United Kingdom
Law
Constitution
unwritten there is no single legal document which sets out the fundamental laws
constitution outlining how the state works. Britain’s lack of a ‘written’ constitution can
be explained by its history. The British Constitution has evolved over a
long period of time, reflecting the relative stability of the British polity. It
has never been thought necessary to consolidate the basic building
blocks.
parliamentar this principle makes Parliament the supreme legal authority which can
y sovereignty create or end any law.
rule of law every individual must obey and submit to the law. In essence, no one is
above the law. The rule of law, along with Parliamentary Sovereignty and
court rulings, is fundamentally the defining principle of the ‘unwritten
constitution’.
Legal positions
lord chancellor the Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Monarch on the advice of
the PM and is a senior member of the Cabinet. They head the
Ministry of Justice as the Secretary of State for Justice.
lord chief justice the Lord Chief Justice is the Head of the Judiciary of England and
Wales. They are responsible for representing the views of the
judiciary to Parliament and the Governor.
barrister (+ Many barristers specialize in one area. Barristers tend to practice as
queen’s counsel) advocates representing clients in court.
Queen’s counsel: a QC is a very senior barrister or solicitor who is
recognized as an expert and leader in their legal field. The Monarch
appoints them to be a part of Her Majesty’s Counsel.
solicitor a solicitor is responsible for preparing legal documentation in the run
up and during a court case. A solicitor tends to perform the majority
of their legal work in a law firm or office setting.
justices of the magistrates/justices of the peace are ordinary people who hear
peace cases in court in their community.
lord advocate is the chief legal adviser of the British Government and the Crown
on Scottish legal matters.
attorney general is the chief legal adviser to the Crown and are the guardian of public
interest.
Law Enforcement
Territorial police used to describe the collection of forces responsible for the general
forces policing in areas with respect to local government areas.
Metropolitan Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the
(Met) Metropolitan Police District. The Met has significant national
responsibilities, such as counter-terrorism and protecting the Royal
Family.
Scotland Yard the name for the headquarters building of the Met
Secret Intelligence is responsible for gathering intelligence outside the UK in support
Service (MI6) of the government’s security, defense, foreign and economic
policies.
Security Service MI5 is responsible for protecting the UK, its citizens and interests,
(MI5) at home and overseas, against threats to national security.
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, Government provides intelligence, protects information and informs relevant UK
Communications policy to keep society safe and successful in the internet age. The
Headquarters GCHQ is based in ‘The Doughnut’
(GCHQ)
Types of Court
The Supreme Court is the highest court for civil and criminal matters. It hears cases of
the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the
whole population
The Court of Appeal is second highest court in the UK. In the Civil Division the Court
of Appeal proceeds by ‘rehearing’ -not recall witnesses or hear
evidence but reviews the case from the record made at trial and
from the judge’s notes. The Criminal Division decides appeals
from the Crown Court. The Court of Appeal does not receive
fresh evidence, but it may do so if necessary.
The High Court is the third highest court in the UK. It deals with civil cases and
appeals of decisions made in lower civic courts.
The Crown Court deals with serious criminal cases which include cases sent for
trial by magistrates’ courts because the offences can only be
heard by the Crown Court, defendants convicted in magistrates’
courts, but sent to Crown Court for sentencing due to the
seriousness of the offence or appeals against decisions of
magistrates’ courts.
Magistrates’ Court Virtually all criminal court cases start in the magistrates’ court.
The more serious offences are passed on to the Crown Court.
Juries
Criminal jury The most common use of a jury is in Crown Court. Juries are
summoned for criminal tries when the offence has been sent to Crown
Court after examination by magistrates.
Civil jury The vast majority of civil cases tried in court do not have a jury.
Law systems
Common law is constantly changing because of the fluid way in which judges
interpret the law using the knowledge of legal precedent and
common sense.
Civil law is concerned with cases between individual people where one
person commits an offence which is harmful towards another
person, their rights or property.
Criminal law relates to the offences that negatively affect society as a whole,
rather than one person. Criminal laws are put in place by
Parliament to prevent breaches of conduct which they deem as
harmful towards society.
Separate Legal Scotland has its own distinct judicial system. The legal
System in Scotland profession is not split. A jury has 15 members. 3 possible
verdicts: guilty, not guilty, not proven.
Government
Elections
First-past-the-post voters cast their vote for a candidate of their choice, and the
candidate who receives the most votes wins.
Winner-takes-all first-past-the-post system may also be referred to as winner-takes-
all.
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,Major parties
Conservative Blue - Boris Johnson
Labour Red – Keir Starner
Liberal Democrats Yellow – Sir Ed Davey
SNP wants Scottish independence
UKIP played a significant role in the ‘leave’ campaign led by Nigel
Farage.
Green Party green, left wing political party
System of government
separation of powers executive comprises the Crown and the Government (PM and
and branches of ministers). The executive formulates and implements policy.
government legislature comprises the Crown and Parliament (House of
Commons and House of Lords).
judiciary comprises the judges and officers of courts and
tribunals.
bicameral a bicameral parliament is one that contains two separate
assemblies who must agree when new laws are made. The
UK parliament is bicameral because both the House of
Commons and the House of Lords are involved in making
legislation.
Monarchy
constitutional Britain became a constitutional monarchy under the Whigs. The
monarchy monarch shares power with the government. The monarch has
no real powers.
Head of State is currently Queen Elizabeth II.
royal prerogatives is the remaining portion of the Crown’s original authority. They
royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and
immunity attached to the Crown. The monarch is regarded as
the absolute authority.
Parliament
House of The members of the Commons are known as MPs (Members of
Commons Parliament).
The design and layout of the meeting room of the House of
Commons tell us a lot about what is distinctive about the British
Parliament.
1. The seating arrangements: The government benches on
the left and the opposition benches on the right, argue that
MPs are either ‘for’ the government or against it. The
arrangement encourages confrontation.
2. The Commons has no special place for people to stand
when they are speaking.
3. There are no desks for MPs.
4. The size of the room is very small. There are about 650
MPs, but there is only
room for fewer than The Speaker cha
400. discussion in the
The basic procedure by years ago the Sp
which the Commons conduct communicate th
its business is by debate on Commons to the
a particular proposal,
followed by a resolution
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, which either accepts or rejects the proposal. While voting for the
proposal MPs walk through one of two corridors at the side of the
House- one side for the Ayes, one side for the Noes. Besides the
resolutions, the Commons are also part of committees. They have
the power to call certain people to come and answer their
questions. They are becoming an increasingly important part of the
business of the Commons.
House of Lords The second chamber of British Parliament is the House of Lords.
They have no real power and limited influence. In the Lords, bills
can be discussed in more detail than in the busy Commons. The
Lords act as a forum for discussion. The Lords can act as a check
when Commons are becoming too dictatorial. The members are
aristocrats. Leaders of political parties like to ‘kick upstairs’: send
an older member to the House of Lords.
In 1910, the Liberal government proposed heavy taxes on the rich.
The House of Lords rejected the proposal. The government asked
the king or an election. Again, the Commons passed tax proposal,
and a bill limiting the power of the Lords. The Lords rejected both
bills. The king let it be known that if the Lords rejected both bills
again, he would appoint hundreds of new peers who would vote for
the bill.
cabinet consists of about 15 to 25 ministers appointed by the prime
minister, who in turn has been appointed by the monarch. Cabinet
members must all be members of parliament and they head the
government departments.
prime minister is the head of government. The prime minister selects ministers
and advises the Crown. The incumbent prime minister is Boris
Johnson. Past PMs are Theresa May, David Cameron, Gordon
Brown, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.
Buildings
10 Downing Street prime minister’s official residence and office.
Palace of is the meeting place for the House of Commons and House of
Westminster Lords.
Important recent political figures
Queen Elizabeth II daughter of George VI and Elizabeth. She began to undertake
public duties during the Second World War. Elizabeth married
Philip and gave birth to Charles and Anne.
Margaret Thatcher was PM from 1975 to 1990 and was the first woman to hold
office. Her nickname was the Iron Lady. She was PM during the
Falklands War, the Troubles and the miners’ strike.
Tony Blair was PM from 1997 to 2007 and was the longest-serving Labour
PM. He helped to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement and
eliminated hereditary members of the House of Lords. He
played a key role in forming an international coalition in driving
the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.
David Cameron was PM from 2010 to 2016. He was under pressure from UKIP
to leave the EU. He held a referendum to counter that threat. He
stepped down after the referendum.
Theresa May was PM from 2016 to 2019. May’s Brexit deal reached Brussel
but was rejected by hard Brexiteers and remainders.
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