These notes cover the UK constitution as taught on postgraduate law conversion courses (the GDL and the PGDL). They can also cover topics on introductory public, administrative, and constitutional law papers taught on UK undergraduate Law degrees (LLBs).
Using these notes, I gained a Distinction...
Public Law - The UK Constitution: Constitutional Fundamentals and Sources of
the Constitution
What is Public Law?
Public Law: law concerned with interactions between individuals and the state.
- Constitutional Law:
- Study of ‘political’ institutions, what they are, their powers, and the
principles on which they are founded and operated
- Administrative Law:
- Legal process governing disputes individuals have over decisions made
by those exercising their executive functions
- E.g. judicial review: when a citizen asks a judge to challenge and
examine the lawfulness of a decision that has been made by the
government.
- Check on Executive - the means of complaint for individuals
who believe that government officials (that is, those making
decisions that fall within the executive function of
government) have made decisions or acted in a way that’s
unlawful or in breach of legal rules
- Civil Liberties:
- Study of human rights, and how individuals’ liberties are governed and
infringed upon by the state
Constitution:
- In the wider sense, political constitutions:
1) set out what the institutions for state (or gov’t) are
2) how these institutions operate and interact
3) guarantee certain rights to its citizens
- In the narrow sense - a single written document
UK Constitution:
, - It is ‘unwritten’ in the sense that there is no single authoritative constitutional
document in which the rules which establish and regulate the government are
laid out
- There are four sources of the UK constitution - legislation, case/common law,
RP, constitutional conventions.
Core principles of the UK Constitution:
- The rule of law
- Separation of powers
- Supremacy of Parliament
- A common law doctrine - the courts must prioritise legislation created by
Parliament over common law
- Parliament has the right to introduce or repeal law as it sees fit, and
this right - resulting legislation - cannot be overridden (e.g. by the
courts)
- AV Dicey, ‘An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the
Constitution, 1885
Different forms of constitution:
- Republican
- Presidential
- Head of state (e.g. President/figurehead)
- E.g. USA, Germany
- Monarchical
- Parliamentary
- Head of state chosen from legislature, and hereditary monarch
- The PM is an MP (elected into Parliament)
- Either constitutional monarchy (UK, Sweden) or powerful (Saudi
Arabia)
Sources of the UK Constitution:
Statute
- Acts of Parliament of constitutional importance - no fixed criteria for this (no
concept of Higher Law due to unwritten/uncodified nature of the UK constitution)
- Primary legislation: laws made and passed by Parliament
- Secondary legislation: laws made by other bodies/Ministers (not Parliament)
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lawnotes08. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.30. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.