Sources and features of the UK constitution Government and Politics AS GP2 Governing Modern Wales

This lesson  This session will:  Be aware of the sources, or forms, of the UK’s uncodified constitution.  identify and understand the features which characterise the UK constitution and make it distinctive.

The constitution  The UK constitution remains uncodified and that that means it is not contained in one form but has a number of forms or sources.  Exercise 1 – From memory see how many of the sources of the UK constitution

The sources of the UK constitution with examples  Parliamentary statutes: Human Rights Act 1998, Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Equality Act 2010  Conventions: Salisbury Convention, individual ministerial responsibility, collective cabinet responsibility  Historical principles: the sovereignty of Parliament, royal prerogatives

The sources of the UK constitution with examples  Works of Constitutional Authority: Walter Bagehot’s English Constitution (1867), A.V.Dicey’s Law of the Constitution (1885)  Tradition: procedures of Parliament, Queen’s Speech  Common Law: freedom of association, freedom of movement  European Union Treaties and Law: Single European Act 1986, Maastricht Treaty 1992, Lisbon Treaty 2009

The sources of the UK constitution Exercise 2 – Sources of the constitution

The sources of the UK constitution Exercise 3 Exam question 1. Does the current UK constitutional setup represent flexibility, eccentricity or an indication of how out of date the UK’s constitutional arrangements are? 2.Consider this in the light of the need to ‘develop’ special procedures in the event of a hung Parliament in May The Gus O’donnell rules

Separation of Powers Exercise 4 – The separation of powers Watch the clip and see if you can summarise in one sentence what the separation of powers means in a UK rather than US contextthe clip Exercise 5 – The UK separation of powers  judicial, what are the three jurisdictions of the UK?  (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)  legislative functions  UK Parliament (Westminster), Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly).

Separation of Powers Exercise 5 – The UK separation of powers  judicial, what are the three jurisdictions of the UK and Northern Ireland?  England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland  Legislative functions, what are the four primary law making models  UK Parliament (Westminster), Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly)

Separation of Powers

The main features of the UK constitution  The UK constitution is unusual in being uncodified and in having evolved over centuries  This means it does not have a logical structure.  Exercise 6 – See if you can remember any common features of the UK constitution, for example the Constitutional monarchy — the monarch is non-political, but does act as a passive source of authority for the prime minister.

The main features of the UK constitution  The main features of the constitution are:  Constitutional monarchy — the monarch is non-political, but does act as a passive source of authority for the prime minister.  Parliamentary sovereignty — Parliament is the source of all political authority and the sole maker of law, which it can delegate to other.  Parliament cannot bind its successors and is not bound by its predecessors.  It is uncodified — as has been explained.

The main features of the UK constitution  The main features of the constitution are:  It is partly written and partly conventional.  The rule of law applies — all are equal under the law, and government is subject to its laws and cannot act in an arbitrary way.  It is unitary — all legal sovereignty resides in one place: Parliament.  Lack of separation of powers — the government is drawn from Parliament and has no separate source of authority of its own.  The government sits in the legislature and is able to dominate Parliament.  Exercise 7 Rank these in order of importance

The main features of the UK constitution  Exercise 8 Produce an A3 poster which illustrates these key elements of the constitution (put a word definition under each heading)