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Summary - UK Government Constitution
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Thursday, 20 April 2023Nature and sources of the UK Constitution
BEGINNING OF THE CONSTITUTIONS
- The constitution began with the magna carta in 1215
- The magna carta was an agreement between king John and his barons to prevent
the abuse of royal power
- The magna carta sets out the principle that no one (including the king) is above
the law and sets out the right to a fair trial for all free men
BILL OF RIGHTS
- The next development of constitutional signi cance was the bill of rights which
was put into law when William and Mary took the throne in 1689
- The Bill of right established the idea that the monarch's powers is reliant on the
consent of parliament and set up frequent parliaments, freedom of speech within
parliament and free election
ACT OF SETTLEMENT
- The Act of Settlement (1701) stated that only a Protestant could become monarch
and gave control over the line of succession to the throne to parliament.
- This was shortly followed by the rst of the Acts of Union - Acts that established
the union of Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1801) with England to form Great Britain.
- This was the basis of the UK until the devolution reforms in 1997.
1911 AND 1949 PARLIAMENT ACTS
- A budget crisis was created in 1909 when the Lords rejected Lloyd-George’s
‘People’s Budget’ which had a substantial tax increase.
- In response the 1911 Parliament Act prevented the Lords from delaying money
bills and prevented them delaying other bills for more than 2 years.
- The 1949 Parliament Act reduced the period for which the House of Lords could
delay a bill to 1 year
1972 EUROPEAN COMMITTEES ACT
- European Communities Act (1972) was the piece of legislation that entered Britain
into the European Economic Community which would later become the EU.
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- This gave EEC/EU law precedence over UK law in the case of a con ict.
- The Brexit process involves repealing this act.
NATURE OF THE UK CONSTITUTION
- UNENTRENCHED - the uk constitution is unenriched meaning that is easily changed by a
simple act of parliament or even a shift in convention
- PARLIAMENTARY SOVERGNITY - Parliamentary sovereignty is the idea that parliament is
supreme and ultimate authority sits with it, as representative of the people.
- No Parliament can bind its successor – this means that Parliament can repeal any act
passed by previous parliament.
- Parliament is also the supreme legislative body and legislation can’t be changed, struck
down or ignored by the judiciary or the executive.
- UNCODIFIED - the UK constitution is unmodi ed Maning that is it is not written down in
one document and is made up of multiple sources
- UNITARY - The UK constitution is unitary, meaning that all power is centralised in the
Parliament in Westminster.
- This principle has been diluted in recent years due to devolution and many scholars
would now refer to the UK as a ‘union state’.
- RULE OF LAW - Rule of Law is the idea that everyone, including the government, is
subject to the law and held accountable to it.
- In reality, this means that everyone is entitled to a fair trial and that all citizens, including
public o cials, are equal under the law and must obey it.
- For this to work e ectively, the judiciary must also be independent of political
interference.
SOURCES OF THE UK CONSTITUTION
- STATUE LAW
• Statute law is all legislation created by parliament.
• Not all laws are considered constitutional – only those that deal with the nature of
politics and government or the rights of citizens.
• Statute law is the most important source of the Constitution due to the principle of
parliamentary sovereignty. All other sources can be overridden by statute law
Example : 1918 representation of the people act which allows all men and some women to
vote
- COMMON LAW
• Common Law is made up of customs and judicial precedent (when judicial
decisions clarify the meaning of the statute or make rulings in the absence of
statute).
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