Parliamentary Sovereignty
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLITICAL AND LEGAL SOVEREIGNTY * Political Sovereignty – lies with the people * Legal Sovereignty – vested in parliament * AV Dicey – the people hold political sovereignty and legal sovereignty is with the Queen in Parliament. * With a written constitution the constitution defines the limits of the government’s power * UK powers of the government - while dependent on the electoral mandate – is unconstrained by any fundamental document and subject to Parliament’s approval. * All law making power is derived from the sovereignty of the legislature: Parliament
ORIGINS OF PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY * 17th century – Crown and Parliament was in conflict * Crown ruled through royal prerogative rather that ruling through Parliament * Abuse of the prerogative by Charles I lead to civil war and Charles execution * Republican ruled for a decade under Oliver Cromwell * The monarchy was restored in 1660 * Conflicts followed over religion with James II placing RC in office * 1688 revolution – James II fled to France – Williams of Orange and his wife Mary assumed Crown * Long conflict ended * Williams and Mary came to the throne subject to conditions which ensured that Parliament had ultimate sovereignty and that the royal prerogative was subject to that supremacy * The Bill of Rights 1689, the settlement between the Crown and Parliament ensured Parliament Sovereignty
DISCUSS THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY * The key to understanding Parliamentary Sovereignty lies in its acceptance by Judges who uphold Parliament Sovereignty * Sovereignty is a fundamental rule of the common law * As long as Judges accept the sovereignty of Parliament it would remain the ultimate rule of the constitution * The sovereignty of Parliament would only be lost under two conditions 1. If Parliament decided to abolish its sovereignty and place it under a written
ORIGINS OF PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY * 17th century – Crown and Parliament was in conflict * Crown ruled through royal prerogative rather that ruling through Parliament * Abuse of the prerogative by Charles I lead to civil war and Charles execution * Republican ruled for a decade under Oliver Cromwell * The monarchy was restored in 1660 * Conflicts followed over religion with James II placing RC in office * 1688 revolution – James II fled to France – Williams of Orange and his wife Mary assumed Crown * Long conflict ended * Williams and Mary came to the throne subject to conditions which ensured that Parliament had ultimate sovereignty and that the royal prerogative was subject to that supremacy * The Bill of Rights 1689, the settlement between the Crown and Parliament ensured Parliament Sovereignty
DISCUSS THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY * The key to understanding Parliamentary Sovereignty lies in its acceptance by Judges who uphold Parliament Sovereignty * Sovereignty is a fundamental rule of the common law * As long as Judges accept the sovereignty of Parliament it would remain the ultimate rule of the constitution * The sovereignty of Parliament would only be lost under two conditions 1. If Parliament decided to abolish its sovereignty and place it under a written