responsibility taken by those in power to protect the interests of the people by limiting the power of the government. Arguably, the question posed is of popular interest today as Britain has been described as a largely consultative democracy. A representative democracy is advantageous compared to a direct democracy as elected MPs are of sufficient educational backgrounds and are more superior in knowledge at making the most effective decisions. Arguably the elected MPs are the reason that a representative democracy flourishes with the elected MPs superseding the knowledge of the public.
A key advantage of the legislative process is that it is strongly controlled by the Government, and the bigger the Government’s majority the greater that control. Almost all legislation is initiated by the Government and even backbench MPs of the party in power have relatively little scope to influence its content. The advantage of this system of strong Government control is that the party elected can implement the manifesto on which it was given a mandate by the
Many critics have discussed whether or not a Bill of Rights has a place within the UK and its constitution. I will analyse the advantages and disadvantages of introducing a Bill of Rights in order to conclude on whether or not the current system should remain in place or a new system would prevail. As the Human Rights Act has played a vital part in the UK taking a step towards having a written constitution similar to that of other Western societies, it would be useful to consider whether this acts as a sufficient alternative to a Bill of Rights and whether or not there are any other alternatives that could serve the same purpose. Finally, I will analyse whether or not the Human Rights Act1 to make a decision on whether it should remain in place or adds unnecessary restrictions on protecting the UK and its citizens. English law has often been criticised for not being codified unlike other countries.
Is the Constitutional tradition of the UK helpful or unhelpful in addressing contemporary issues of injustice in the United Kingdom? Discuss with reference to recent Constitutional developments in the United Kingdom. Constitution sort out, appropriate and control state power. They set out the structure of the state, the real state organizations, and the standards overseeing their relations with each other and with the state's nationals. In most secular countries in the world today, the Constitution serves as the highest law of the land.
The current UK constitution has so many strengths that reform is unnecessary. Do you agree with this statement? In the UK we have an uncodified constitution, which means we have many different sources of the constitution rather than have a single authoritative document, which would be a codified constitution. The most significant source of the constitution is legislation which consists of both Acts of Parliament and lesser legislation like Orders in Council, and rules and regulation made by ministers under statutory authority. Common law, which has developed over many years becoming accepted due to court judgements.
How do the rule of law and accountability operate within the United Kingdom constitution? Does the reality match your picture of how a democracy should work? Explain your reasoning drawing on relevant material you have studied. Define Rule of law. The restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws.