The notion of a constitution

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  • Created by: Steph130
  • Created on: 24-03-22 13:37
Public Law is about…
- The individual and the state - Institutions - Public Power - Judicial review of administrative action
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Public Law in further detail-Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 3
Public law is concerned with how a state is constituted and functions. Public law provides the principles and rules that regulate the system
of government in a particular country
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2. Public Law in further detail-Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 3
It concerns the public institutions that together govern a country, the powers of those institutions, and the relationships between them. Public law also regulates the relationship between the individual and the state
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3. Public Law in further detail-Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 3
It provides the means by which government is controlled and held to account. Public law also provides the means by which individuals can
secure the protection of their legal and human rights against government.
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Constitutional principles:
Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 4-5
- Parliamentary sovereignty (in UK)
- Rule of Law
- Separation of Powers
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Constitutional Law:
‘is concerned with the overall constitutional
structure by which a country is governed’ (Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p.3)
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Administrative Law
Wade and Forsyth, Administrative Law, 11th ed (OUP 2014) p. 4
The governmental power in question is not that of
Parliament -The primary purpose of administrative law, is to keep the powers of government within their legal bounds, so as to protect the citizen against their abuse
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The constitution as a text
Countries with codified (vast majority) and uncodified constitutions (including the UK – more on this in a moment…)
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Significance of the constitution
Status as the highest form of law in the country *The legislature (parliament) ‘does not have unlimited powers but may legislate only within the framework established by the constitution’
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Significance of the constitution 2
‘Either the supreme court or a specialist constitutional court, is given the task of adjudicating whether the constitution has been
breached. If legislation is contrary to the constitution … the court rules that the legislation is invalid’
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The constitution as a system
‘A constitution is the set of important rules that regulate the relations among the different parts of the government of a given country and also the relations between the different parts of the government and the people of the country
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The constitution will most probably also
contain general rules…
• Particularly technical matters will not usually be addressed in a constitution
• Bur rather be left to legislature and administration to specify
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UK Constitution
The UK does not have a codified constitution (some say the UK’s constitution is ‘unwritten’)
• Yet, the UK has a constitutional system. Constitutional rules exist.
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Why has the UK avoided codification?
• Political stability
• No revolution: ‘Democracy came to Britain by evolution rather than revolution’
• No support from major political parties
• Yet, different views exist. We will revisit the debate in the live webinar
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Consequences from lack of codification
• No higher source than Acts of Parliament. Parliamentary sovereignty
• No formal process of amendment. Extreme flexibility
• Wide range of reforms over the last decades in particular
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Public Law in further detail-Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 3

Back

Public law is concerned with how a state is constituted and functions. Public law provides the principles and rules that regulate the system
of government in a particular country

Card 3

Front

2. Public Law in further detail-Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 3

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

3. Public Law in further detail-Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 3

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Constitutional principles:
Elliott and Thomas, ch 1, p. 4-5

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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