The UK Law: System Application - Essay Example

THE UK LAW: SYSTEM APPLICATION To what extent are the principles of the rule of law, the separation of powers and democratic accountability central to the UK's constitution United Kingdom is basically known for its strict command of the lawful rule of the parliament. The entire territory of Europe is noted to have a centralized law that makes a good sense of all the possibilities to make the society more progressive while at the same time assuring the fact that everything and everyone under the administration of the government are kept safe and are best provided with their needs and their demands for a more satisfying life1. Yes, sometimes, it may seem too good to be true, but obviously, this success of the legal system in UK has been well established ever since the governance of royalties in the region. The establishment of the law based upon the twin principles of law making, namely the parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law, has created a fine balance as to which particular aspect of the society should the created laws conform to2. This separate rule of law has made it possible for certain legal measures to be created in a balanced response to the needs and the demands of those individuals that are involved in certain considered situations. Besides that, the empowerment of the law is further aided through the effective separation of powers that the royalties and their subjects are under. Even though the entire European region answers to the central power of a royalty, the queen, they are still considered to be under very democratic governance in terms of realizing the society's freedom to do what they perceive to be rightfully lawful under the legal systems of the country. Why is this so Although the central command of the government comes from the queen, her subjects are the ones directly involved in the work3. There is even this thought that says "the queen reigns but the queen does not rule"; a particular line that dispenses the thought that the UK system of law does not rely only on one monarch's decision but that of her advisers who feed her with the ideas that conform to her beliefs, making possible changes in the society in case some adjustments need to be made. Democratic accountability is a huge consideration for the creators of the law. The people are free and ought to have their own rights even when dealing with the most serious issues in the society4. In every law, it is then recognized that the rights of the people are rightly realized and given proper attention to. Hence, from creating the law towards implementing it, it could be noticed how the UK government intends to give each individual the rightful cause of their being through providing them the respect and recognition of rights that they deserve to have. 2. Making reference to relevant case law, explain and critically examine the different approaches adopted by the courts in deciding whether a particular decision is unlawful on the ground of bias. The British court receives the greatest if not the highest recognition in the UK society. Standing as the judge of all, and the law implementation agent in the society, the British court is noted for its unbiased view of the people, both those who are in power and those who are not. The principle of the rule of law which suggests that "no one is above the law, even those who are in power" depicts a great fact that is recognized by the British court every time it handles cases that involves different parties having disagreements between each other5. This principle subjects everyone accountable to the law without any exceptions given. However, as it could be realized, humans make mistakes and the British court is ruled by human individuals and are thus expected to make mistakes every now and then but of course not all the time. No matter, the British court recognizes mistakes and definitely puts an end to it. The legal guidelines on investigating particular cases that involve ground bias provides a clearer explanation as to how agents of the law who becomes biased during a legal procedure should be treated and given proper reprimand to avoid any further development of the situation in later cases. 6 To serve justice to the people involved in a particular legal case is very important. This is the reason why it is very important that the judge placed to hear the cases are unbiased; giving proper chance to everyone involved in the case a proper time to say their piece and be able to see things in a rather balanced position that is non-malice in connection with that of either member of the parties involved7. To assure that this particular even of biased dealing with the case is avoided by the judges and the law enforcers, certain guidelines have been provided for proper attention from those involved in the case. These guidelines are as follows: (a) The pecuniary and the proprietary interest of the judge in a case is very important to consider. Once the judge becomes directly involved in the transactions made between the parties involved and the lawyers handling the stance of either the plaintiff or the defendant, his judgement of the situation could become dimmed by personal thoughts, opinions and stand with regards his connection to the personnel involved in the case. 8 (b) It is certainly needed to be assured that the judge is in no way connected to the legal firms of the lawyers who are involved in the case as his profiting pursuance might greatly affect his judgement of the situation that the individuals are involved in. (c) Personal relationship such as friendship or past encounters with the parties involved in the case also disqualifies a judge in becoming the primary decider of the case as these relationships might empower the evidences or the truths that are presented during court hearings. Yes, from this point, it could be observed how the ground bias could actually cause the British court the reputation that it has long been taking care of. It is very important that every judge established in the position of handling a particular case is unbiased to the standing of the plaintiff, the defendant and their lawyers or the other elemental factors that might create a distinctive connection between the people mentioned. Truthfully, to make sure that the judgement is basically based on evidence and optimistic approach to recognizing the real issues in the case is a huge consideration to be given attention to every time a judge is appointed to oversee a particular case in concern. 3. Has the process of devolution, begun in 1998, undermined the legislative sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament Devolution is the central government voluntarily giving power to a lower government. The overall responsibility of government is still with the central government. It is possible to repeal the lower parliaments9. This way the central government may resume control if it so desires. One disadvantage is that it passes on the cost of programs to the states. However, the idea of devolution has caused the Westminster Parliament to lose power simply because power has been handed over to more of the local governments. This has caused an overall lack of a central focus, therefore hurting the legislative sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament (Dakolias, 2006). In connection to this, the parliament has been centralized with power in the UK . Everyone looked to London England. With this centralized power has come a general focus within government. This has provided elements to create laws and rules for the general public, while also enforcing these laws. Devolution has resulted in a further loss of power for the Westminster Parliament since it cannot always necessarily enforce its own interpretation of various laws and strategies in the local governments. Furthermore, as the population continues to grow, the Parliament may be forced to branch out even further into other local governments, giving up even more power. This pattern may continue well into the future, and will only work to continue to decentralize the government and also to continue to provide power elsewhere, far outside of Parliament. The more people involved, the more relativistic the system will come. More power will be lost, and there will certainly be a wider interpretation of the law based on how the local individuals feel about various items placed before them. Therefore, the end result is this continued pattern as well as a slight feeling of chaos for those actually involved in government and law, as patterns are expected to greatly vary from one community to the next. Devolution started in 1979. This was the result of a simple majority referendum. This gave Wales and Scotland a local parliament. Northern Ireland had its own parliament by an act of the Westminster Parliament. This was done in the 1920s. England does not have a local parliament. London, the capital of England and the UK has a form of devolved system. This is affected through the Greater London Authority. Other proposals for England have been cancelled indefinitely. Conclusion To be able to sum up everything considered in this response essay, these outlined results could be considered as important basis of the laws that govern the UK legal systems at present: There is separation of powers. The Crown (His or Her Majesty rules) and may be seen as the executive branch. The parliament is the legislative branch. The court system is the legal or judicial branch. Devolution has been at the invitation and pleasure of the central government. This is a function of the legislative branch. It is quite possible for this to be withdrawn. Court decisions are complex. First there is the body of common law. This has been established by a long history. Then there is the concept of case law. This law is developed by the discretion of court decisions over time. Added are the specific pieces of legislation as passed by the legislative process. There is a challenge to balance all these aspects fairly. Law does not exist in a vacuum. There are other components. Two are politics and economics. The UK has to recognize it is made up of four countries England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has a unitary and not a federal system. It also has long standing relationship with other nations. There is a leadership relationship with the British Commonwealth and now the Commonwealth of Nations. In recent years, by a form of devolution (somewhat) The UK is now part of the EU (European Union). This latter unit is a type of federation. The UK is a kingdom but has a constitutional form of government like a republic. Like a republic, it has a democratic system of government. There will be challenges to conform to the EU laws and at the same time being autonomous. Truthfully, through the list of summation of discussion, it could be seen how the brief discussion of UK law and constitution has helped in assuring that the entire process of legal systems in Great Britain and the regions to which it is accountable to is properly mandated towards the best values of the people living in it. References: Parpworth, Neil, David Pollard and David Hughes (2007) Constitutional and Administrative Law: Text with Materials (4th ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. Barnett, H, Constitutional and Administrative Law, ed5 (2005, London: Cavendish) at 9. Conversly, "A written constitution is one contained within a single document or a [finite] series of documents, with or without amendments", id. Akehurst, Michael; Malanczuk, Peter (1997). Akehurst's modern introduction to international law. London: Routledge. pp. 65-66. Lewis F. Abbott, British Democracy: Its Restoration & Extension, ISR/Google Books, 2006. Chapter Five: "The Legal Protection Of Democracy & Freedom: The Case For A New Written Constitution & Bill Of Rights". Bradley, A.W. and Ewing, K.D., Constitutional and Administrative Law (Pearson, 2003). Read More