UK constitutional convention - Essay Example

? Constitutional Convention 30th, November, UK constitutional convention A constitutional convention is an uncodified or unwritten and an informal procedural agreement, which is followed by institutions in a state. Common wealth states for instance states that they follow the British west minister system of government. A constitutional convention is therefore traditional unwritten laws that form the fundamentals of the written constitution. Most states in the modern world are guided by constitutional conventions instead of the written constitutions1. However, in the states that follow constitutional conventions, they have difference in distribution of powers, which are remarkably different from those that follow formal constitutional documents (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006). Unlike the written constitution, which gives the head of state too much power, constitutional conventions in practice are used only to advice the government. The use of constitutional conventions arose when the exercise of a certain type of power that is not prohibited by law began raising opposition that it became impossible on future instances to take part in additional exercise of these powers. An example of such constitutional convention is that the prime minister of UK cannot continue in office lacking the support of the majority of votes in the House of Commons (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2007). Different states have a system whereby they use constitutional conventions only, while others use a system whereby they operate alongside written constitutions. In the UK for instance, it has much of its constitution unwritten and operates through a form of constitutional status known as constitutional conventions. However, other old conventions have been substituted or superseded by laws. It is important to note that constitutional conventions cannot be enforced by the courts of law in any country. This is because they are generally in conflict with the legal rules that they postulate. Therefore, the courts are bound to enforce the legal rules. In addition, constitutional conventions make particular acts that are allowable under forthright reading of the law as well as being impermissible in practice. According to the courts of law, constitutional conventions are not exercisable in a court of law no matter how established they may be. They can only be exercised when the parliament or the national assembly passes a decree or constitutional amendment codifying the convention. The above principle UK is viewed as authoritative and acceptable in many other jurisdictions, including the most of the common wealth countries (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005). Constitutional conventions are not always acceptable due to various reasons. One prominent reason is that they keep on changing overtime as compared to written laws that would require concept and a constitutional amendment. For instance in the UK, the British parliament requested a parliament dissolution from the monarch. Since then, the prime minister in the UK can decide to dissolve the government on his own without consulting the queen. It is of prime importance to note that constitutional conventions have played a huge role in promoting democracy2. This is because they promote equality in the decisions that an individual can make over the other. They also allow citizens to participate equally in direct representation or through representative democracy (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2004). According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (2003), constitutional conventions have been known to play a major role to promote democracy. UK has the highest number of constitutional conventions unlike other nations since the majority of its laws are not written. The countries constitutional conventions provide key rules and guidelines for the country’s constitution. These conventions add to, or take away from, in at times dramatic was. One of the main conventions in UK includes the convention of individual ministry responsibilities. The unwritten ministry responsibilities give the ministers in charge the responsibility to answer to the House of Commons for any exercise of powers under their jurisdiction. Moreover, they include the powers of the ministry to direct the public service within their jurisdiction and in accordance with the set laws. Blitz (2004) posits that a constitutional convention in UK is the convention of collective cabinet responsibility that gives the cabinet wholesomely the powers to guide separate ministers, subsequently all ministers involved have to support openly provision resolutions of cabinet. The unwritten responsibilities under the ministries allow the ministries to exercise duty to care to the people under their jurisdiction. It also allows democracy in that it allows the ministry to debate by being answerable and accountable through answering questions concerning them to the parliament. It is also the democratic right of the citizens of any nation to know how the ministry is running and managing its funds. The convention of mutual parliament obligation is also important for the steadiness of any government especially the UK government3. For instance, if the House of Commons in the UK passes a motion of no or minimal confidence in the government, then the prevailing government is dissolved and turns out to be a custodian government pending a new government to be formed that can win the confidence of the house. Moreover, there is a constitutional convention that the caretaker government should provide the best decisions for the welfare of the state even if the parliament or the House of Commons losses confidence in it. The above constitutional conventions give the country the democratic right to be governed correctly even though the citizens are not fully satisfied with it (Reuters, 2003). The Economist Intelligence Unit (2004) notes that an additional form of constitutional convention is that the sovereign acts only on the instruction of ministers undermine the legal powers of the queen to cabinet. Moreover, it tends to undermine the powers of the queens representative in UK. However, it is more democratic when the majority of people come up together and makes a decision pertaining to a state as compared to a state when one individual makes decisions for the entire country. Lord (2003) notes that UK has a constitutional convention that the monarch will agree to take and take action on the guidance of their ministers that are accountable to Parliament for the advice. This means that the monarch should not ignore the advice of the parliament except when exercising Reserve powers4. This constitutional precedent works to give the country a democratic state and the independence it requires to govern itself. Furthermore, there is a constitutional precedent that the Premier of the United Kingdom is the frontrunner of the party or alliance of parties with a complete majority of places in the House of Commons and thus most probable to gather the support of the House of Commons. This means that the majority of the people in the UK believe that for a premier to be elected, they must be able to be supported by the majority of the people in the House of Commons as well as in the entire country. However, a situation can occur when the premier is elected but their party does not have the majority of support in the House of Commons or in the parliament (Nelson, 2005). A new constitutional convention is that the monarch awards the Royal Assent to all legislation. This is sometimes branded as all regulation passed in good faith. It is probable that ministers could direct against giving accord, as what happens with the Crown dependencies. This convention has been in existence since early 18th century but beforehand, monarchs rebuffed or suspended the Royal Assent5. The Economist Intelligence Unit (2004) notes that UK has a constitutional convention that the House of Lords should not castoff a budget approved by the House of Commons6. However, the House of Lords broke this convention controversially in 1909 by arguing that the Pact was linked to another Pact, which stated that the Commons would not announce a Bill that pounced on peers and their wealth. Moreover, the lords claimed that that the Commons did contrary to this Convention in Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George's budget, therefore extenuating the Lords' dismissal of the budget. Consequently, the Parliament Act of 1911 momentously decreased the House of Lords’ powers over budgets. Constitutional precedents have promoted democracy in that it operates under the principles of broadmindedness. Constitutional precedents are characterized by competitive elections, fair and free elections amongst numerous separate political parties, division of powers into dissimilar branches of government, the rule of law in daily life as chunk of an uncluttered society and the fortification of human rights and public freedoms for all people. The conventional precedents separate the powers of government and preserve the communal contract. Unlike the written laws, the constitutional convention is not and cannot be used by courts of law. This is because they tend to conflict with the legal rules that they proclaim and the courts are certain to enforce the legal rules. More accurately, the constitutional conventions make definite acts that can be acceptable under a forthright interpretation of the law that are impermissible in practice. The court therefore holds that no constitutional convention, even though well established, or unanimously accepted, can take shape of a decree unless the relevant legislature passes an act or constitutional amendment that aims to codify the constitutional convention. Reference List Blitz, J 2004, UK closer to referendum on EU constitution, United Kingdom, London. Lord, H 2003, UK's pledges on EU constitution, United Kingdom, London. Nelson, A 2005, EU constitution will ensure UK place at top table in Europe, United Kingdom, London. Reuters, 2003, UK rejects constitution draft, United Kingdom, London. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003, UK: Constitution and institutions, United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2004, UK: Constitution and institutions, United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2004, UK: Constitution and institutions, United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005, UK politics: What happens if Britain rejects EU constitution? United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005, UK politics: Yes or nein? 2005, United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006, UK: Constitution and institutions, United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2007, EU politics: UK wants rights charter dropped from constitution, United States, New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2007, UK: Constitution and institutions, United States, New York. Read More