A royal charter of rights agreed between King John and his feudal barons ➪ response to political crisis.
Represents the first formal attempt to try and limit the powers of the monarch and place them under the ROL ➪ this principle of equal access to justice fro all remains central to the UK's judicial system.
HOWEVER, it can be argued that Magna Carta's importance should not be exaggerated ➪ many of its terms were specific and particular to its time period ➪ only 4 clauses, including the right to justice, remain unrepealed today.
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Bill of Rights (1689)
The bill came about after the Glorious Revolution (1688), when parliament invited William of Orange and his wife Mary II to assumne the Crown ➪ as part of the 'deal', the new monarchs had to accept the Bill of Rights.
Among its key terms were: frequent parliaments, free elections and freedom of speech within parliament ➪ crucially, it also included the principle of no taxation without parliament's agreement ➪ these clauses could be said to represent the establishment of parliamentary sovereignty ➪ clearly significant as parliament continued to meet every year since 1689.
Equally though, we should not overestimate the importance of the Bill of Rights ➪ despite its title the bill did not cover the rights of ordinary men, let alone women.
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Act of Settlement (1701)
Was largely a follow-up to the Bill of Rights ➪ main aim was to ensure a Protestant succession to the throne.
Could be viewed as a key milestone in the development of the British Constitution ➪ case of parliament 'calling the shots' and laying down a criteria for the British monarchy.
On the other hand, this Act did nothing to propel Britain towards a modern democratic state.
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Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
These acts severely reduced the power of the HOL ➪ ended the absolute veto of the Lords over legislation, restriced their power their power to delay bills fro 2 years and prevented them from delaying money bills ➪ in 1949 the Act was modified to reduce the delay to just 1 year.
Both Acts significantly increased the democratic accountabilty of Westminster ➪ unelected chamber could no longer frustrate the will of the elected house.
Conversely, the Acts left much undone ➪ neither addressed the fundamental issue of the upper house being unelected ➪ even the Blair's reforms to the upper house, which removed most hereditary peers, failed to introduce any elected element.
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European Communities Act 1972
This measure was undoubtedly important in the development of the Constitution ➪ all legislation had to conform with European law ➪ E.G. the Lisbon Treaty 2007 ➪ represented an incursion into the hallowed doctrine of PS.
Although there have been many critcisms of the erosion of PS, events between 2016 and 2020 showed that loss of sovereignty was purely temporary ➪ classic example of 'what one parliament giveth, another taketh away' ➪ with the EU Withdrawal Acts of 2018 and 2020, the 1972 Act was repealed.
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