Our constitution is dominated by the sovereignty of Parliament. But Parliamentary sovereignty is no longer, if it ever was, absolute. critically discuss.
In 2005, Lord Hope (declared), in the case “Jackson and others (Appellants) v The Attorney General (Respondent)” said that ‘our constitution is dominated by the sovereignty of Parliament. But Parliamentary sovereignty is no longer, if it ever was, absolute. It is no longer right to say that Parliament’s freedom to legislate admits of no qualification whatever. Step, by stem, gradually but surely, the English principle of the absolute sovereignty of Parliament which Dicey derived from Coke and Blackstone is being qualified’.
It is a well-known fact, that most countries have a written constitution, therefore Great Britain does not, and however Parliamentary sovereignty is one of the fundamental principles of constitution in the United Kingdom. ‘Sovereignty’ is the word that Dicey used to describe the concept of ‘the power of law-making unrestricted by any legal limit’. In short, he used to describe a legal concept. However, as Dicey himself acknowledged, ‘sovereignty’ is also capable of bearing political meanings. This means that the highest source of English Law is Parliament. In addition, Dicey mentioned three key rules that should be followed by the Parliament: “Parliament can make or unmake any law; Parliament cannot bind its successors and no one can question Parliament’s laws.” Later P.Craig summarized Dicey’s, and stated, that Parliament’s authority is absolute: any legislation enacted cannot be invalidated by courts, Latest will of the Parliament dominate an earlier act, repealing past legislation, and in theory in might be impossible to entrench certain pieces of legislation and bind future Parliaments. On the other hand Craig, Held by Lord Jennings, Heuston and Marshall, maintains that it is the courts that apply the acts of the parliament give legitimacy to parliamentary sovereignty.