How effectively does Congress fulfil its constitutional roles? To start of this essay we must first understand what the role of Congress actually is? The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is the law-maker which is the primary and most important function of the legislature. It is through laws that policies of government are laid down for implementation.
The traditional doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty can no longer be regarded as an immutable part of UK Constitutional law. Discuss. Under parliamentary sovereignty, a legislative body has absolute sovereignty. This means that is it supreme to all other government institutions and can change or repeal any prior legislative acts. Parliament in Britain is generally regarded as making laws that apply to the entire population but there is no universal agreement that it should have unlimited power to make laws of whatever kind.
The negative aspect is that once an Act of Parliament has received Royal Assent, no person or body can question its validity, not even the courts. In addition but nonetheless important, a Parliament cannot bind a future Parliament. Supremacy hence lies in the current Parliament of the day, as it technically has the power to amend or repeal the legislation of any previous Parliament. Before we go any further, it is important to realise two facts. Firstly, legal sovereignty should be distinguished from political sovereignty.
The British Constitution Briefly explain the term flexible as used in the extract Flexible means that the constitution can be amended easily and quickly as unlike a rigid constitution such as the one in the US, there is no lengthy procedure for change that has to be followed. A flexible constitution it can be altered via the law-making process, by a simple majority in the legislature as no laws are regarded as fundamental. “There is no convincing case for a written/codified constitution in Britain” Discuss To a certain extent there is no convincing case for a codified constitution in Britain. The main reason against a codified constitution in Britain is because a codified constitution would totally undermine the sovereignty of Parliament, the idea that Parliament can legislate as it chooses and that there can be no superior authority to Parliament. Moreover, no such document could be entrenched whilst Parliament retains the power to alter it at will.
The gradual development of the UK constitution and the constitutional law becomes noticeable. It relates to the power and individual liberty i.e., the monarchs and the relationship of the monarchs and the commoners. Then, the monarchs had all power; nowadays, it is the commoners who have all the power. Scotland never really developed prisons until the 20th century. England and Wales however were different.
How effective is Parliament? The House of Parliament is made up of both the House of Commons and The House of Lords, Parliament has six main functions that they must carry out. The main functions are; Legislative, Scrutiny, Recruitment, Legitimation and Representation .This essay will discuss what these functions entail and whether they are performed effectively. Firstly, Parliament must fulfil its legislative function. This is the means by with parliament passes the government’s legislation.
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.
Firstly, in the United Kingdom, parliament is the legislative body is also the highest authority in the court system of the United Kingdom, senate performing the trial through the appellate committee of the senate, parliament became the final level trial for all criminal and civil in the UK whereas in Vietnam, state power is unified, with the assignment and coordination among state agencies in the implementation of legislative, executive and judiciary. The Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial body in the judicial sector. Secondly, operating principles of court in the United Kingdom and Vietnam was followed the principle of public trial and independence. Nevertheless, characterized in the British legal system is the law made by judicial authorities. As the result, when trial judges must follow strict guidelines.
Parliamentary sovereignty 'Although in theory Parliament is sovereign, the problematic reality is that British constitutional arrangements ensure that true power lies with the Executive.' Part A: Many countries such as the United States have a written constitution but Britain does not, however 'it must have something which is at the heart of its constitutional arrangements'[1] and this need is fulfilled by the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. The traditional and most often applied definition of parliamentary sovereignty is that of Dicey, who stated, 'the principle of parliamentary sovereignty means... the right to make or unmake any law whatever; and further, that no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament'[2]. From this definition, three fundamental principles can be derived; the first is that Parliament can make or unmake any law. An example of this principle in practice; The Septennial Act 1715 was passed to extend the life of Parliament from three to seven years out of fear of the effects of an election.
They are then implemented by the executive and enforced by the courts. Statute Law is the most important source of the principles and rules making up the British constitution because parliament is the sovereign body. An example of Statute law include: The Parliament Act (1911), which established the House of Commons as the dominant chamber of parliament. More recent example is The Human Rights Act (1998), which enshrined key rights in UK law. Secondly there is Common Law, Common law includes legal principles that have been developed and applied by UK courts.