4. Relations between institutions

• Rule of law


  Principle of the UK's constitution where society is governed according to the laws of the land, and the government must exercise power within limits placed on it by law
• Rule of law


  • Prevents arbitrary and potentially despotic government
  • Implies government of law, not government of men
• Locke: 'Wherever law ends, tyranny begins.'
• Sub-principles of the rule of law


  • No one is above the law
  • Equality before the law
  • The law is always applied
  • Legal redress is only available through courts
• No one is above the law

  Everyone is bound by the law, including ministers and public officials. This should ensure officials use their power responsibly.
• Equality before the law


  The law should treat citizens alike, with considerations such as race and social status being irrelevant
• The law is always applied

  If people's rights are infringed they should be protected by the legal system, often implying the law should defend fundamental human rights
• Legal redress is only available through courts


  Disputes must be resolved by the law, allowing for certainty in punishments for breaches of law that must apply in all situations
• Judges must ensure that no-one is denied their fundamental rights by upholding principles like 'innocent until proven guilty'
• Cases where judges have upheld the rule of law

  • Davey case: judges jailed a juror for interfering with the administration of justice
  • Pryce case: judges discharged a jury that could not adhere to the 'innocent until proven guilty' principle
  • Nigella Lawson case: judges enforced the 'sub judice' principle to prevent outside influence on a trial
  • Lucy Ford case: judges protected jurors from intimidation by the media
  • Abu Qatada case: judges listened to reasonable appeals against deportation
  • Birmingham Six case: judges adjudicated from a neutral point of view
• The Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, ending the 'fusion of powers' where senior judges sat in the House of Lords
• Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

  Covers the British overseas territories of the Commonwealth
• Lady Hale was the first woman to be appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court
• Criteria for cases to be heard in the Supreme Court

  They must have gone through the other courts or be a high profile case
• The Supreme Court's decisions on the law must be followed by other courts
• Layout of the Supreme Court

  No witness or jury box or press box, instead a round table with justices on one side and barristers/lawyers on the other
• Appointment of Supreme Court Justices

  • Nominations made by an independent 5-member Selection Committee, then confirmed by the PM/Monarch
  • Justices usually have served as senior judges for 2+ years or been lawyers for 15+ years
• The Supreme Court can overrule government decisions if they conflict with existing laws
• Key operating principles of the Supreme Court

  • Judicial neutrality: judges should exercise their functions without personal bias
  • Judicial independence: judges must be free from political interference
• The Supreme Court's main role is to interpret the Human Rights Act, and it can issue 'declarations of incompatibility' if it believes UK legislation conflicts with the European Convention
• The Supreme Court's power lies in judicial review, where it can enquire whether ministers have followed correct procedures and test if public bodies have acted beyond their powers
• The Supreme Court takes its decisions independently of the Executive and Parliament, as demonstrated in cases like the right of sex offenders to appeal and the Al Rawi case on secret hearings
• Some believe the Supreme Court has extended its scope beyond its legal and constitutional role as an entity that settles disputes fairly, and has instead taken on a role of overseeing Parliament's legislative decisions
• Recent years have seen a fall in the number of cases decided by the Supreme Court, but its involvement with the Brexit vote made it appear to be inserting itself into unstable and uncertain parliamentary matters
• Critics see the Supreme Court as shifting towards the American model of a 'constitutional court' that polices the boundaries of constitutionally proper behaviour, going beyond its traditional role
• Judicial review


  The process in which the lawfulness of decisions made by central/local government or state agencies are challenged
• Cases where judicial review has been used

  • DWP agreeing to change its 'unfair, unlawful and discriminatory' pressure on benefits claimants
  • Education secretary's refusal to revoke an academy order being declared irrational
  • Government's abandonment of 0.7% overseas aid commitment being exposed to potential judicial review
• The government has introduced the Judicial Review and Courts Bill to create 'a better balance' between citizens' rights to challenge executive decisions and the need for effective government
• Critics see the government's legislative moves to restrict judicial review as contradictory to principles of fairness and government accountability, and an attempt to silence institutions that might restrain its power
• The government's legislative moves to restrict judicial review were contradictory to the principles of fairness and government accountability, and should be dropped
• A cross-party group of MPs and peers wrote to the lord chancellor in June 2021, saying that legislative moves to restrict judicial review were contradictory to the principles of fairness and government accountability, and should be dropped
• Ed Davey, Labour's Clive Lewis, the SNP's Joanna Cherry QC, Caroline Lucas and 28 others: 'The proposals would weaken both individuals and the courts, and effectively put government actions beyond the reach of the law. Together, these changes would make it much harder for people to put things right when mistakes are made or governments overstep their bounds. They would undermine the rule of law and the crucial principles of fairness and accountability'
• In April 2021, Law Society president Stephanie Boyce criticised the way that the government's legislation had deviated from the advice given to it by an expert panel in its planning stages
• Stephanie Boyce: 'The Ministry of Justice has gone beyond what was recommended by the expert panel set up to advise it, with no evidence to back up this overreach. The effect of the proposals would be a fundamental distortion of the protection of judicial review is supposed to provide against state action, undermining the rule of law and restricting access to justice'
• Elective dictatorship


  The way in which power had become concentrated in the hands of the executing (hailsham was giving a lecture in 1976 when Labour gov who had a small majority but still were able to push legislation through the commons because of the executive's power)
• Lord Halisham argued that the only check on executive power was the periodic holding of general elections
• On the intervals, the executive can more or less do as they wish, introducing far-reaching and even irreversible changes
• Party whips


  • They have become significantly more powerful since the 70s and this further emphasises the strength which the executive has over parliament
• MPs


  • They want promotion, cabinet role and advancement within their career meaning that the executive probably goes largely unchecked in order for them to not be outcasted by their party and thus prevent promotions
• The media


  • It holds the power to create scandals causing MPs to resign