An analysis of politics in the UK discussing:
- Sources of the constitution
- The nature the constitution
- The role and influence of the Supreme Court
- Scrutiny of the executive
- The nature of democracy
- Influence of the media
- Party structures
Answer: Statute laws use parliamentary sovereignty to overpower every other existing law. An example of a statute law is the Human Rights Act of 1998 which grants citizens in the UK individual rights, as well as the Franchise Act of 1928, which allowed anybody over the age of 21 the right to vote. Statute laws are arguably superior to other laws as they have the power to override other laws. Furthermore, statute laws are fundamental to both society as well as national interest.
2.
What are Common Laws?
Answer: Commons laws are based upon tradition and precedent, often being referred to as being \'judge made\' laws. When deciding the legality of a case, a judge will analyse previous similar cases and decisions made regarding their outcome. The most notable example of common law is the prerogative powers which the Prime Minister exercise on behalf of the Queen. Common laws are significant as they ultimately allow cases to be met with the same dedication and prevent mistreatment between similar cases from occurring.
3.
What are Authorised Works?
Answer: These are laws which are influenced by the work of scholars who are traditionally seen as being \'experts\' of the UK constitution. Examples of such scholars include Walter Bagehot and his 187 \'the English constitution\' as well as A.V. Dicey and his 1885 piece. \'the law of the constitution.\' Although being influenced by tradition, these laws can be interpreted as being outdated as the considered experts are speaking of the Victorian constitution rather than our modern one.
4.
Non-Codified Constitution
Answer: the UK constitution can be dated back to the establishment of the Magna Carta in 1215. Due to its age, our constitution is not contained within a single document therefore making it uncodified. By the constitution being uncodified, this enables flexibility as changes can be easily made and laws amended, which is significant as it enables the constitution to remain both relevant and reflective of our society. Following the Dunbane Massacre in 1997, the UK was able to swiftly introduce limitations of gun ownership to prevent the occurrence of a massacre from occuring again. This is significant when considering the US, who as a result of their codified constitution, cannot ammend the 12th amendment which makes the ownership of guns a human right.
5.
Rule of Law
Answer: Rule of Law ensures that every resident of the UK is accountable to the same laws despite their social position or power as an individual. This ultimately allows the maintenance of societal order where everybody is judicially equal to one another, therefore preventing the corruption or exploitation of one\'s position. In 2022, UK Prime Minister received a fine following his violation of the Coronavirus Act of 2020 as a result of his involvement in the party gate scandal where he broke lockdown restrictions and social distancing. Suggestively, Rule of Law is not always effective, as Johnson only received a fine following the publics awareness of the situation.
6.
Unentrenched
Answer: There is no formal change process which allows the constitution to remain relevant as well as be reformed to relate to a contemporary society. However, suggestively this is negative as the law can be easily changed or abused which can create instability or confusion.
7.
Unitary
Answer: Despite devolution, the Scottish Parliament and Irish Assembly are still accountable to the Central government of Westminster who granted them their powers and is therefore their superior. An example of a unitary law enforced by Westminster is the Gambling Act of 2005 which placed limitations on the accessibility to gambling as well as the protection of children and the vulnerable from being exploited. The law is applied to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
8.
Parliamentary Sovereignty
Answer: Parliament has the legal authority to adjust or modify the law. An example of this was in 2005, when Parliament amended article 5 of the Human Rights Act so the Counter Terrorism Act could be introduced allowing impositions of \"controlled order\" on suspected terrorists who may be considering as being a threat to the public and their liberty.
9.
The Supreme Court
Answer: Under the Human Rights Act of 1998, all government bills must be included with a statement from the minister stating whether the bill is compatible with the Human Rights Act or is not however they still will to proceed. The Supreme Court can disagree stating that a bill is not compatible which as a result, allows the introduction of bills to be considered more carefully and with greater caution to prevent embarrassment. However, in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled a blanket ban on the bill which stated that prisoners should not have the right to vote. Although the Supreme Court argued that this violated their rights to freedom of expression, Parliament still nevertheless passed the bill making it law.
In 2015, the UK Supreme Court only narrowly (3 to 2) upheld the controversial cap on the total amount of benefits an out-of-work family could receive including housing benefits and benefits for children to £500 a week. Opponents argued that this breached the Human Rights Act as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child.
In 2018, two victims of the \'black cab rapist\' (John Worboys), won a case against the Metropolitan Police due to their inability to take the allegation of their rapes seriously. The Supreme Court stated that the police had acted unconstitutionally breaching section 3 of the Human Rights Act by treating the victim\'s inhumanely.
In 2017, Charlie Gard\'s parents attempted to take him abroad to receive specialised treatment for their son\'s illness. Great Ormond Street Hospital prevented this from occurring stating it would be against Gard\'s \'best interest.\' The Supreme Court argued that this breached section 2 of the Human Rights Act as they were taking away his \'right to health\' and potentially \'right to life.\'
Ultra Vires - Ultra vires means that everybody including the government is subject to the laws of the land. If the government or any other public bodies are found by the Supreme Court as having exceeded their powers, their actions are declared \'ultra vires\' or illegal and must be reversed - occurring following judicial review.
Judicial review - A court proceeding where judges analyse the legality of a decision of action made by the government or another public body. The action is not criticised based on outcome, instead by the way the decision was made.
10.
PMQs
Answer: Peers and MPs have the ability to ask government ministers questions both written or orally. The most notable example of this occuring is PMQs which take place every Wednesday at noon for an hour and a half and are televised both on the television as well as on social media. PMQs allow transparency as citizens have the ability to be aware of political decisions being made. Former prime minister, Tony Blair, once stated that PMQs are \"bowel moving\" and \"nail biting.\"
Content preview
Politics paper 1, the UK constitution
Sources of the UK constitution
Statute laws:
- Statute laws use parliamentary sovereignty to overpower every other existing law. An
example of a statute law is the Human Rights Act of 1998 which grants citizens of the UK
individual rights, as well as The Franchise Act of 1928 which gave anybody over the age of
21 the right to vote. This suggests that statute laws are superior due to their ability to
override the power of existing laws. Furthermore, statute laws are typically seen as being the
laws which are fundamental to society as well as the law, because they improve the standard
of living and concern national interest.
Common laws:
- Common laws are based upon tradition and precedent sometimes being referred to as
‘judge-made laws.’ When deciding the legality of a case, a judge will analyse similar cases as
well as the decisions made regarding their outcome. The most notable example of common
law is the prerogative powers which the prime minister exercises on behalf of the monarch.
This idea is significant because it enables the law to be judged equally ensuring modern cases
are met with the same consideration that cases in the past witnessed therefore promoting
justice.
Works of authority:
- Works of authority are laws which are influenced by the work of scholars who are considered
as being ‘experts’ of the UK constitution and they have the knowledge to declare what is
lawful and correct. Examples of such scholars include Walter Bagehot and his 1867 piece ‘the
english constitution’ as well as A.V Dicey’s 1885 ‘law of the constitution.’ However although
these works are based upon tradition, they can nevertheless be interpreted as being outdated
as the considered scholars of the constitution address the victorian era instead of the modern
and diverse twenty first century.
Nature of UK constitution
Non-codified
- The UK constitution can be dated back to the Magna Carta which was recorded in 1215, as a
result of the constitution’s age, it is not contained within a single document therefore making
it uncodified. By the UK constitution being uncodified, this enables a level of flexibility which
allows changes to be easily made and laws amended, this is significant as it allows the
constitution to remain relevant to an ever evolving society. In 1997, following the Dunblane
Massacre, the UK was able to impose stricter regulations regarding gun controls in the UK to
prevent the occurrence of a similar event being committed again.
Rule of Law
- The Rule of Law ensures that every resident in the UK is accountable to the same laws despite
their social or political position. This fundamentally allows the maintenance of an ordered
society where every individual is judicially equal. An example of this was in 2022, when
Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a fine for his violation of the 2020 Coronavirus Act
during the ‘partygate’ scandal. Despite his political power, Johnson was as accountable to
the law as any other individual and was liable to the same consequences. However, Johnson
only witnessed liability following the media’s criticism of the lack of consequences he endured
for holding a birthday party during the pandemic. If this criticism had not been published,
arguably, he would have not been accountable to the law.
Unentrenched
, - No formal change process which allows the constitution to remain relevant and can be
reformed to relate to contemporary society however, it nevertheless suggests that the
constitution can be changed too quickly which therefore creates instability and confusion.
Unitary
- Despite devolution, the Scottish Parliament and Irish Assembly are still accountable to the
central government of Westminster who granted them their powers and is therefore superior.
An example of a unitary law would be the gambling act 0f 2005 with limitations placed on
accessibility of gambling and the protection of children and vulnerable individuals from being
exploited. The law applies to England, Scotland and Wales; the law also applied to Northern
Ireland however until 2021, gambling with the exception of the national lottery was illegal,
and therefore the act was ineffective.
Parliamentary sovereignty
- Parliament has legal authority to adjust or modify the law. An example of this is how in 2005,
Parliament suspended article 5 of the Human Rights Act so that the Counter Terrorism Act
could be introduced which allowed the Home Secretary to impose “control orders” on
suspected terrorists whose liberty maybe considered as being a security threat to the general
public.
The role of the Supreme Court and its impact on government, legislature and policy process.
- Under the Human Rights Act of 1998, all government bills must include a statement saying
that, in the minister's view, the bill is either compatible with human rights or that it is
incompatible but the government nevertheless wishes to proceed. However, the UK Supreme
Court can disagree in a subsequent court case that a bill is compatible. This as a result makes
the government more careful and cautious about drawing up bills. However, in 2005 the
Supreme Court ruled a blanket ban on denying all prisoners the vote was incompatible with
the Human Rights Act, but nevertheless Parliament introduced the law.
- In 2015, the UK Supreme Court only narrowly (3 to 2) upheld the controversial cap on the
total amount of benefits an out-of-work family could receive including housing benefits and
benefits for children to £500 a week. Opponents argued that this breached the Human Rights
Act as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child.
The ‘John Worboys (“black cab rapist”) case (2018):
- two victims won a case against the Metropolitan Police due to their inability to take the
allegations seriously. The UK Supreme Court stated that the victims Human Rights had been
neglected due to the breachment of section three (treated inhumanely.)
The Charlie Gard Case (2017):
- Charlie Gard’s (a seriously ill baby) parents wanted to take their son abroad to achieve more
specialised treatment however Great Ormond Street Hospital stated that this would not be in
the child’s best interest. The UK Supreme Court argued that this breached the “right to
health” (Section 2.)
Evidence of lack of diversity (2018)
1. 25% of judicial judges were women
2. no judicial judges were of an ethnic minority
3. 75% of judicial judges were students of either Oxford or Cambridge
Main roles:
1. The final court of appeal for all UK civil cases and criminal cases from England,
Wales and Northern Ireland.
2. Makes decisions regarding the national interest and has an impact on the general
public.
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