Nature of Parliament

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Asta Gladunaite        Y4808221        Page  of

To determine whether the draft Constitution is an accurate reflection of the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty firstly, one would have to examine what Parliament is, what is meant by Parliamentary Sovereignty, how it works and what it’s limitations are.

Nature of Parliament

Parliament is an essential part of United Kingdoms politics.  When talking about Parliament one means the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarchy.  

The House of Commons is publicly elected. This is also the case in Section2 S2.8 of the draft Constitution .  House of Commons is responsible for making decisions like tax proposals.  Debating and passing legislation.  In the Commons the party with the largest number of members forms a Government.

The House of Lords members are mostly appointed by the Queen.  It makes new laws, investigates policy issues and holds the Government to account.

The Monarchy, in United Kingdom the Queen, is the Head of State.   In theory her powers are extensive: she appoints ministers, assents to bills, dissolves Parliament and so on.  However in practise although she has the right to be consulted,  to advise and to warn the ultimate say will be that of the Prime Ministers, although the Queen does have great influence.

The separate institutions that form Parliament are also reflected in the draft Constitution.

Parliament is also known as the Legislature. Function of all legislatures is the making of law. However they also have tasks such as supervision of administration, ratification of treaties, impeachment of executive and judicial officials, appropriation of funds, acceptance or refusal of executive nominations.

There are rules of how Parliament does it’s business, which have established over centuries. Some are written down and are called “Standing Orders”.  Standing Orders regulate the way Members behave, the way debates are organised and Bills processed. These are written down rules and have to be followed.

A lot of parliamentary procedure is not written, but exist as the custom and practice of Parliament. Some come from Speaker's rulings, other procedures are followed because that's the way things have been done in the past, therefore a custom has been set. An example of a practice: Bills being 'read' three times in both Houses.  

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There are three central features of the United Kingdoms constitution, the rule of law, separation of powers and the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy.  It is regarded that the most important of the three is Parliamentary sovereignty.

 Parliamentary sovereignty (principles, working in practise and limitations)

The doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty is regarding the relationship between those who create the acts and those who apply them.  This raises the question of which has supreme power.  Parliament is the highest source of law and if a law has been passed according to parliament’s rules, it is valid law and must ...

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