Judicial power is separate from legislative power and executive power. Statute: Also known as an Act of parliament, this is another term for legislation. Supremacy of Parliament: Also referred to as sovereignty of parliament. This refers to the concept that the final law-making power rests with parliament. Parliament can repeal and amend its own previous legislation and can pass legislation to override common 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.
Levels of government and their responsibilities European parliament: the European parliament has three main roles, debating and passing European laws, with the council. Scrutinising other EU institutions to make sure they are working as they should. Debating and adopting the EU’s budget, with the council. The European parliament is the only directly elected body of the European Union. It has 736 members called MEPs.
There are six main functions. These are legislative, deliberative, scrutiny, recruitment, legitimation and the representation function. Firstly, the House of Commons must fulfill its legislative function. This is the means by with parliament passes the government’s legislation. Parliament is almost the only source of legislation.
The Judicial Conference is assisted in its work by more than 20 committees, whose members are appointed by the Chief Justice. The Committee on International Judicial Relations is composed of several federal judges and a liaison member from the State Department. The Constitution established three separate branches of government: Legislative (Article I), Executive (Article II), and Judicial (Article III) (Mecham, 2001). The three branches of the federal government operate within a constitutional system known as “checks and balances.” Each branch is formally separate from the other two, and each has certain constitutional authority to check the actions of the others. In the Legislative branch, the national legislature of the United States, is composed of two houses or chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
At a glance it is obvious that a major part of UK democracy is parliamentary democracy as this is our chosen form of government, having the houses of parliament which consist of the house of commons and the house of lords. In the UK we have the government which is drawn from parliament as well as the monarchy who are now concerned primarily with ceremonial roles within governing the country. However it is key to note that although the monarchy does have a part in the governing of the UK it is not elected and so this damages the argument of the UK being fully democratic. However the majority of parliament is elected at least. In the UK parliament all members of the house of commons are elected in free and fair elections by their local
In the American congressional government all bills have to pass both houses of congress, then the bill is sent to the President to be either signed or vetoed. The Presidential involvement is minimal, and essentially the bill to law process is the job of both houses of congress. However, in the Canadian Parliamentary system of government; the Prime Minister and the cabinet are largely responsible for all legislation. The Prime Minister is also a member of the House of Commons, and therefore, takes part in the readings of bills, and has the ability to vote on a bill, just as any other member of parliament. Furthermore, neither the Prime Minister, nor the cabinet signs a bill once it has been passed; rather the Governor General signs the bill.
P3 - Explain the electoral processes used in UK elections. In the UK there are various different methods of voting, depending on what level of government you are voting for. These are the main ones - UK Parliament, in the UK parliament the House of Commons is elected by the first past the post system (FPTP), the country is split into 650 constituencies and each one votes for an MP to represent them, some candidates represents parties and others are independent. The House of Lords are appointed not voted for, they are appointed by the queen on the prime ministers request. Local councils, these are elected in England and Wales using the same method of FPTP except you vote for 2 or 3 to win in each ward so it’s the top ones that win rather
Both houses of Congress, for example, have to approve a bill for it to become law. This complicated system of checks and balances has prevented the concentration of political power in any one branch of the
BRITAIN The United Kingdom does not have a single body of law applicable throughout the realm. Scotland has its own distinctive system and courts; in Northern Ireland, certain spheres of law differ in substance from those operating in England and Wales. A feature common to all UK legal systems, however—and one that distinguishes them from many continental systems—is the absence of a complete code, since legislation and unwritten or common law are all part of the "constitution." The main civil courts in England and Wales are 218 county courts for small cases and the High Court, which is divided into the chancery division, the family division, and the Queen's Bench division (including the maritime and commercial courts), for the more important cases. Appeals from the county courts may also be heard in the High Court, though the more important ones come before the Court of Appeal; a few appeals are heard before the House of Lords, which is the ultimate court of appeal for civil cases throughout the United Kingdom.