United Kingdom Parliamentary Supremacy since Joining European Union - Essay Example

United Kingdom Parliamentary Supremacy since Joining European Union Since the enactment of the Bill of Rights way back in 1689, the Parliament of the United Kingdom has been the supreme authority recognized by the constitution. This means that the monarch could and cannot overrule the parliament in its decisions. However, there are limitations to this supremacy. For example, according to Dicey, the general rule prevails that the laws that the Parliament has already passed do not bind the Parliament or its successors; they can alter them to suit different circumstance1. The establishment of the European Union has weakened the traditional supremacy of the Parliament and affecting greatly the power sharing within the country. The current view of the powers of the Parliament is very different from the one that Dicey was talking about. Apart from the European Union, factors relating to the Human Rights Act of 1998 as well as the developments in the common law have greatly hampered the authority of the United Kingdom’s Parliamentary supremacy. The battle of supremacy has seen the parliament lose in some cases that were initially under its jurisdiction. In a case involving the oil giant, Trafigura and The Guardian newspaper in 2009, there was absolute non-adherence to the Bill of Rights as stipulated in the 1689 provision. The company was able to have the freedom of expression on parliamentary debates restricted to for several media platforms, The Guardian being one of them. This issue presented a test for parliamentary supremacy and its shakiness in the current forms. The fact that they were bent by a private organization brings situations where it is likely that they can bend several rules for specific interests courtesy of the provisions of the European Union Law. The passing of the European Communities Act of 1972 initiated the process of integration of the European Union, followed by the adoption of the Rome Treaty into the judicial system altered the position of the Parliament in the United Kingdom. The European Union Law was enacted and bound all the member countries to its supremacy as implemented by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case, Costa v ENEL of 1964 stamped the authority of the European Union and its supremacy over every law in the member countries2. Another case that demonstrates the authority of the European Union over the United Kingdom Parliament was the one involving Van Gend En Loos3. The court ruled that “the member States have limited their sovereign rights, and albeit within limited fields, have created a body of law which binds both nationals and themselves”. This means that the country’s systems are inferior to those of the ones by the European Union. In its actual terms, the ruling provides that there is no law among the member sates that is capable of surpassing that of the European Union, the same applies to the institutions of the Union as opposed to those of the regional block. The law is becoming superior in diverse ways with several in-country as well as regional cases being given the European Union interpretation of the law. The European Community Act is a very important legal tool as far as the supremacy of the European Union is concerned. Passed in 1972, the law in section 2 has a provision requiring that all the preexisting statutes and the ones to be enacted must and should abide by the European Union Law, a situation that binds the United Kingdom Parliament to adherence with the directives of the law. This means that the Diceyian view of the supremacy of the Parliament is completely eroded, apart from being challenged by the successive parliaments; an Act of Parliament can be challenged by the European Law effectively. Section 3 of the 1972 Act provides that the decisions of the European Union Court of Justice binds all the tribunals and courts, this includes the United Kingdom’s parliament. Other treaties have been enacted crippling further the role of the United States Parliament, the most recent is the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, and the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 among others. These treaties have been seen to constrict the role of the policy and legislation bodies such as the parliament in the member countries of which United Kingdom is a member. The Merchant Shipping Law has been at the centre of controversy as it pertains the fight for supremacy between the European Community Law and the Parliament. In what was seen as desperate attempt to protect their authority, the Parliament argued that the Merchant Shipping Act of 1988 did not present any controversy with the European Community Act. The House of Lords had accepted that the sovereign authority lied under the provisions of regional law as opposed to the local one. It was then approved that the local law was misapplied at the expense of the European Community Act. This incidence too, presents a situation where the European Law has continued to bring down the provisions of the local laws and institutions. Parliamentary supremacy has attracted the attention of the constitutionalists, a view that clearly demonstrates that its authority has been threatened greatly by the European policies. The recent development that saw the passing of the European Union Bill through the parliament has been seen as a strategy to reinstate their authority. Clause 18 of the law provides that the parliament hall be the supreme authority contrary to the previous provisions. This demonstrates an attempt to bring to life the authority. While analyzing the bill, William Hague has argued that the main treason why the bill entrenches the clause to protect their supremacy is because the past has dictated that their authority was becoming obsolete4. Therefore, the need to reaffirm their position and defend it against the erosion that has been experienced. It is therefore clear that the internal law has raised the stature of the parliament of United Kingdom but the laws under the European Union have dominated. External laws that are not based on the parliamentary decisions are now part of the United Kingdom legal requirements because they are part of the regional block. It has been argued that the parliament has reduced in its worth to nothing more than ‘the supreme legislative body’. In theoretical terms, the English laws have a point across the kingdom but it is apparent that in practical terms, the laws as provided by the European Union takes preeminence. This translates to a weaker United Kingdom Parliament as compared to the legal requirements that are found in writing while those laws relating to the European Union have a wide coverage and have practically been adopted to the letter. In conclusion, the regional law provided by the integration of the European countries provides a platform for supremacy over the United Kingdom Parliament. It is very clear from the historical perspective that the Parliament was a body respected and highly dignified for its supreme authority. However, with the merging of the European countries and the development of the laws thereof, the parliament’s role has been downgraded hence the position has been overtaken by the European Union laws. Cases Costa v ENEL (1964). http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61964CJ0006:EN:PDF Van Gend En Loos v NEDERLANDSE ADMINISTRATIS DER BELASTINGEN service (1963) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=61962CJ0026 Bibliography Dicey, A. V. (1959). Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution. London, Macmillan. Foreign and Common Wealth Office. (2012). Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35431/eu-balance-of-competences-review.pdf Read More