Parliamentary Supremacy

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  Legal Systems – 1UZB405                                                                                            00001313

Westminster International University in Tashkent

BA Commercial Law

2010 - 2011

To be completed by the student

PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY vs. DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT

Contents:


“Our constitution, in short, is a judge-made constitution, and it bears on its face all the features, good and bad, of judge-made law.” – A. V. Dicey

  1. Introduction:

The Parliament of UK is one of the most peculiar institutions in the UK. It can simply change anything by a simple majority. One of its main functions is to create and amend laws. This role of Parliament has mainly developed in the past two-three decades. However, despite the growing implementation of statutes created by Parliament, I personally think case law (aka. precedent) has retained its importance in the English Legal System. The doctrine of precedent is based on the principle of stare decisis, which means to stand by things decided.

It might be true that the sovereignty of Parliament is more complete in England than anywhere else. However, does it really mean that the rigidity of doctrine of precedent in this country is of no particular importance? Moreover, can we actually say that the doctrine of precedent is rigid? The main aim of my work is to show the importance of the doctrine of precedent and to prove that it is not rigid. Furthermore, I will also question the sovereignty of the Parliament.

  1. Sovereignty of Parliament in England:

The modern British Parliament can trace its origins back to Anglo-Saxon government’s Witan. Later, in 1215, King John signed the Magna Carta, which stated that he should follow the advice of council (which later included representatives of the public and developed into parliament). The English Parliament started to limit the power of other institutions (i.e. the crown) over the years to a certain extent. After the end of English Civil War in 1649, Charles II restored the monarchy and supremacy of parliament became an established principle leading to all the future sovereigns becoming constitutional monarchs with restricted executive rights. In 1707 the Acts of Union was passed by both, British and Scottish, Parliaments and led to the creation of Parliament of Great Britain. Later, in 1801, the Parliament of Ireland was abolished and 100 of its MPs joined the Parliament of Great Britain, which then formed the Parliament of UK, which we all know today. 

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The concept of “sovereignty of Parliament” is also referred to as legislative supremacy. This means that the Parliament has unlimited legislative power. Moreover, no other institution can question or override the legislation set by the Parliament.

The Parliament of UK is composed of three parts, namely; the Monarch, House of Lords and House of Commons. However, the monarch has only nominal powers and mainly has to listen to the advice of the Prime Minister who in return follows the MPs. The main functions of the Parliament are to: create/amend law, scrutinise the government, and to enable the government to make ...

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