L2.9: Constitution and Government 3

To explore whether a written Constitution would influence and limit powers of Government more than an unwritten one.

To compare the US Constitution with the UK one

Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty and the UK constitutionPeople often refer to the UK having an 'unwritten constitution' but that's not strictly true. It may not exist in a single text, like in the USA or Germany, but large parts of it are written down, much of it in the laws passed in Parliament - known as statute law.Therefore, the UK constitution is often described as 'partly written and wholly uncodified'. (Uncodified means that the UK does not have a single, written constitution.)

Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereigntyOver the years, Parliament has passed laws that limit the application of parliamentary sovereignty. These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK.They include:·The devolution of power to bodies like the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. ·The Human Rights Act 1998. ·The UK's entry to the European Union in 1972. ·The decision to establish a UK Supreme Court in 2009, which ends the House of Lords function as the UK's final court of appeal.These developments do not fundamentally undermine the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, since, in theory at least, Parliament could repeal any of the laws implementing these changes.

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/sovereignty/

UK Constitution and Parliamentary Sovereignty

Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty and the UK constitutionPeople often refer to the UK having an 'unwritten constitution' but that's not strictly true. It may not exist in a single text, like in the USA or Germany, but large parts of it are written down, much of it in the laws passed in Parliament - known as statute law.Therefore, the UK constitution is often described as 'partly written and wholly uncodified'. (Uncodified means that the UK does not have a single, written constitution.)

Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereigntyOver the years, Parliament has passed laws that limit the application of parliamentary sovereignty. These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK.They include:·The devolution of power to bodies like the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. ·The Human Rights Act 1998. ·The UK's entry to the European Union in 1972. ·The decision to establish a UK Supreme Court in 2009, which ends the House of Lords function as the UK's final court of appeal.These developments do not fundamentally undermine the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, since, in theory at least, Parliament could repeal any of the laws implementing these changes.

Question 1: In this article, they state that it is not strictly true to say that the British Constitution is unwritten. What do they say is the correct way of describing the Constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty and the UK constitutionPeople often refer to the UK having an 'unwritten constitution' but that's not strictly true. It may not exist in a single text, like in the USA or Germany, but large parts of it are written down, much of it in the laws passed in Parliament - known as statute law.Therefore, the UK constitution is often described as 'partly written and wholly uncodified'. (Uncodified means that the UK does not have a single, written constitution.)

Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereigntyOver the years, Parliament has passed laws that limit the application of parliamentary sovereignty. These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK.They include:·The devolution of power to bodies like the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. ·The Human Rights Act 1998. ·The UK's entry to the European Union in 1972. ·The decision to establish a UK Supreme Court in 2009, which ends the House of Lords function as the UK's final court of appeal.These developments do not fundamentally undermine the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, since, in theory at least, Parliament could repeal any of the laws implementing these changes.

Question 2: Where do they say that some parts of the Constitution are written?

Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty and the UK constitutionPeople often refer to the UK having an 'unwritten constitution' but that's not strictly true. It may not exist in a single text, like in the USA or Germany, but large parts of it are written down, much of it in the laws passed in Parliament - known as statute law.Therefore, the UK constitution is often described as 'partly written and wholly uncodified'. (Uncodified means that the UK does not have a single, written constitution.)

Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereigntyOver the years, Parliament has passed laws that limit the application of parliamentary sovereignty. These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK.They include:·The devolution of power to bodies like the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. ·The Human Rights Act 1998. ·The UK's entry to the European Union in 1972. ·The decision to establish a UK Supreme Court in 2009, which ends the House of Lords function as the UK's final court of appeal.These developments do not fundamentally undermine the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, since, in theory at least, Parliament could repeal any of the laws implementing these changes.

Question 3: What does the term Parliamentary Sovereignty mean?

Biggest Impact

Least Impact

Changes that have affected Parliamentary sovereignty.

Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty and the UK constitutionPeople often refer to the UK having an 'unwritten constitution' but that's not strictly true. It may not exist in a single text, like in the USA or Germany, but large parts of it are written down, much of it in the laws passed in Parliament - known as statute law.Therefore, the UK constitution is often described as 'partly written and wholly uncodified'. (Uncodified means that the UK does not have a single, written constitution.)

Developments affecting Parliamentary sovereigntyOver the years, Parliament has passed laws that limit the application of parliamentary sovereignty. These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK.They include:·The devolution of power to bodies like the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. ·The Human Rights Act 1998. ·The UK's entry to the European Union in 1972. ·The decision to establish a UK Supreme Court in 2009, which ends the House of Lords function as the UK's final court of appeal.These developments do not fundamentally undermine the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, since, in theory at least, Parliament could repeal any of the laws implementing these changes.

In your group, investigate one of these Constitutional changes and find out what it means and what it involves

What impact has the constitutional change that you have just researched/investigated had?

In your groups report back your findings back to the

class and then you can repeat the ranking activity,

considering how you have changed your mind now that you have further information.

If Parliament decided we all had to drive cars that look like this and that we could no longer use the words banana or cool and that it would be a serious offence to use the phrase ‘cool banana’. They could do that. We have not got a Bill of Rights that sets out our rights and freedoms.

What are the dangers?

What is good about Parliamentary Sovereignty?

‘this is the device which protects the Constitution from short-term change. This is how a Constitution is protected from interference from temporary Government. It would be something that even Parliament could not just change via Parliamentary vote. At the moment, there is - theoretically - nothing that Parliament cannot change.’

American Constitution

This explains some of the principles of the US Constitution as being based on:

• Popular sovereignty• Limited Government (Constitutionalism)• Separation of Powers• Checks and Balances• Federalism

Working in pairs, can you write a short definition of what each of these means.

In the USA, the Supreme Court can rule a piece of legislation ‘Unconstitutional’

L2.9: Constitutional and Government 3

To explore whether a written Constitution would influence and limit powers of Government more than an unwritten one.-What do you think? Does it?

To compare the US Constitution with the UK one- What differences can you name