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The Constitution of the United Kingdom - the Institution's Roles -…
The Constitution of the United Kingdom - the Institution's Roles
The role of Parliament
Parliament (Westminster)
supreme legislative**
(
law-making) body**
of the United Kingdom. Consists of 2 houses
· The House of Commons
- A representative elected body of 650 members from different political parties.
Responsible for making decisions on public finances
, for example
legislation
which
changes tax law
, or
introduces new taxes
. The
Lords can consider
but not block or amend this legislation
The House of Lords
may scrutinise
and
make amendments to general legislation approved by the House of Commons
.
· The House of Lords
- An unelected body of appointed life peers, hereditary peers and bishops.
Primary Legislation (Bills)
require
approval by the House of Lords
before the Sovereign gives 'royal assent'
'Government defeats'
– when legislative proposals by the government are
not accepted
– usually result in
amendments to the legislation by government
,
rather than wholesale defeat of the Bill.
The House of Lords therefore acts as an
important check on the exercise of government power.
The Sovereign (King-in-Parliament)
- The sovereign in her/his legislative role,
acting with the advice
and
consent of Parliament
Key Functions of Parliament
Debate
and
scrutinise proposed legislation
Propose amendments
to legislation
Extract information
from the
executive
and
hold it to account on its policies and actions
Scrutinise public expenditure
and
taxation
Constitutional Reform Act of 2005
(‘CRA’) -
designed
to
address concerns
that the
separation of powers
between the judiciary
and the
other two bodies of state was blurred.
The Judicial Appointments Commission is under statutory duty to:
(i) Select candidates
soley on merit
(ii) Select only people of
good character
(iii) Have regard to
the need to encourage diversity
House of Lords changed to
Supreme court in 2009
-
separate physically & in terms of membership from Parliament
In 2006
role of head of Judiciary was taken from Lord Chancellor
who now has a
purely political role
and given to the
Lord Chief Justice
-
Heads the judiciary
in England & Wales/
President of the Courts
The role of the Executive
Structure of the Executive
The
Monarch
- only
nominal
and
symbolic
The
Prime Minister
and the
Cabinet
Government departments
(run by politically independent civil servants),
local government
, e.g.,
city, county or district councils.
Powers of government departments
Two Main Sources:
• Mostly from
statute (legislation
which has been approved by Parliament for a specific purpose)
• Or from
powers recognised in the common law
• These powers include those from the
royal prerogative
– these are historic powers that have never been formally approved by Parliament, but they are
recognised as legitimate
.
• They are
exercised by senior government ministers :in the name of the monarch
Limits of Power
- Government can only act if
authorised by statute or common law
. If the government act in excess of power, the
Administrative Court
will intervene if a claim is started against. The legal mechanism to make a claim is called
Judicial Review
.
Local authorities are
responsible for the implementation of central government policies at the local level,
for instance the
collection of council tax, the maintenance of highways,
and
building new housing
, as well as
applying their own local policies
.
Central government
in the UK is
divided into departments
of state or 'ministries',
each responsible for particular areas of government policy and implementation
.
The
powers of government departments
include the
power to create
and
implement secondary legislation.
Head of the government is the Prime Minister
The role of the Judiciary
To
determine the outcome of legal disputes between individuals
To
decide the appropriate punishment in criminal cases
In the case of the
Administrative Court,
to
determine whether the government has lawfully exercised its powers.
The Administrative Court is where
most public law claims begin
. (Appeals lie to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division), and ultimately the Supreme Court.)
Judicial independence strengthened
•
Reform of the office of the Lord Chancellor,
so that judicial functions have
largely been taken over by the Lord Chief Justice.
(The
Lord Chancellor now has no direct judicial role – he or she is an MP and a government minister.
)
•
Establishment of the Supreme Court
as the highest appeal court in the land in 2009, with the
ending of the House of Lords'
judicial function (the old 'law lords').
•
Creation of the Judicial Appointments Commission
for the
appointment of judges
. Prior to this, the King had appointed judges on the 'advice' of the Lord Chancellor.
Guardians of the Constitution
Lady Hale gave
three reasons for this:
The
Justices rule on the validity of laws passed by the devolved legislatures
They
restrict the government to the exercise of powers within the limits that Parliament has set:
- servants of the sovereign legislature".
They
"protect the fundamental rights of individuals against encroachment by the State".
Interpret the will of Parliament expressed in legislation
interpret
and
apply case law
, and
restrain unlawful acts
– including those of the Executive