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1st Class Public Law Notes
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PublicLaw-Introduction
Structure
of
Government
in
the
UK
• UK-‐Great
Britain
and
Northern
Ireland
(not
including
Channel
Islands
or
Isle
of
Man)
Parliament
• Highest
legislative
authority-‐makes
and
repeals
laws/scrutinises
work
of
government.
• House
of
Commons
(650
MPs)
o Passes
law
o Controls
finance
o Scrutinises
government
policy
e.g.
expenditure
proposals
o Debates
major
issues
of
the
day
• House
of
Lords
(unelected
peers)
o Contributes
towards
law
making
o Scrutinises
government
o Conducts
investigations
o Until
the
Constitutional
Reform
Act
2005,
was
the
highest
Court
of
Appeal
in
the
UK.
• The
Crown
(hereditary
monarch)
o Head
of
state
o Minimal
constitutional
role-‐no
say
on
fundamental
constitutional
issues
such
as
accession
into
EU.
o Prerogative
powers
Parliament-Government
• Members
of
political
party
(ies)
which
has
majority
of
seats
in
Commons.
Some
will
also
come
from
the
Lord.
• Prime
Minister
o Head
of
government
o Originally
primus
inter
pares
(first
among
equals)-now
has
presidential
like
powers
• Cabinet
o Inner
circle
of
government.
o Forum
for
policy
discussion/policy
makers
• Ministers
Passage
of
Legislation
1. Bill
proposed-‐usually
government
but
sometimes
private
members
2. 1st
Commons
Reading-‐formality
3. 2nd
Commons
Reading-‐principles
and
policies
4. Committee
and
Report
Stage-‐extra
details
by
experts
5. 3rd
Commons
Reading-‐little
debate
6. House
of
Lord
Consideration-‐power
to
delay
unless
financial
bill
7. Royal
Assent-‐formality
Nature
of
State
, • Unitary
(not
federal).
• Devolution
o Scotland
Act
1998-‐devolved
legislative
powers.
o Northern
Ireland
Act
1998
o Government
of
Wales
Act
1998-‐executive
powers
devolved
(Wales
still
does
not
have
devolved
legislative
powers)
• Local
government
• European
Union
(European
Communities
Act
1972)
, Constitution
Basic-A
set
of
rules
and
principles
which
specifies
the
location
of
public
power
and
regulates
how
it
is
to
be
exercised.
• Thomas
Paine
o Constitution
is
not
an
act
of
government
but
of
the
people/
o Government
is
the
creature
of
it.
o Government
without
constitution
is
power
without
a
right.
• They
are
concerned
with
the
use
and
abuse
of
power.
It
comprises
a
body
of
legal
rules.
• They:
o Identify
who
may
exercise
public
power.
o Enable
officials
to
exercise
power.
o Imposes
limits
on
the
exercise
of
power.
The
constitution
aims
to
give
a
constitutional
balance.
• These
rules
do
not
need
to
be
written
down
or
enforceable
in
the
courts.
• Most
modern
types
of
constitutions
contain
a
Bill
of
Rights.
• Entrenched
Clause-Provision
which
makes
certain
amendments
either
more
difficult
or
impossible.
• Barendt
o Introduced
to
give
legitimacy
to
new
independent
states-
India.
o Brings
together
citizens
through
common
set
of
principles/purpose.
o Parliamentary
sovereignty
is
against
constitutionalism
as
it
fails
to
limit
the
powers
of
the
legislature.
o If
we
were
to
have
a
written
constitution
we
would
need
judicial
review
powers
to
invalidate
unconstitutional
laws-
what
is
the
point
of
the
limiting
powers
if
they
can
exceed
them
freely.
• Bogdanor
o “What
the
queen
enacts
in
parliament
is
law”-not
legally
enforceable
safeguards
against
tyrannical
governments,
except
elections.
• Lord
Halisham
o “We
have
an
elected
dictatorship”-parliamentary
sovereignty.
Types
of
Constitutions
1. Written/Codified
constitutional
system-principles
and
rules
in
the
text
itself.
If
something
isn’t
in
the
text,
then
it
isn’t
constitutional.
There
is
nothing
higher
in
law
than
a
constitution
so
it
is
difficult
to
amend
or
repeal-we
can
simply
have
a
referendum
to
change
it.
2. UK
Constitution
a. Largely
unwritten
and
lacks
an
authoritative
text.
, b. It
is
evolutionary,
flexible
(doubt
as
to
the
truth
of
this
as
we
have
so
many
constitutional
conventions)
and
political
(the
parties
in
power
can
achieve
constitutional
change
easily).
c. Has
not
been
codified
since
Cromwells’
instrument
of
government.
d. Allocation
of
powers
etc
is
considered
constitutional
in
the
UK
but
rights
to
education
and
social
rights
are
not
considered
constitutionally
significant.
However,
there
is
a
reluctance
by
judges
to
rule
on
our
constitutional
principles
which
leads
to
uncertainty.
e. Our
courts
find
it
difficult
to
find
laws
to
be
unconstitutional
as
there
is
no
single
document.
f. Parliament
rarely
appreciates
the
constitutional
significant
of
the
bills
passed-failed
to
note
the
loss
of
sovereignty
which
came
with
the
European
Communities
Act
1972
(Ganz)
Sources
of
UK
Constitution
1. Statutes/Legislation:
o Magna
Carta
1215
o European
Communities
Act
1972
o Human
Rights
Act
1998
o Constitutional
Reform
Act
2005
2. Judicial
precedent
(case
law/common
law-stare
decisis)
o Writ
of
habeas
corpus
(“you
have
a
body”)-‐cannot
be
detained
for
no
reason.
o BRB
v
Pickin
(1974)-‐creates
parliamentary
sovereignty-‐if
the
parliament
decides
something
then
it
becomes
law.
3. Interpreting
statutes
4. Laws/customs
of
parliament
5. Constitutional
conventions-moral
code
that
is
not
legally
enforceable
(Madzimbamuto)
but
regarded
as
binding
by
those
who
operate
the
Constitution
e.g.
inviting
leader
of
majority
party
after
the
elections
to
become
PM.
Said
to
be
used
as
our
constitution
is
hard
to
amend
structurally
(though
it
is
said
to
be
flexible)
o Rules
of
constitutional
morality-‐if
David
Cameron
could
not
form
a
coalition,
then
Labour
could
have
been
invited
to
form
a
minority
government.
o Pressure
to
resign
is
severe
if
convention
not
followed-
Blunkett
after
accepting
a
business
appointment
without
registering
it
as
a
financial
interest
first.
o Not
written
down
to
ensure
they
are
flexible.
6. Prerogative
powers
of
the
Crown
o Non-‐statutory
powers
of
government.
o Historically-‐the
discretionary
powers
of
the
Monarch.
o Now-powers
used
by
government
in
the
name
of
the
Crown.
o Examples-appointment
and
dismissal
of
ministers/declaration
of
war/offering
pardons
and
honours
etc.
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