UK Government Factsheet
Development of the UK Constitution
● Magna Carta - 1215
- Limited royal power
- No one is above the law
- Right to a fair trial
● Bill of Rights - 1689
- Frequent parliaments
- Free elections
- Freedom of speech within parliament (parliamentary privilege)
● Act of Settlement 1701
- Only protestant could become monarch
- Followed by Acts of Union - Scotland (1707), Ireland (1801) join England
● 1911 (& 1949) Parliaments Act
- Prevented Lords from delaying money bills
- Prevent from delaying 2+ years (changed to 1 year after 1949 Act)
● 1972 European Communities Act
- Britain joins EEC (later the EU)
- EU law gained precedence over UK law when conflict arose
- Brexit repealed this act
Nature of the UK Constitution
● Unentrenched
- Easily changed - by an Act of Parliament or a shift in convention
● Uncodified
- Multiple sources, not in one place
● Unitary
- Power central in Westminster
- Diluted during devolution
● Parliamentary Sovereignty
- Ultimate authority
- No Parliament binds its successor - any past legislation can be repealed
- Legislation cannot be struck down, ignored or changed by judiciary or exec.
● Rule of Law
- Equal under the law
- Judicial independence needed for this to be successful
Should the Constitution be Codified?
For
● Protect human rights
● Limit government power - clear checks and balances
● Clarity for citizens - understand their rights
● Parliamentary accountability - clearly defined powers
Against
● Flexibility - easy to change and evolve
● Difficult - too many unwritten rules to pinpoint - royal prerogative
● No demand for it
, Sources of the UK Constitution
● Statute Law
- Created by Parliament
- Not all laws are constitutional, only those that deal with the nature of politics or citizen
rights
- Most important source due to Parliamentary Sovereignty
- EXAMPLE - 2005 Constitutional Reform Act - established supreme court
● Authoritative Works
- Not legally binding, but respected
- EXAMPLE - ‘The English Constitution’ by Walter Bagehot
● Treaties
- Agreements with other countries
- EXAMPLE - Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which established the EU
● Common Law
- Made by judges
- How judges interpret statute
● Conventions
- Practices that are accepted as the way of doing things
- EXAMPLE - The PM is the leader of the largest party in Parliament
Constitutional Reform 1997-2010
Demand for Reform
● Growing demands for devolution
● Distrust in traditional institutions
● New Labour promised a wide range of reforms
House of Lords Reform 1999
● Removed most hereditary peers - only 92 remained
● Became mostly appointed
- Evaluation
● Made Lords more legitimate
● No one party majority
● Unelected - experts can be appointed - Lord Norton (politics professor)
● People can be appointed to represent - Lord Bird (ex-homeless man)
● Still 92 hereditary peers - outdated in a meritocratic society
● 26 bishops - no representation of other religions
● Still unelected - undemocratic
● Still political appointments - party leaders can fill it
● 800+ peers - costly
Devolution 1997/98
● Referendums held in NI, Scotland and Wales for/against devolved powers
● 1998 Scotland Act, Northern Ireland Act, and Government of Wales Act established Scottish
Parliament and Northern Irish/Welsh Assembly
- Evaluation
● Wales - Did not receive equal devolution to Scotland - further devolution granted to Wales in
2006, 2014 and 2017
● Scotland - Cooled calls for Scottish Independence, 2014 referendum result was very close,
further devolution given in 2016
Development of the UK Constitution
● Magna Carta - 1215
- Limited royal power
- No one is above the law
- Right to a fair trial
● Bill of Rights - 1689
- Frequent parliaments
- Free elections
- Freedom of speech within parliament (parliamentary privilege)
● Act of Settlement 1701
- Only protestant could become monarch
- Followed by Acts of Union - Scotland (1707), Ireland (1801) join England
● 1911 (& 1949) Parliaments Act
- Prevented Lords from delaying money bills
- Prevent from delaying 2+ years (changed to 1 year after 1949 Act)
● 1972 European Communities Act
- Britain joins EEC (later the EU)
- EU law gained precedence over UK law when conflict arose
- Brexit repealed this act
Nature of the UK Constitution
● Unentrenched
- Easily changed - by an Act of Parliament or a shift in convention
● Uncodified
- Multiple sources, not in one place
● Unitary
- Power central in Westminster
- Diluted during devolution
● Parliamentary Sovereignty
- Ultimate authority
- No Parliament binds its successor - any past legislation can be repealed
- Legislation cannot be struck down, ignored or changed by judiciary or exec.
● Rule of Law
- Equal under the law
- Judicial independence needed for this to be successful
Should the Constitution be Codified?
For
● Protect human rights
● Limit government power - clear checks and balances
● Clarity for citizens - understand their rights
● Parliamentary accountability - clearly defined powers
Against
● Flexibility - easy to change and evolve
● Difficult - too many unwritten rules to pinpoint - royal prerogative
● No demand for it
, Sources of the UK Constitution
● Statute Law
- Created by Parliament
- Not all laws are constitutional, only those that deal with the nature of politics or citizen
rights
- Most important source due to Parliamentary Sovereignty
- EXAMPLE - 2005 Constitutional Reform Act - established supreme court
● Authoritative Works
- Not legally binding, but respected
- EXAMPLE - ‘The English Constitution’ by Walter Bagehot
● Treaties
- Agreements with other countries
- EXAMPLE - Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which established the EU
● Common Law
- Made by judges
- How judges interpret statute
● Conventions
- Practices that are accepted as the way of doing things
- EXAMPLE - The PM is the leader of the largest party in Parliament
Constitutional Reform 1997-2010
Demand for Reform
● Growing demands for devolution
● Distrust in traditional institutions
● New Labour promised a wide range of reforms
House of Lords Reform 1999
● Removed most hereditary peers - only 92 remained
● Became mostly appointed
- Evaluation
● Made Lords more legitimate
● No one party majority
● Unelected - experts can be appointed - Lord Norton (politics professor)
● People can be appointed to represent - Lord Bird (ex-homeless man)
● Still 92 hereditary peers - outdated in a meritocratic society
● 26 bishops - no representation of other religions
● Still unelected - undemocratic
● Still political appointments - party leaders can fill it
● 800+ peers - costly
Devolution 1997/98
● Referendums held in NI, Scotland and Wales for/against devolved powers
● 1998 Scotland Act, Northern Ireland Act, and Government of Wales Act established Scottish
Parliament and Northern Irish/Welsh Assembly
- Evaluation
● Wales - Did not receive equal devolution to Scotland - further devolution granted to Wales in
2006, 2014 and 2017
● Scotland - Cooled calls for Scottish Independence, 2014 referendum result was very close,
further devolution given in 2016
