Is Parliament still sovereign?
Law on any matter
- Prlmnts right to make law on any matter has been subject of debate in recent years, particularly prlmnt’s right to make retrospective laws and to reform itself
- The War Crimes Act 1991 gave British courts right to try people who became British Citizens after 1990 for crimes they committed in Nazi-occupied Europe
- Opponents feared evidence relating to events that occurred half a century ago could be robust (only 1 person tried under act)
- Prlmnt act 1911 = prime example of prlmnt’s right to reform itself
- It said that H o L could no longer block bills approved by H o C but could only delay for 2 years --- > then reduced to 1 year by prlmnt act 1949
- Prlntary sovereignty effectively meant = sovereignty of Commons
- Validity of 1949 act challenged by opponents of fox hunting
→ argued that Hunting Act 2004 = invalid b/c it passed using prlmnt act 1949 which itself had been enacted under prlmnt act 1911
Legislative supremacy
- Second element of prlmntary sovereignty = legislative supremacy
- In many liberal democracies, a constitutional court has power to declare legislation to be unconstitutional and annul it, but not the case in Britain
- As prlmnt enjoys leg suprem, courts cannot strike down statute law on grounds that its unconstitutional or simple majority votes in prlmnt
- Since no prlmnt may bind its successorsm all leg = equal status
- Leg that brings about major constitutional change = same status as animal welfare law
- Some experts argue that leg of such constitutional significance should be considered to be de facto higher law
- Although prlmnt retains legal right to repeal the Scotland land act 1998, its politically unthinkable that it would do so against the wishes of the Scottish prlmnt and people