Parliamentary's Soverignty

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                Gaudet                

                                                                                                

                        

Nicole Ann Gaudet

Has the Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law in the UK Constitution overshadowed

The Doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty? Consider the impact of the Human Rights Act

1998 and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

                        Word Count@1033 without References & Bibliography

  1. PARLIAMENTARY SOVERIGNTY

For the purpose of this paper we will assume that Parliamentary Sovereignty in the United Kingdom is the main theory and informative basis of the ‘unwritten’ constitution and the other two doctrines, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 do not represent any major constraint on the ‘uncodified’ Constitution.  We will argue that both of these assumptions are not necessarily true, though it will be accepted that parliamentary sovereignty is the most important feature of the UK constitution to date and it has transpired over years.  The HRA has strengthened many aspects of the rule of law by A.V. Dicey and the separation of powers which in fact is not a ‘true separation of powers’.  “Constitutional and Administrative Law”

2. THE RULE OF LAW BY A.V. DICEY

Rule of Law as historically influenced by A.V. Dicey appears to denote that the powers exercised by government must be founded on lawful authority; non-arbitrary, that citizens should be equal before the law and that the law should be stated very clear to understand by all.  (The Law of the Constitution, 1971).  

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Entick v Carrington (1765), in which agents of the King, acting under a warrant issued by the Executive, the Secretary of the State, broke into the home of Entick, alleged to be the author of seditious writings, and removed certain of his papers.  It was found that because the action was justified by ‘no specific legal authority’, it was a ‘common trespass’, for which the Secretary of State was liable in damages.  This was a very distinguished and historical case establishing people’s rights.  Also in Re M (1993) it was found that ministers of the Crown were obliged to obey court ...

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