power point notes

• Constitution


  A set of principles, which may be written or unwritten, that establishes the distribution of power within a political system, relationships between political institutions, the limits of government jurisdiction, the limits of government, the rights of citizens and the method of amending the constitution itself.
• Codified constitution

  A constitution that is written down in one place
• Uncodified constitution

  A constitution that is not written down in one place
• Unitary constitution


  A constitution that gives power to the central government
• Federal constitution

  A constitution that gives power to the states
• Britain's constitution is uncodified, unitary and unentrenched. (However, it is written). This means it not in one fixed document, it does impose the power of the central government and it is flexible which means it can be changed overnight, albeit by an Act of Parliament normally.
• Sources of the UK Constitution

  • Statue Law (need to know Parliamentary Acts of 1911/49)
  • Common Law (Somerset v Stewart 1772 which outlawed slavery on the UK islands)
  • Conventions (need to know Salisbury Convention)
  • Works of constitutional authority
  • Treaties (esp EU Treaties)
• The EU Treaties became sources of British law between 1972 – 2019. They established that the rules that the EU institutions would make would also apply to the UK, and how the UK would play a role in forming. These were removed by the EU Withdrawal Act 2020. Now the TCAEU UK – the Trade and Cooperation Agreement EU (this is Johnson's "oven ready" Brexit Deal) – UK will be part of the UK Constitution.
• 3 Principles of the Constitution

  • Parliamentary Sovereignty
  • Constitutional Monarchy
  • The Rule of Law
• Parliamentary Sovereignty


  This means that Parliament has the final decision and law making power in all situations.
• Constitutional Monarchy


  The Monarch must sign all laws before they become laws. They also must be advised and consulted. Some of the powers have been given to the Prime Minister as part of the royal prerogatives, for example, the de facto ability to call an election.
• The Rule of Law


  Everyone that is part of government, is subject to the same rules as everyone else.
• Parliamentary Government – that you have to be a part of the Houses of Parliament to play a role in government. Part of the House of Commons because the PM is given an electoral mandate
• Whiteboards - sources

  • A constitution that is written down on one place?
  • A constitution that cannot be changed easily?
  • A constitution that gives power to the states?
  • Bageshot's The English Constitution?
  • Parliament Act is an example of?
  • Salisbury ________ is an example of?
  • AV Dicey Introduction to the Study of Law of the Constitution
  • What gave British people human rights?
  • Somerset v Stewart 1772 which outlawed slavery on the UK islands is an example of?
  • Eskine May Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament
  • Gus o Donnell's Cabinet Manual
  • Establishing the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and NI Assembly?
  • What establishes the principles of frequent parliaments, free elections and Parliamentary Privilege?
  • The Factortame judgement which established that EU Law is higher than UK Law
  • The fact the House of Lords could only delay Fox Hunting Ban but not stop it, as it was in Labour'1997 Manifesto
• Whiteboards - Principles


  • What establishes the principles of frequent parliaments, free elections and Parliamentary Privilege?
  • The idea that the Queen cannot make laws or decide to call an election.
  • Why must you be a Member of Parliament to be part of the Government?
  • What says that if you impose laws on everyone, say no indoor gatherings, you must follow the rules yourself.
  • Why does the Monarch get weekly meetings with PM?
  • The idea of that Parliament gets the final say in everything, particularly legislation?
  • WRITE – why must the PM come from the Commons not the Lords?
• Before the 1997 Election, the Conservatives had been in power for 18 years. As Conservatives they were wanting to preserve the current situation and not allow change. Furthermore, John Major's Government was divided (on the question of Europe) and had a very small majority so would not have been able to pass reforms even thought they wanted. Furthermore, they did not have many Scottish and Welsh MPs, so they would not have heard the call for devolution
• In contrast, Labour were desperate to get back into power, and whilst promising very little on their manifesto card, had searched far and wide for support, and therefore promised a lot of people lots of different things under the form of modernisation
• Election maps 1979 – 1992

  • 1979
  • 1983
  • 1987
  • 1992
• New Labour Reforms

  • Devolution
  • Electoral Reform
  • Referendums
  • HRA
  • FOI
  • HoL
  • Judicial Reforms
• The Conservative Lib Dem Coalition was a compromise, between the LDs wanting to change, and more accountability and limits to power, and Cons wanting to conserve.
• The AV referendum was a good example of this, whether the LDs wanted STV, and the Conservatives wanted to maintain FPTP, leading to a compromise.
• Coalition Reforms

  • FTP – PM called elections when he wanted.
  • Wright Reforms – Govt controlled most of the HoC time, despite govt only being 120/650 MPs taking more power away from govt and giving it to the whole HoC
  • Further Devolution – NL implemented Devolution. LDs taking more power away from Westminster
  • Police and Crime Commissioners – Police were scrutinized by an Inspectorate, but apart from the elected local council there was no link between the police and the local community. Democratic control over how their area is policed.
  • Recall of MPs Act – There was no way of recalling an MP after they had been elected until the next election. accountability measure, if a MP is given a jail sentence, or misuse of expenses, they will have a petition, and be recalled if 10% of voters sign.
• Currently we have the ECHR (?) protecting us.
• Examples of ECHR rulings

  • Abu Qatada – ECHR blocked deportation of AQ because evidence that was found as a result of torture would be used against him. UK wanted to deport him. UK agree to deport him but only after a fair trial is agreed to meet ECHR request.
  • Prisoner voting – UK and Ireland and others ban prisoners from voting. ECHR rule against ban. UK ignore this.
  • EHCR ruled that a woman who took BA to court for stopping her from wearing her cross around her neck were wrong (the UK Govt sided with BA).
  • ECHR ruling that whole life sentences are inhumane – the prisoner should not have a future prospect of release taken away from the start.
  • Rwanda policy – the ECHR stopped the first plane load of people being forcibly deported to Rwanda as it was in contradiction of a fully and fair legal process (ECHR said that it needed three more weeks to give him time to appeal)
• Possible solutions for ECHR

  • The ECHR is far too protective and stops the government from doing it. We need a BoR that reduces the burden on the government.
  • The ECHR is too weak – it's rulings can be ignored by govts. Therefore a BoR is needed to clearly restrain govts.
  • The current situation works fine – there is a protection for the people, but the flexibility of the ECHR is key as it means it can be ignored when necessary.
• Codification is not a written constitution (although it needs to be written to be codified).
• Britain does have a written constitution.
• However, Britain does not have a codified constitution. It has five different sources of the Constitution, some of these dating back hundreds of years, and some may contradict others. It is would be clearer if they are all in one document, however it would mean that it is less flexible.