what is public law ?
definition “public law is a set of legal and political principles governing the exercise of
power by the state and regulating the balance of power between the individual and the
state.”
Public law is also referred as constitutional law and administrative law.
The basic types of government
- Democracy
- Republic
- Monarchy
- Aristocracy (where rich rule over the poor)
- Dictatorship
- Communism
We are a democratic country and we have a monarchy. It is referred to as Democratic
(constitutional) monarchy.
Constitutional history
- Our constitution has removed from a monarchical system to a democratic system
that still maintain sits monarch
- Our monarch has very few ‘powers’ but operates as a non-political head of state.
- Elected leaders, such as the priminister perform many of the monarch historical
functions
- Legally they are performing these on behalf of the monarchy or the “crown”
- Politically the monarchy cannot prevent a politician from using these powers in a
way they do not agree with
- However, the government is accountable to parliament for how they act.
An overview of the constitution and politics
, Alder 2015
- the choosing and removing of rules/ government
- the relationship between government and individuals, in particular human rights
- the relationship between the different branches of government
- the accountability of government
- division of powers geographically
- the relationship between government and other countries/supra- national
government
relevance of politics
- without an understanding uk politics, it is difficult to properly engage with public law
as a subject
- the uk lacks a written constitution
- in the uk we do not have one document that is labelled the constitution. Instead our
constitution is constructed from a series of different sources
- some sources are legal
- some sources are political
- without a written constitution, a large part of our constitution is politics
- politics and law both play an important role in our constitution.
The ideal of democracy
- a political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair
elections
- the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life
- protection of the human rights of all citizens
- a rule of law in which the law and procedures apply equally to all citizens
parliament
- it is important as it is the elected of the constitution
- allows people to choose how they are governed, and which policies they want the
government to persue
- the law is made by parliament
- they government is drawn from parliament
- parliament ensures that the government is accountable
- the people through elections ensure that parliament is accountable
- the media also play an important day to day role.
Who is in the parliament
- house of lords
- house of lords (oldest chainber of any legislature in the world) not elected as you
cannot elect house of lords
- around 800 members
- they are usually life peers; appointed for life on the basis of their expertise or
experience
- some former ‘law lords’
- some former judges
- former politicians
- house of commons
definition “public law is a set of legal and political principles governing the exercise of
power by the state and regulating the balance of power between the individual and the
state.”
Public law is also referred as constitutional law and administrative law.
The basic types of government
- Democracy
- Republic
- Monarchy
- Aristocracy (where rich rule over the poor)
- Dictatorship
- Communism
We are a democratic country and we have a monarchy. It is referred to as Democratic
(constitutional) monarchy.
Constitutional history
- Our constitution has removed from a monarchical system to a democratic system
that still maintain sits monarch
- Our monarch has very few ‘powers’ but operates as a non-political head of state.
- Elected leaders, such as the priminister perform many of the monarch historical
functions
- Legally they are performing these on behalf of the monarchy or the “crown”
- Politically the monarchy cannot prevent a politician from using these powers in a
way they do not agree with
- However, the government is accountable to parliament for how they act.
An overview of the constitution and politics
, Alder 2015
- the choosing and removing of rules/ government
- the relationship between government and individuals, in particular human rights
- the relationship between the different branches of government
- the accountability of government
- division of powers geographically
- the relationship between government and other countries/supra- national
government
relevance of politics
- without an understanding uk politics, it is difficult to properly engage with public law
as a subject
- the uk lacks a written constitution
- in the uk we do not have one document that is labelled the constitution. Instead our
constitution is constructed from a series of different sources
- some sources are legal
- some sources are political
- without a written constitution, a large part of our constitution is politics
- politics and law both play an important role in our constitution.
The ideal of democracy
- a political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair
elections
- the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life
- protection of the human rights of all citizens
- a rule of law in which the law and procedures apply equally to all citizens
parliament
- it is important as it is the elected of the constitution
- allows people to choose how they are governed, and which policies they want the
government to persue
- the law is made by parliament
- they government is drawn from parliament
- parliament ensures that the government is accountable
- the people through elections ensure that parliament is accountable
- the media also play an important day to day role.
Who is in the parliament
- house of lords
- house of lords (oldest chainber of any legislature in the world) not elected as you
cannot elect house of lords
- around 800 members
- they are usually life peers; appointed for life on the basis of their expertise or
experience
- some former ‘law lords’
- some former judges
- former politicians
- house of commons
