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UK Constitution - Coggle Diagram
UK Constitution
Sources of UK Constitution: Uncodified
Conventions
Influential Academic Work
Traditions
Judge Made Law
EU Law
Acts of Parliament.
Three key principles of the UK constitution
The separation of powers (Montesquieu)
There are 3 functions of the state and the only way to safeguard the liberty of citizens is by keeping these functions separate.
3 Arms of State
Legislature
Judiciary
Executive
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
The Lord Chancellor was a direct breach of the doctrine of the separation of powers, as his role extended to all three ‘arms of State’.
Establishment of the Supreme Court
The supreme court took over the previous jurisdiction of the Law Lords and removed the functions of Speaker of the House of Lords and Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales from the office of Lord Chancellor.
The Rule of Law (A V Dicey)
Part 2(Everyone is equal before the law)
Magna Carta states that “No man is above the law and everyone, regardless of rank, is subject to the laws of the land.”
Part 3(The Rights of Individuals are upheld by judges in courts of law)
The rights of individuals should be secured by the decisions of judges, referred to as ‘supremacy of ordinary law’.
Belmarsh Prisoners Case
Part 1(No sanction without breach)
Nobody can be punished unless he/she has broken the law as established by the courts.
The supremacy of Parliament (A V Dicey)
The principle that parliament has absolute and unlimited power
Limitations on parliamentary supremacy
European Communities Act 1972
The European Convention of Human Rights sections 3, 4 and 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998
Changes to the Constitution due to the devolution