Preview

The Supremacy Of Parliament And Its Effect On The Constitution

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1910 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Supremacy Of Parliament And Its Effect On The Constitution
To investigate this statement, it is imperative to firstly consider what the supremacy of Parliament means and to analyse their powers which are at present, having an effect on our constitution. It is also vital to assess the legal and non-legal limits which may be preventing Parliament from being the ultimate authority in the constitution, and deliberate whether these limitations are actually having an effect on Parliamentary authority. Only then, will it be possible to determine whether the supremacy of Parliament means that they can pass any law they like.
The supremacy of Parliament, also known as Parliamentary sovereignty is described as:
“a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds the legislative body has absolute sovereignty, and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive or judicial bodies.”
The UK has an unwritten, uncodified constitution; unlike other countries such as the USA who have a
…show more content…
Essentially the Parliament could pass any law they see fit, and the judiciary would have to obey it whether they agree with it or not. This could lead to catastrophic consequences if Parliament uses its authority in a negative light, for example introducing laws that are not in the best interests of the members of society.
Dicey also observed that:
“the principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty means… (that Parliament) has the right to make or unmake any law and that no person or body is recognised by the laws of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Another strength of the UK constitution is that there is sovereignty of Parliament. This is a strength as its elected body is accountable to the people. For example, MP’s are elected by the people whop stand in Parliament, which therefore means that the people in power have the general publics support to make decisions. But the nature of our constitution means that the location of sovereignty is a bit of a muddle.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Parliament is the national representative body which has supreme legislative powers within its jurisdiction. While it oversees the completion of a number of other tasks parliaments’ main role is undoubtedly to make and pass laws and it has to be said that it achieves this role efficiently. Parliament and the members of parliament are elected solely by the people and are therefore responsible to the voting public. When passing laws parliament has the ability to, as part of its law making process obtain expert opinion with regards to tough and controversial issues. This process of law making is a completely structured procedure which follows a routine series of stages whenever a piece of legislation is proposed. These factors amongst others all contribute to the effective and efficient law making system that parliament is. While like any other structured organisation parliament has a number of weaknesses and faults these are minor and have very little effect on parliament as a law-making institution.…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Parliamentary gives Parliament superior and legal authority as they can make or unmake any Act of Parliament they wish and although the House of Commonsâ has most of the dominance they always need the support of the House of Lords to pass an Act. Parliamentary sovereignty refers to this joint power. The Human Rights Act 1998 is a law passed by Parliament that has limited the application of parliamentary sovereignty as it is made unlawful for any public body to act in a way which is incompatible with the Convention although the courts can only make a declaration.…

    • 525 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Whether there is a constitution in the United Kingdom has been a controversial topic. The term ‘constitution’ itself is open to different interpretations. Some prescriptive authors argue that a constitution must satisfy a set of specific characteristics – for instance that it must be entrenched and superior to other laws, which is attributed to the people. Others consider that constitutions are codes of norms which aspire to regulate the allocation of powers, functions, and duties among the various agencies and officers of government, and to define the relationship between these and the public. While some believed that a constitution is as simple as ‘no more and no less than what happens. Everything that happens is constitutional. And if nothing happened that would be constitutional also.’…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Parliament is designed to hold the executive accountable; therefore it goes about this by various means of government scrutiny, such as Prime Minister’s Question Time. In addition, Parliament is expected to perform a legislative function, creating the process of a bill becoming a law after undergoing many stages between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Finally, Parliament is also required to be representative of the nation, with constituencies creating a strong local link between the electorate and their MP.…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One strength of the UK constitution is that it is highly flexible and adaptable due to its uncodified nature, which allows constitutional arrangements to be altered in line with social and political changes. The rules of the constitution are not contained within a single document, unlike the United States’ constitution, which means that the ability to alter or remove statute laws, conventions or works of authority is far greater because no higher constitutional law is more difficult to change than ordinary law. It can evolve to meet the needs of the current times of the country and keep it from becoming dated. This is important since constitution can be changed quickly and efficiently if circumstances demand it. The relatively smooth transition of power from single part government to coalition government in 2010 shows that the constitution is flexible to cope with any form of government. The power of governments isn’t as tightly defined and limited as in countries with codified…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The parliament makes laws in future. Which means they think ahead of what the world’s developing to and thinks of what new laws will be needed for society once this is done it allows society to know what the law is and how it will apply to them.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The main argument which indicates the idea of a decrease in Parliamentary sovereignty is the UK’s membership to the European Union in 1973. After passing the European Communities Act in 1972 certain policy areas have been passed over to the EU. Areas which jurisdiction have passed include; trade, agriculture, fishing, employment law; these are areas that affect the relationship between the UK and other member states. For example the EU control employment law because as a citizen of the UK we are directly affected by the implications of the EU and in doing so have the freedom movement, we are allowed to move and work to any member state without visa, as long as we are a British Citizen. It’s argued that Parliament has lost sovereignty because they’ve devolved certain powers to the EU. Although there are certain areas where the EU can only influence. Examples previously mentioned such as employment law or others such as competition control, regional development are all fully in the hands of the EU. This undermines Parliamentary Sovereignty because decisions made around those areas aren‘t in the hands of Parliament. Never the less, there are certain areas…

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Parliamentary Sovereignty Parliamentary sovereignty means the Legislative supremacy. Parliament can make any law, and only Parliament can repeal its own laws. Acts of Parliament are the highest law of land. The scholar Albert Dicey coined the term sovereignty of Parliamentary in 1885 to describe a founding principle of the UK constitutional system. Parliament is shorthand for the commons, Lords and the king acting together, because parliament is considered the politically dominant institution.…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first means available to parliament in scrutinizing the government is the debating and ratification functions of the House of Lords. After a bill has been proposed by the House of Commons, it is sent to the House of Lords for intense debate and discussion. After this has happened the House of Lords can pass the bill reject the bill absolutely or send the bill back to the House of Commons for amendment in its current state. However since the passing of the of the Parliament Act in 1997 the House of Lords has the powers only to delay the passing of legislation for 1 year until which point the legislation must be passed. Therefore it could be argued that the House of Lords does not act as a successful check on legislation initiated by government, as it has only the power to suggest amendments to bills and lacks the legal jurisdiction to enforce amendments to bills. One of the clearest and most commonly used examples of a way in which parliament acts as a limiting factor to the powers exerted by government exists as the size of the government’s parliamentary majority. Strong governments with large majorities such as those of…

    • 1614 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thus to state that no parliament may bind its sucessors is to assume that all future parliament same attribute of sovereignty as the present parliament .but why must this be? The problem is less intractable than the comparable conundrum of whether an can bind its itself, for even sovereign parliament are human institution and there is nothing inherently impossible in the idea of a supreme parliament make fresh constitution arrangement for the future.…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, Parliamentary sovereignty is not a constitutional relic. It may seem to be the, as part of the UK constitution continues to rely on extremely early Acts such as The Magna Carta or the Bill of Rights Act , however, these statutes continue to remain as they set out important constitutional principles. Even since 1215, it has been recognised that it is important to limit the power of the monarch, and transfer powers to parliament, in interest of balance, and the separation of powers. Up until present day, supporting Dicey’s summary above, UK courts cannot strike down an Act of Parliament, this is unlike many Supreme Courts in other countries, for example the USA, who are bound to reject legislation which contradicts the written constitutional rights. For example in the case of Mortensen v. Peters , it notes that in the event of a contradiction between international…

    • 793 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the best beach in the world with food, roller coasters, and an extraordinary view of an ocean. Everywhere smelling either like fish or funnel cakes. Screaming and yelling with full of joy going down a steep hill on a rollercoaster. Saltwater waves crashing into the golden, rocky sand. People everywhere chilling in their colorful tents with barbecue cooking with a slight burning smell. Laughing and smiling with friends and families in all directions.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bride Price

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Bride Price, a story written by Buchi Emecheta, reflects a misery life of a Nigerian girl, Aku-nna. The absent of her father in the family had dramatically changed her life. Her bride price that she would get before getting married caused many troubles within her family. After reading this story, we can see the practice of customs, the system of value and the belief of local Nigerians are the main themes discussed in the story.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays