BRITIISH POLITICS: GOVERNMENT IN A GLOBAL AGE: Parliament
Constitutional makeup of parliament:
The monarch
House of Lords
House of Commons
(But Commons dominates the parliamentary process)
Main functions of parliament
The legislature – examines proposals for new laws; sovereign
Provides the financial means to fund the government
Debates the issues of the day
Pool from which ministers are drawn
Representation
Scrutinises government policy and implementation of laws passed
Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliament supreme UK legal authority
Can create or end any law
Legislation cannot be overruled by courts
No Parliament can pass a law that a future Parliament cannot change or reverse
Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereignty
UK joins EU 1973
1999-ongoing Devolution to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly
The Human Rights Act 1998 (incorporating ECHR into UK law)
Establishing UK Supreme Court in 2009 (House of Lords no longer final court of appeal)
Does not undermine parliamentary sovereignty, since Parliament could repeal any of these laws.
House of Lords
Very odd for a democratic system
1911 Parliamentary Act removed right to veto legislation and proposed ending hereditary basis.
Till 99’ reforms over 1,000 Lords, 60% hereditary, 36% life peers
Rest were law lords and lords spiritual
All but 92 hereditary peers removed 1999
Now: 793 members but no limit
Not an elected chamber
Well-educated knowledgeable people
Constitutional makeup of parliament:
The monarch
House of Lords
House of Commons
(But Commons dominates the parliamentary process)
Main functions of parliament
The legislature – examines proposals for new laws; sovereign
Provides the financial means to fund the government
Debates the issues of the day
Pool from which ministers are drawn
Representation
Scrutinises government policy and implementation of laws passed
Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliament supreme UK legal authority
Can create or end any law
Legislation cannot be overruled by courts
No Parliament can pass a law that a future Parliament cannot change or reverse
Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereignty
UK joins EU 1973
1999-ongoing Devolution to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly
The Human Rights Act 1998 (incorporating ECHR into UK law)
Establishing UK Supreme Court in 2009 (House of Lords no longer final court of appeal)
Does not undermine parliamentary sovereignty, since Parliament could repeal any of these laws.
House of Lords
Very odd for a democratic system
1911 Parliamentary Act removed right to veto legislation and proposed ending hereditary basis.
Till 99’ reforms over 1,000 Lords, 60% hereditary, 36% life peers
Rest were law lords and lords spiritual
All but 92 hereditary peers removed 1999
Now: 793 members but no limit
Not an elected chamber
Well-educated knowledgeable people
