Parliamentary Supremacy
Parliament Supremacy is one of the three principles which are
essential to the Constitution .The Constitution is a set of unwritten
rules that determine the country’s’ nature and power of the state
constitution based on the Golden Principle “one is free to do anything
as long as it is not prohibited”. Other wise referred to as
“parliamentary sovereignty”, parliamentary supremacy is a proposal put
forward by Dicey which stands for the parliament as being supreme and
immensely superior law making body in the country. Not only can it
make the law but it has the power to eliminate and discard any laws.
As a quote referred by Blackstone states “What parliament doth no
power on earth can undo” Blackstone clearly stated no matter how
powerful another individual or a group (such as a political party like
the conservatives) cannot undo what parliament has carried out.
Unlike the United States of America where a judge can refuse to apply
any law on the bases is unconstitutional whereas in the UK no one can
question an act of parliament and judges cannot refuse to apply and
act. An example of this was at a period in time when segregation was
still around. This instance a black boy was not allowed to go to a
white school, the judge refused to uphold the law because it was
unlawful.
Parliament supremacy can be justified by its democratic law making
process. This involves electing MP’s on behalf of their constituency,
so that once elected they act on their behalf of the voters in
parliament.
There is evidence for and against parliament being supreme. One of
them is for example Cheney v Conn. This is when a party tried to
declare that the Finance Act was in fact illegal. Judges said:
“It is not for a court to say that a parliamentary enactment which is
the higher source of the land is illegal”