Tuesday 9 August 2011

Parliament is not sovereign

Can Parliament do whatever it likes?  The idea that it can is a little disturbing.  The Commons is whipped and run along majoritarian lines, the House of Lords can be circumvented, and it is inconceivable that the monarch would deny royal assent to a bill in any but the most extraordinary circumstances.  Parliamentary supremacy can therefore in practice be said to mean the supremacy of the Government.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Rabinder Singh QC on the "essential features" of the British constitution

A post to complement the list of 13 constitutional principles set out in Halsbury's Laws.  The following is taken from a lecture delivered by Rabinder Singh QC for Justice in 2010:

Monday 1 August 2011

Royal assent

Royal assent is the final stage in the enactment of a bill which has passed through all of its stages in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.