Public law - University of London International Programmes

page 4 University of London International Programmes
the constitutional position. It is the constitutional rules that are of prime importance:
the political and other factors that have an impact on the working of those rules, while
of great significance, are ancillary.
1.1.2 A constitution under reform
The election of a Labour government in 1997 – after 18 years of Conservative Party rule
– led to major constitutional reform. The incoming government’s agenda included
devolution to Northern Ireland, devolution to Scotland and Wales, reform of the
House of Lords, reform of the electoral system and the introduction of a Freedom of
Information Act. Of the greatest significance was the intention to incorporate into
domestic law – under the Human Rights Act 1998 – most of the rights and freedoms
protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. By 2002 much of the
reform agenda had been accomplished: devolution to the nations had taken place, a
Freedom of Information Act had been introduced, the Human Rights Act 1998 was fully
in force and a partial (but not yet complete) reform of the House of Lords achieved.
Reforms have been made to the electoral system, including a register of political
parties and statutory regulation of donations to political parties. The Constitutional
Reform Act 2005 reformed the office of Lord Chancellor and established a Supreme
Court to replace the formerly highest court in the United Kingdom, the House of Lords.
An inconclusive general election result in 2010 led to the formation of a Coalition
Government made up of the Conservative Party and Liberal-Democrat Party. This has
led to further constitutional reform. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and the
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 introduce, for the first time, a
fixed date for general elections † , thereby removing the discretion of the Prime Minister
to fix the date of the election. The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act
provided for a referendum to be held on the voting system for general elections and
for a reduction in the number of parliamentary seats in the House of Commons. The
European Union Act 2011 requires that any further transfer of powers from the United
Kingdom to the European Union will require the authority of the people voting in a
referendum. Reform of the House of Lords remains on the reform agenda.
The Scottish government is intending to hold a referendum in 2014 on independence
for Scotland. The UK government is opposed to independence, but willing to negotiate
further devolution to Scotland.
Given that some reforms are on-going it is particularly important at this time to keep
abreast of current affairs.
1.1.3 Outline structure of this subject guide
This subject guide has been structured to enable you to proceed from the basic
foundations through to a detailed understanding of the different topics that rest on
these foundations. The guide falls into five principal parts:
Part 1 Constitutional fundamentals (Chapters 1–7)
The structure of the constitution and its basic principles.
Part 2 The government and Parliament (Chapters 8–12)
The Crown, Prime Minister and Cabinet, the structure of central government and
the workings of Parliament. Also in this part is an introduction to regional and local
government, both of which have powers devolved upon them by the UK Parliament.
Part 3 The European Union (EU) (Chapters 13–14)
As a member state of the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom has committed
itself to a form of supra-national governance with its own legal and institutional
framework. EU law has, since 1973 when Britain first joined, become an increasingly
important part of domestic law. British judges are required to apply EU law as
interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, and Parliament is under an
obligation to pass laws which are consistent with the overriding European law.
†
A referendum was held
in May 2011, at which the
electorate rejected proposals
for change.