The Uk Constitution

Front 1

What did Thomas Payne say about constitutions?

What did Thomas Jefferson say about constitutions?

Back 1

"a government without a constitution, is power without right."

"Government derives its powers from the consent of the governed."

Front 2

What are the 4 key idea regarding constitutions?

Back 2

1) It is a set of legal rules which define how a country is to be governed.
2)Constitutions define the institutions of the state, their powers and the relationship between them.
3)Constitutions seek to define citizen's rights.
4)They seek to restrain the power of the government by placing limits and controls on what it may do.

Front 3

What are the 3 state organs?

Back 3

1) The legislature- who makes the laws.
2) The executive- who executes the laws.
3) The judiciary- who adjudicates disputes.

Front 4

How were the organs of the state described and in which case?

Back 4

In Re M- 'Parliament makes the law, the executive carry the law into effect and the judiciary enforce the law."

Front 5

What are the characteristics of a codified/written constitution?

Back 5

-The rules of government are codified in one key document.
-Many written constitutions include provisions for their own amendment e.g. in the USA.
-In some, there are entrenched features which cannot be changed- e.g. in the German constitution.

Front 6

In what way do constitutions place limitations on the ways in which allocated power may be exercised by government?

Back 6

1) Powers must be exercised though the making of laws and state the procedures that must be followed to produce a valid law.

2) They provide substantive limitations as to the content of laws.

c) They are usually superior to ordinary law, and cannot be easily altered by the government of the day.

THE RULE OF LAW.

Front 7

What are the different sources of UK constitutional law?

Back 7

1) Statutes
2) European Community Law
3) The ECHR- given domestic effect by the HRA.
-Judicial precedent (common law)
-The queen's prerogative.
-Constitutional conventions- non legal rules which govern the conduct of state officials.

Front 8

What are the 2 different classes of prerogative?

Back 8

1) Those exercised personally by the Queen (albeit in accordance with Conventions and on advice)

2) Those in which the queen plays a purely formal role (the vast majority) e.g. foreign policy/domestic prerogatives.

Front 9

What are Constitutional conventions? What are some examples?

Back 9

non-legal rules which govern the conduct of state officials , in particular the queen, but also government ministers and civil servants.

e.g.- choice of prime minister (person who can best command a majority in the house of commons)
-That a government must resign if defeated in a motion of no confidence.

Front 10

What are the 4 key characteristics of the UK constitution?

Back 10

1) Allocation of power through law- The doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty.
2) Separation of powers- though not truly separate.
3) Many allocations of power in the British Constitution are established not by law but merely by convention.
4)Many important ways in which the different branches of state are supposed to check and control each other are only rules of convention.

Front 11

What principle is outlined in Entick v Carrington

Back 11

-The exercise of executive power must be authorised by pre-existing legal authority (rule of law)

Front 12

What case displays the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty?

Back 12

Manuel v Attorney General.

Front 13

What is Anthony King's view on the Constitution?

Back 13

- It is "wildly misleading" to claim that the UK does not have a written constitution, what Britain lacks is a 'codified' constitution.

-"Every country apart from failed states has a constitution."

-"The distinction between flexible and rigid is more significant than between written and unwritten."

Front 14

What is Ridley's view on the UK Constitution?

Back 14

- The term 'British Constitution' is near meaningless.

-A constitution must be prior to and above government, it must be superior to other laws, and it must be entrenched.

Front 15

What is Jennings' view on the UK Constitution?

Back 15

-"The UK Constitution was not made but grown, due to its almost entirely flexible nature."

Front 16

What does Colin Munro say, about whether the British Constitution is 'above' the powers of government?

Back 16

He suggests that there is no 'special status' of the UK constitution.
-The government is limited as they can "only do that which the law allows"
AND
"they are in some areas of activity limited by...the requirements of European Community Law."