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Relations between Branches - Coggle Diagram
Relations between Branches
4.1 The Supreme Court and its interactions with, and influence over, the legislative and policy-making processes.
importance of the supreme court
The supreme court
- established in 2009 is the highest most important court in our legal system. Above the magistrates and the crown court. This is made up of 12 'justices'.
The court Interprets acts of Parliament, they make the basis for British Common law by setting a 'precedent' with their rulings.
Types of law in the UK
Civil - disputes among two private individuals.
Criminal - crimes agains the state
Functions of the Supreme Court
Independence
- The separation of power is it effective?
Neutrality
- Are they able to make impartial decisions?
The work of the supreme court is now more open to public scrutiny than its predecessor the
appellate committee
. Improved neutrality
Past key rulings
2010 - MPs were not protected by Parliamentary privilege in the expenses scandal.
2010 -
The supreme court ruled that soldiers would not be protected under the Human Rights Act when abroad.
Johnson (2019)
- prorogation case
He attempted to prorogue parliament, a move that was blocked by the supreme court; this is the most infamous interaction between the executive and judiciary in recent years.
The courts will have to protect parliament’s power to hold the government to account.
This ruling and reasoning shows the supreme court as a ‘constitutional court’ that plays a key role in protecting democracy.
Establishment of the Supreme Court
In the past senior judges in the UK had a seat in the lords which breached the
‘separation of powers’
. Blair’s government sought out to modernise this system.
In the
constitutional reform act, passed in 2005,
this removed law from the lords (law lords) and established the supreme court.
The membership of the court is determined by a
5 member selection committee
made up of other senior judges. They are then approved by the justice sec and appointed by the monarch.
The separation of powers is very important to this process.
established by Blair 2005.
Independence & Nuetrality
For points
Independence
Physical separation of the three branches of government in the UK shows the separation of powers and its importance.
Parliament (the legislature) cannot express their opinions of Supreme Court rulings as this breaches the separation of powers.
Appointing judges is now an almost entirely separate process since the removal of the law lords and the justice secretary (2005). Justices are now chosen by the judicial appointments committee.
neutrality
Judges in the UK are not permitted to be members of a political party. Any bias shown my judges in quickly published in the media.
The positions of justices are permanent and their salaries cannot be meddles with meaning they cannot be subject to bribes or blackmail.
Against points
supreme court justices are out of touch, many went to oxbridge and cannot decision make on behalf of the country. This creates a privileged bias in favour of the establishment.
Conservative politicians tend to favour the status quo. (John Griffith, 1997)
Independence:
There is also still a degree of political influence over the court with the role of the justice secretary which does the old role of lord chancellor, this position does not require a legal background, issue for the
separation of powers.
There are currently only 2 female supreme justices which may mean that decisions hold an unequal gender bias.
Judicial activism increasing - ruling on the definition of a woman (April 2025) seen as very politically motivated. In the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.
Judges may by inclined to rule against the government to 'prove' they are independent - this is not neutral. 2/3 of rulings go against the government.
Judicial review
can be explained as...the process of the Judiciary checking the actions taken by other branches of government and public bodies. This comes from systems with codified constitutions where rulings can be deemed ‘unconstitutional’ by the judiciary. However this also works as a method of power checking in systems such as that of the UK.
method as power checking in the UK
Court can decide whether bodies are acting 'ultra vires' - The only consequence is that the action is undone.
Examples
In 2009, the high court ruled that Gurkha veterans who had retired before 1997 with at least 4 years military service had the right to settle in the UK.
A report produced in 2016 that found that poor air quality in London is responsible for almost 10,000 deaths a year, this caused the supreme court to force DOEFaRA to rethink their strategy.
The rise in use
The rise in the courts as a method of
'judicial activism'
where in the past they were seen to take a more 'small c conservative approach so as to not interfere too much.
Supreme Court + HRA
The Human Rights Act (2000)
incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law to bring us up to date with the rest of the continent as we entered a new millennium.
This change gave UK courts more opportunities to protect civil liberties.
Power of the HRA
Although this is not an entrenched bill the court can claim a
‘declaration of incompatibility’
in regards to parliament going against it. This forces parliament to amend their legislation through a process of ‘derogation’ - means that they put the act aside.
EG - banning prisoners from voting was found to be a breach of the human rights act in 2005.
Debates over the act.
Positive impacts
Improves judges ability to uphold the 'rule of law' --- his will force ministers and public bodies to be more sensitive to civil liberties and therefore force more accountability and improve trust in government --- makes citizens more aware of their rights
Negative impacts
allows judges to overstep their traditional role and ‘rewrite’ legislation made by elected individuals. Some argue that the courts have become ‘quasi-legislative’ --- creates an issue of 'human rights inflation' --- the HRA is used as a trojan horse which allows european rights into Westminster.
4.2 The relationship between the Executive and Parliament.
NOT IN PPE
4.3 The aims, role and impact of the European Union (EU) on UK government.
From the perspective of having left
Impacts of leaving the EU
- sovereignty
more sov
Parliament can now fully perform its role as a legislator, we are now longer bound by laws set down my the council and the commission.
We have left the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, the Factortame (1990s) judgement here showed that EU law prevailed over British law. The link here can be made to the four freedoms.
The good Friday agreement set down that there must be free movement of people across the NI border - no hard border. This created a hole in the side of the free market this was fixed by the Windsor Framework and the Stormont break (key for sovereignty here). The original idea here which didn't work was the NI protocol - upset the DUP.
little difference
many of the EU rules and regulations remained enshrined in UK law and were passed under the pretence of a new bill. Counter - however they had the choice not to do this.
Power over the free movement of people is not in fact firmly in the hands of the UK government - immigration figure have gone up post Brexit.
EU came out on top economically in the final deal (relative gains) this - the power of the UK was trumped once more.
Aims of the EU
Initial establishment
four freedoms
'ever closer union'?
effectiveness
Structure of the EU
4.4 The location of sovereignty in the UK political system.
Types of sovereignty
Legal
- The genuine legally binding powers that a country has to exert.
Political
- The powers the a country actually would exert in the context of the political system 'realistic limits'.
Rights in the UK
two key types
Civil liberties
- rights and freedoms which define a citizens’ relationship with the state
E.g. the right to a fair trial, the right to vote and stand in elections etc.
There are both
clear
and
disputed
responsibilities for citizens in the UK.
Human rights
- a much broader term which describes a range of rights that cannot always be guaranteed by the government such as freedom of belief. There are many more which can include civil liberties.
In the Uk there exists both
collective
and
individual
rights.
Individual rights - EG freedom of expression
Conflicting collective rights - EG - The right of religious groups to not have their beliefs satirised or questioned.
How rights have developed over time:
Residual rights and the use of common law
Traditionally in the UK a citizen would be assumed to have the right to do something useless if it was specifically restricted or prohibited by statute law. Precedent is set by the courts.
HRA - 1998
Freedom of information act - 2000
Equality act - 2010
Are rights well protected in the UK?
No
Common law is vague and disputed and can be set aside by Parliament --- Parliament remains sovereign over both the ECHR and the human rights act --- There is an increasing pressure on governments to curtail certain rights in the interest of national security.
1 more item...
Yes
There is a strong common law tradition --- The uk is subject to the ECHR ---The judiciary has a reputation for being independent and neutral.
Crowd funding is beginning to be used in the UK to widen the access to the legal protection of rights. This was seen during 2017 'people's challenge to Brexit'.
Civil liberties groups
Case study examples
Amnesty International UK
Amnesty International call themselves the world’s biggest grass-roots human rights organisation and they work to investigate and eradicate abuses and make society as a whole a safer place.
They are heavily involved in the Israel/Palestine conflict and are calling for a ceasefire.
Stonewall
Human rights groups in the UK focused on standing up for members of the LGBTQAI+ community. They are a non-profit organisation who over the past 30 years have focused on creating equal rights for queer people.
Their most famous activist event was probably the
anti section 28 protests
Other examples:
Liberty (police brutality & civil liberties)
The Howard League (prisons)
KEY TERMS
Reasonableness
- does the decision feel just.
Ultra Vires
- ‘beyond the power’ Has the state acted what they are constitutionally allowed to do. Eg civil servants.
Delegated legislation
- Laws which allow other bodies to act with Parliament’s legal authority; secondary or enabling legislation.
‘human rights inflation’
which means that even small rights designed to restrict state power are treated as fundamental rights.
