UK Constitution, Parliament, and Judiciary: Legal Analysis Assignment

TASK 1

Nature and purpose of written and unwritten constitution

The constitution is defined as the political framework which includes the laws and policies that the country and its citizens need to follow to manage the work. It includes the fundamental principles which need to be followed by every person living within the country. In case the constitution is not followed then it will impact the overall working and as a result of this, the efficiency is impacted (Horsley, 2022). The written constitution is a type of document which includes the rights and duties of all the citizens, government and another structural arrangements which need to be followed by all the people living within the country. The nature of the written constitution is that it includes a written format which complies with all the laws under one written format only. The purpose of this constitution is to provide a clear structure, division of power, and function at both levels that is State and Central government. Also, another purpose of using a constitution is that it provides for a basic rule which assists in imparting lawful working so that the country can run in a better manner.

On the other side, the unwritten constitution is the one which is a type of constitution which is not codified or written in a particular structured manner. For instance, the UK has an unwritten constitution which implies that they do not have any of the single written document which includes all of the laws and legislations (What is the UK constitution? 2024). The nature of the unwritten constitution is that it does not have any structure or is not recorded in a single document. The purpose of this is the same as the written constitution but the only difference is that it is based on a collection of different types of precedents, laws and customs and are not included in a single document.

Different types of constitution and constitutional convention

There are majorly two major types of the constitution which include the written (codified) and the unwritten (uncodified) constitution. Both of the constitutions are different and for every country also it is different. Concerning the UK, the country is said to have a type of unwritten constitution as largely the country has having written constitution but it is in different documents. This has never been written or codified in a single document (Hodge, 2021). Thus, as a result, it can be stated that when the effective type of the constitution is followed by the country then it guides the citizen and other people in managing the working well and ultimately it improves the overall working to a great extent.

Further, constitutional convention is defined as the rules which outline the good political behaviour that needs to be followed by the people while living within the country. These are the different rules which are developed from the constitutional practices and the existing laws and legislations. There are some different conventions which are followed by the UK government for working well. This includes the convention named Cabinet Manual which lists all the main constitutional conventions that are devised from the written or unwritten conventions (What are constitutional conventions? 2024). Along with this, there is also another convention which includes the ministerial code which lists the standards relating to the ministers which need to be followed by the ministers who are working in the tribunal. Along with this, another convention includes Jacky Sharpe which lists out the 40 parliamentary conventions that need to be followed well and as a result of this the overall working is improved and ultimately the working of the UK government is improved.

Separation of powers

The separation of power is defined as the structure which lists our roles and responsibilities and the power as well which is divided among the different people involved in the constitutional system. With the separation of power, there are three major elements within which the power is divided and this includes executives, judiciary and legislature. The power of taking the decision is dependent and divided on these three basis and as a result of this, the overall UK constitution is working well. When the separation of power is clear then it implies that the working of the country will be done clearly as there is better working and as a result of this the overall country working will be done well. Thus, all three law managers that is the legislature, executive and judiciary have different extents of power and as a result of this, the overall efficiency of the legal system is impacted. Also, this system of power clearly defines the line of separation as well and as a result of this there is clarity within the working of all these aspect well.

TASK 2

Analysing relation between the two Houses of the UK Parliament

The parliament is generally defined as the assembly of representatives which works for the entire nation to make the law that needs to be followed and fulfilled by every person living within the country (Stanton, 2020). Within the UK there are two house systems which run the parliament it includes the House of Lords and the House of Commons. These are the two houses which generally work to make the laws and ensure that the laws are followed by every person within the country. If case laws are not followed well then it will impact the working of the country and might be possible that the work is not effectively followed and implemented. Thus resultantly, the working efficiency of the country will not be good and ultimately it might negatively affect the working.

The House of Commons is publicly elected and is the party which has the largest number of members. Members of Commons (MPs) debate on the recent political issues and make proposals for the new laws. This is the place where all the ministers, chancellor, prime minister and other main people work (The Two-House system, 2024). They alone are responsible for deciding on different financial bills, proposing on new issues like new taxes and another related aspects. On the other side, the House of Lords is the second chamber under the parliament of the UK. This is an independent forum and complements the work of the House of Commons. It assists in making and shaping the laws and ensuring that lawful working is imparted and followed all over the country.

Both houses have a good relationship with one another which is developed over the long history of the British parliament. This relation is formally expressed through the combination of different practices which are followed effectively by both houses. The most common relation between both houses is that it works on scrutinising the legislation and considering all the public policy-seeking changes within the introduction of the new legislation or proposing new amendments to the existing law. In the case of R V Attorney General [2006] states that there are three challenges within the parliament's sovereignty and the first one includes that the court can decide whether the parliamentary act is valid or not. Another challenge includes whether the future working of parliament must be bound by previous parliamentary acts or not. At last, the challenge comes whether the court must have the authority to strike down the act of the parliament in case it is violating the principles or not (Syrett and Alder, 2021). All these aspects were highlighted within this case and after this, the importance of both these houses has increased.

Relation between parliament and government

Both the parliament and government the crucial aspects for the management of the country effectively and efficiently. The government is a system which includes different people including the prime minister, cabinet minister, junior minister, the different teams comprising of non-political civil servants working in government departments and many other responsible people. The government includes the people who are responsible for managing and running the whole of the country in a good and effective way. Along with this, the government is also stated as the political party which is elected by winning the general election and takes charge of the government for five years until the next election takes place (Norton, 2021). On the other side, the parliament is defined as a system which is made up of people who have been selected and appointed by the general public. Concerning parliament, there are two different types of houses the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The government is responsible for deciding the ways the country runs and to decide that how well the country can deliver its public services. It includes services like the National Health Service, welfare benefits, energy supply and many other different types of working and aspects. On the other side, the role of parliament is to ensure that all the plans of the government are appropriately working and monitoring the work that is going on in the intended manner (Parliament and the Government, 2024). Both the parliament and government have cordial relations among them. It is due to the reason that parliament represent the interest of the public and ensure that is included in the working of the government as well. Also, the government of the UK cannot make any of the new laws and for this firstly they need the agreement of the parliament.

Concept of Parliamentary Sovereignty

Parliamentary sovereignty is defined as the principles within the UK constitution which make the parliament the supreme legal authority which has the power to create or end the law. This simply states that parliament is superior to all the other branches of government, judicial and the executive as well. It implies that the supreme power to make, amend, change or end any of the law, legislation and other rules is present with the parliament only and no other authority can make these changes relating to the law. The case of R V Attorney General [2006] questioned the working of the parliament and stated that it must not be kept as the ultimate decider of the laws (R (Jackson) v Attorney General [2005], 2024). Thus, according to the claims of this case, keeping the parliament sovereign is not needed and rather all the other related parties must also be included in the working and making of the legal system must be included well (Gilani, Ali and Zahoor, 2023). Even post-Brexit as well the parliamentary sovereignty is similar as they are still working on making the law and ensuring that overall working is done in better terms.

TASK 3

Role of judiciary

The judiciary is a branch of government which generally works on interpreting the laws and settling disputes so that clear justice is provided to all citizens. It is part of the government of the country which is responsible for making and managing the legal system of the country. It includes the judges who are present within the court of law and are responsible for managing the working well (Stephenson, 2021). This judiciary is made up of a combination of different people which includes the different judges, magistrates, coroners, tribunal members and related people. Altogether they work in direction of the upholding and ensuring the effective application of the law within the country. The most important role of the judiciary in the UK is to give and promote justice to every person who approaches the legal system of the country. The most common role of the judiciary is to interpret the laws and legislations which are made by the parliament or the government. Even though the ultimate decision is in the hands of Parliament the judiciary assists in understanding the law and analysing the case whether the legal guidance is followed or not. In case the legal requirements are not fulfilled then the judiciary can also decide on dismissing the case.

Ways in which the judiciary upholds the separation of powers

According to the doctrine of separation of power, it is divided into three different authorities that is the executive, legislature and the judiciary. Out of all the three powers, the judiciary is independent of the other two that is the legislature and the executive. Within the judiciary, the UL judges are not elected and as a result, they are not accountable to the voters. Rather the judges are particularly selected and appointed by the Judicial Appointments Commission which is an independent body and the selection is done on a merit basis. The judiciary has an upholding power as the people can ask the judge to start the legal case and also to ensure that whether the law and process are used in the case or has been broken (Nartey, 2024). Moreover, in case any action or decision is relating to the government or the executive then this case can also be taken under judicial review and as a result of this, they have upholding power to take the decision. This upholds the power of the judiciary as the judicial review is a particular tool which helps examine whether the decision of any of the public body is creating any wrong impact or any unlawful effect or not.

Assessing the roles of the judiciary as a means of controlling the government body

With regards to the working, the judiciary also has a crucial role in law-making and the decisions of the courts determine the scope of the law passed by the legislature. Moreover, it is the apex role of the judiciary to ensure that all the laws are implemented in a proper and better manner. This task is done when the judiciary interprets the law and ensures that the enforcement of this law is done in a better manner (Hodge, 2020). Also, another role of the judiciary is to conduct the judicial review and within this, the court is allowed to review the decision by the public body like any of the government agency, local authority or any other aspect. Thus, with the help of judicial review, the judiciary system of the country that is the UK is capable of managing the case and trying to put better control.

The judicial review is a type of aspect which includes a situation within which the court might invalidate the different laws and acts and the government actions which are not compatible with the current working practices. For instance, the judiciary might invalidate the decision taken by the executive in case they find it inappropriate and violating the other law or any aspect. By referring to the case of the Diocese of Menevia V City and County of Swansea council, it was analysed that the court found the council guilty of ‘indirect discrimination’ (Where others went wrong – key judicial review cases, 2024). It is due to the reason that the case outlined the risk of a “desktop only” impact assessment exercise. Resultantly, no assumption can be made as to whether and who will be impacted by the work and Li was found guilty of discrimination. Moreover, there is a doubt whether re-consultation needs to be done before making any of the decisions on a similar subject or not.

Analysing the nature and purpose of judicial review

The judicial review is defined as the type of court preceding which the judges review to ensure the lawfulness of the decision or the action which is taken by the public body. The purpose of the judicial review is to protect the rights of the citizens and to safeguard the people against the government's actions which are not providing a better base to develop to the general public. Moreover, the nature of judicial review can be stated as challenging how the decision is made that is whether any wrong or right working is considered or not (Judicial review, 2024). In case the conclusion of the case is drawn on some of the wrong basis then in case of judicial review it will be solved and the judiciary will be in a position to manage and maintain a better working. This judicial review will further, assist in analysing and reviewing the case from starting and ensure that a good kind of work is done and as a result, the overall work will be improved. In the cases where the decision of the regulatory body is not correct or a decision relating to the rights of prisoners is made then in such a situation the judicial review can be reached and as a result, the overall working will be impacted.

Grounds of judicial review

The judicial review cannot take place all of a sudden and rather there are different types of the basis on which the person can claim for the judicial review. Within the UK legal system, there are many different types of the basis or the grounds on which the person can call for the judicial review. Within the UK legal system, the most common basis for judicial review is illegality, irrationality and procedural unfairness (Judicial review, 2024). In case while solving any of the cases, the government body or the legislative is not using the law effectively and proper justice is not provided then it will be affecting the working of the case greatly. Thus, in case the party feels that any one of the elements has been witnessed during the case then they can call for the judicial review. For instance, if the party feels that there is some procedural unfairness which has taken place during the case proceeding then in such a case, the party can claim for the judicial review and resultantly the whole case will be analysed (Bovend’Eert, 2020). Moreover, this judicial review can be called for at any time and the judiciary has to listen to the party effectively. Thus, based on these three pillars the decision of the tribunal or the government agency can be changed or overturned. But this is only possible in the case when in actuality something wrong has taken place.

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References

Books and Journals

Bovend’Eert, P., 2020. Public office and public trust: Standards of conduct in Parliament: A comparative analysis of rules of conduct in three parliaments. Parliamentary Affairs, 73(2), pp.296-322.

Gilani, S.R.S., Ali, M.A. and Zahoor, M.S., 2023. Limitations on Parliamentary Sovereignty in the UK: A Critical Analysis. Journal of European Studies (JES), 39(1), pp.47-47.

Hodge, L., 2020. The scope of judicial law-making in the common law tradition. Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht/The Rabel Journal of Comparative and International Private Law, (H. 2), pp.211-227.

Hodge, P.S., 2021. The scope of judicial law-making in constitutional law and public law. Judicial Review, 26(2), pp.146-177.

Horsley, T., 2022. Constitutional functions and institutional responsibility: A functional analysis of the UK constitution. Legal Studies, 42(1), pp.99-119.

Nartey, E.K., 2024. Ethical judicial restraint and the rule of law: strengthening constitutional integrity in the UK. Athens JL, 10, p.787.

Norton, P., 2021. The House of Commons under pressure. In Politics UK (pp. 434-448). Routledge.

Stanton, J., 2020. Public law. Oxford University Press.

Stephenson, S., 2021. Constitutional Conventions and the Judiciary. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 41(3), pp.750-775.

Syrett, K. and Alder, J., 2021. Constitutional and administrative law. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Online

Judicial review. 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/judicial-review#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20main%20grounds,less%20discretion%20than%20they%20thought.>

Judicial review. 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.judiciary.uk/how-the-law-works/judicial-review/#:~:text=Judicial%20review%20is%20a%20type,wrongs%20of%20the%20conclusion%20reached.>.

Parliament and the Government. 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/relations-with-other-institutions/parliament-government/#:~:text=Parliament%20is%20there%20to%20represent,people%20who%20have%20been%20appointed.>

R (Jackson) v Attorney General [2005]. 2024. Online. Available through: <https://uollb.com/blogs/uol/r-jackson-v-attorney-general-2005?srsltid=AfmBOorRWp2fqxS2l5d8hK1a9Q4Qd4DAyf_-gcHP0ybGUVsN0tyspaGz>

The Two-House system. 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/system/>

What are constitutional conventions? 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/explainers/what-are-constitutional-conventions>

What is the UK constitution? 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/explainers/what-uk-constitution>

Where others went wrong – key judicial review cases. 2024. Online. Available through: <https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Where%20others%20went%20wrong.pdf>