Explain the term 'conventions' as used in the extract. (5 marks)!
The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution; meaning no single, comprehensive document exists in order to outline the structure and workings of government institutions and relationships between them, and between the government institutions and the private citizen.
Constitutional experts argue that this is not to say that our constitution is non-existent, rather it exists in various sources.
'Conventions' are an example of one of these constitutional sources; these are practices or procedures which are considered correct in particular circumstances through the method's repeated usage. In other words, in terms of the constitution, 'conventions' are rules or
…show more content…
Constitutions can be used to outline where power lies and the structure of governing bodies; in the cases of both the British and American legislature, a bi-cameral system is in place to separate the two main houses and their powers. Having a second house can work as an effective check and balance on the power exercised by the executive. The House of Lords, for example, is the second chamber to the Houses of Parliament that government legislation must pass through before becoming an Act of Parliament, that has the power to delay and make amendments to Bills. An example of where the powers of the House of Lords have prevented government legislation from being passed is the recent Tax Credits Bill, which the Lords brought a huge amount of press attention to, resulting in George Osbourne's (the chancellor) budget 'U-Turn' where he scrapped the proposal entirely. The opposition in the House of
Commons chamber, in 2015 the main opposition against the Conservatives is the Labour party, also act as an immediate regulatory body, preventing the government from making irrational or extreme decisions. Last week, the Commons chamber took part in a vote on the appropriate action to be taken towards ISIL and bombing in Syria. This vote is evidence that the opposition have a say when it comes to decision making. Overall, I would argue that the biggest way in which the constitution regulates the conduct of government, is through our legislature's
'The House of Lords is now more effective than the House of Commons in checking government power'. Discuss
The Legislature power is a power that makes law for regulation of peoples and private organisations conduct, also structure and power of public authorities which is ran by the Parliament. This includes bodies such as House of Lords, House of Commons and the Queen. The Executive power is the administrative branch of government that implements the law, which are made by legislators. Bodies that regulate this are the Queen, Prime Minister, other Ministers, Civil service, police and armed forces. Introduction of the legislation, controlling security and public services, supporting prosperity and conducting the external relation of the state are the roles of the executive power. The Judiciary is the power that
Constitutions are a necessary tool because they are the basic law of a state or nation that
Checks and Balances – a system in which each branch of government is able to check/restrain the power of the others.
A Bill has a number of stages that it goes through before it is presented to the Queen to be signed. It starts off as a discussion in the House of Commons, and if decided to be an effective new policy idea then it is sent off
Parliament has a central function in carrying out a scrutiny role. It carries close inspection and where it is necessary, amendments maybe proposed this is carried out in both houses. It holds the government collectively and the PM and other ministers accountable for their actions. It does this in debates, question times and through the work of Departmental Select Committees (DSC). However it maybe be argued that is not enough since scrutiny does not often involve blocking legislation. It is not expected that parliament will make substantial changes, but it does
the same way that Texas has its separation of powers. In the U.S constitution and the Texas
For many years it has been argued that parliamentary sovereignty has, and still is, being eroded. As said by AV Dicey, the word ‘sovereignty’ is used to describe the idea of “the power of law making unrestricted by any legal limit”. Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution, stating that Parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK, able to create and remove any law. This power over-rules courts and all other jurisdiction. It also cannot be entrenched; this is where all laws passed by the party in government can be changed by future parliaments. In recent years sovereignty of parliament has been a
Checks and Balances- a way to make sure that now branch of government gets too powerful
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and is independent to the Commons although it complements the work of the Commons. Members of the Lords play a vital role in scrutiny, there are two main reasons for this, the first being that they are independent to the Commons and in many ways have increased power which they often use to stand up to the Commons by blocking reforms. Lords also have a better balance of parties so no government has a majority. The Government however can override Lords by using Parliament Act; this was used when the fox hunting ban was being put through under Blair’s government as there were too many in opposition of the ban in the House of Lords. The Parliament Acts, although rarely used, provide a way of solving disagreement between the Commons and the Lords. The Parliament Act of 1949 also prevents Lords from delaying bills for more than one year.
‘The absence of a written constitution ... enables constitutional change to be brought about within the United Kingdom with the minimum of constitutional formality.’
The first Parliamentary and possibly most important one is that of the Parent/Enabling Act. This Act sets the limits as to who can make the law, when they can make it and the process the bill has to go through to potentially become law. This uphold Parliaments supremacy above the rest as the Enabling Act also allows Parliament to repeal it at any time which is an advantage however this means there will no longer be restrictions on how the law can be made. The powers of the Enabling Act are also very wide which means
New law or changes in existing law is ensured by an Act of Parliament. Furthermore, these bills must be perceived from the bills of private people that are proposed by backbench MPs. different various sources begin open bills (Ellison, 2008). Government, common management, political gatherings, Civil Servant, organizations, boards, green/white papers, authoritative process, face off regarding and so forth may deliver these bills. Decision about whether to agree with the suggestion of these bills are picked by the governing body. A particular office that is in position to pass the bill on a specific point will encounter an insight system with the contributed people (Edwards, 2012). Dependent upon the multifaceted
A Bill is adopted by a simple majority vote of those members present and voting. There are several exception to this rules, the most significant being constitutional amendment in accordance with article 159 of Federal Constitution. Bill shall not been passed in either House of Parliament unless it has been supported on the second and third readings by the votes of not less than two-third of the total number of members of that House.
Illogical distinctions. The use of distinguishing to avoid past decisions can lead to ‘hair-splitting’ resulting in some areas of the law becoming very complex. From 1898 to 1966 the House of Lords was completely bound by its own past decisions unless the decision had been made per incuriam, that is, in