The Royal Prerogative: Most Important Source Of The Constitution

In this essay I will be explaining what the Royal Prerogative is and if it is the most important source of the constitution. The Royal Prerogative is traditional powers and privileges of monarchs, such as to make war and peace, and to act as the head of the executive in the country. Furthermore some more examples of the powers and privileges given were to command armies and appoint generals to fight with the monarch, to appoint ministers, to raise money to pay soldiers and to appoint judges to maintain law and order.
The reason why the Royal Prerogative is still the most important part of the constitution is because the Queen who is formal head of state gives her powers to the Prime Minister, however if there was ever a dictator in power the Queen would not pass a law. Subsequently the UK constitution is old and many people who live in the UK like the old fashion history and want to retain the UKs values. The Royal Prerogative is the most important source of the UK constitution because it grants power to the Prime Minister and Queen to achieve their constitutional tasks. The power to send troops in to a war is one of the Royal Prerogatives, this is from the Crown rather than being discussed by Parliament it was using this that took the UK to war with Iraq.

However the reason why the Royal Prerogative is not the most important
part of the constitution is because in 1998 when Tony Blair sent troops into Kosovo he informed the Queen but he did not consult her.The Royal Prerogative is an outdated power. One of the problems is the definitions of some of the powers. Such as ‘military action’ is not so easy to define is it intelligence support, proxy wars or cyber warfare. This is why the Royal Prerogative is not the most important part of the constitution.

Although the Royal Prerogative many not be the most important part of the constitution the EU laws are becoming more important. The EU laws help democracy and liberty. They EU laws are also more important than the Royal prerogative because the EU laws are above the separate laws of the UK and above members of the UK. An example of EU laws being above separate laws in the UK is when Tony Blair wanted after 7/7 wanted to increase the length of time for which terror suspects would be held without trial to 90 days. However the policy breached human rights laws and was not accepted. This is why the EU laws are more important than the Royal Prerogative.
Membership of the EU transformed the UK constitution. When signing the UK constitution we agreed to give up our sovereignty in some areas to gain membership of the EU. The EU has a key impact on the citizen of the UK. This is because the EU decides the size of lorries and other important issues. This is why the EU laws are more important than the Royal Prerogative.
Although the Royal Prerogative many not be the most important part of the constitution however the statute laws are important. The statue law is laws that are made by parliament, which are passed by the House of Commons and House of Lords, and signed by the monarch. The reason why statue laws are important is because without it we would not be in the European Union, this fundamentally changed the constitution. Without statue law we would not even have EU laws which make it more important than the Royal Prerogative and EU laws.
Many acts made by the statue law play a key role in the constitution, an example of these laws are, the Mutiny Act which gives military officers the right to give orders and to discipline soldiers, Parliament Act which rules that there has to be a general election every five years and the Human Rights Act which gives basic freedoms to citizens. This evidences shows that the Statue law is more important than the Royal Prerogative and the EU laws.
Furthermore the Royal Prerogative many not be the most important part of the constitution but the common law has become increasingly important. Common law is laws that are made by ordinary judges, making a ruling in a case that has been presented to them. The reason why common law important is because it was a judge who ruled in the 1770s that slavery could not exist in Britain. Their decisions affect how the UK is governed .However Common law is not more important than EU laws, statue law or the royal prerogative because they have more power.

Although the Royal Prerogative may not be the most important source of the constitution its basis can be said to be the same of a convention.
A convention is a long established custom or tradition just like the Royal Prerogative. It also has the same force as the law. It is now a recognized convention that the decision to go to war is taken by the Prime Minister even though it is part of the Royal Prerogative. An example of this is when Tony Blair ordered to send troops into Serbia and Kosovo. Therefore the Convention and the Royal Prerogative have the same statues in importance however they are not as important as EU laws and Statues
laws.
Furthermore the Royal Prerogative many not be the most important part of the constitution but the works of authority has become increasingly important. The works of authority is like the constitution, whereas it is not as set because the political parties would never agree. The works of authority provides a major source about the constitution and they are useful for the understanding of the constitution. However it is not as important as the Royal Prerogative, common law, EU law or statue law because it is not set and not all political parties would agree on this because there are more important and more pressing issues.
In conclusion the Royal Prerogative is not the most important source in the constitution because other sources such as EU laws are far more important than the Royal prerogative.