Politics and Parliament in Britain - Essay Example

Politics & Parliament in Britain The statement “Parliament is the Supreme law of the land”, simply serves to indicate that no law or an act of parliament that is established by the British Parliament can be regarded as unconstitutional1. In this respect, it serves to indicate that, despite the fact that the United Kingdom has several sources of law, both written and unwritten constitutional conventions and laws of precedence, the United Kingdom parliament still remains the supreme law of the land. This is because, the United Kingdom parliament is the body that is tasked with the establishment of new laws, while at the same time being tasked with the responsibility of repealing and amending the existing laws2. This fact serves to indicate that the United Kingdom parliament remains the supreme law of the land, since it can change the existing laws that are being applied currently, while also introducing new laws that it deems necessary for the running of Britain. The concept of parliamentary supremacy, defines parliament as the legislative body with absolute sovereignty. This serves to indicate that it is the British parliament that is superior over the other arms of government, considering that the United Kingdom parliament is able to control both the executive and the judiciary, through enacting and passing laws that would then require the other arms of the government to adhere to3. Simply put, parliament is the only sovereign body in the United Kingdom, which is not bound by any law. This is because; the legislative body can change or repeal the existing laws, so that it is no longer bound by the laws. This way, it becomes a sovereign body that makes laws, but which is not bound by any written law4. How has the meaning of these words, which help define responsible government, changed in Britain during the past 25 years? The statement “Parliament is the Supreme law of the land” has changed slightly during the last 25 years, most especially due to three significant developments, namely devolution, constitutional reforms and ratification of the European Union membership. In this respect, the United Kingdom has tried to establish other body entities that have powers that control the Parliament in certain way. Devolution Devolution in Britain was established in 1997, with the establishment of three other legislative bodies, where the Scottish parliament was established, in addition to the establishment of local assemblies in Ireland and Wales5. This occurrence sought to decentralize power from the central government down to the local governments, by granting the local assemblies and parliament the authority to establish legislations that are applicable in their jurisdictions. Nevertheless, while devolution has decentralized powers to the local assemblies and parliaments, it has not been effective in curbing the sovereignty of the United Kingdom Parliament. This is because, the devolved bodies in the United Kingdom are not sovereign, and they could be repealed by the Parliament, on the event that any constitutional or governance crises arise6. In this respect therefore, despite the fact that some powers to legislate has now been delegated to the local assemblies, the United Kingdom parliament still remains the supreme law of the land, since it can change the law to repeal and consequently remove the devolved units from operation. The question of the effectiveness of devolution has also been put to question, considering that the Parliament serves as both the body legislature in England and the British Parliament, thus there is no alternative legislative body for England alone. Consequently, since the Parliament serves as the legislating body for both England and Britain, there is no effective power check for the Parliament, thus making it the supreme law of the land. Constitutional reforms Several constitutional reforms have been established in the last 25 years, to try and limit the powers of the British Parliament. One major constitutional reform was the Human Rights Act 1998, which sought to give the public more positive powers, while also giving the judiciary more powers to have an influence on the powers that the British Parliament holds, which have not been curbed by any other institutions7. Under this constitutional reform, the judiciary was granted more power to determine and declare the incompatibility of any law enacted by the British Parliament, in relation to the already existing laws, as a means of preventing the British Parliament from enacting laws that are counterproductive. Nevertheless, this attempt to break the supremacy of the British Parliament as the supreme law of the land has not been effective, considering that the extent to which the judicial influence in regard to the laws enacted by the British Parliament can go, is a mere advise to the parliament regarding the incompatibility8. Therefore, the judiciary cannot void the legislations enacted by the British Parliament, even where it has declared them incompatible, meaning that the parliament still remains the supreme law of the land. Ratification of the European Union membership The ratification of the European Union membership meant that Britain was effectively amenable to the control of the laws enacted by the European Union assembly. Consequently, the laws enacted by the European Union assembly equally applies to Britain as they do to other European Union members, meaning that in this respect, the British Parliament has another legislative body over it, which can enact laws that are subsequently binding to Britain and even to the British Parliament9. Nevertheless, while this might be an effective way of curbing the powers of the British Parliament, it has not been fully effective, considering that the British Parliament still holds the last word in relation to the British European Union membership. In this respect, the British Parliament in Westminster can pull out of the European Union membership anytime it may deem the membership of Britain to the Union untenable for any reasons10. This means that the British Parliament in Westminster still remains the supreme law of the land, considering that it cannot even be bound fully, by the laws of the European Union. Bibliography 1. Bradley, A.W. and Ewing, K.D., Constitutional and Administrative Law (Pearson, 2003) 2. Dicey, A.V. An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (Macmillan, 1996) 38-75. 3. Norton, Philip. Parliament in British Politics (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2013) 4. Marshall, G. & Moodie, G.C. Some Problems of the Constitution (Hutchinson, 1907) 22-53. Read More