The royal prerogative is a source of constitutional law; it is derived from common law powers that have been handed down from the monarchy to the executive. The significance of the prerogative in constitutional law is that it provides the executive with considerable power to act without following ‘normal’ parliamentary procedures. As Dicey explained, the prerogative is ‘every act which the executive government can lawfully do without the authority of an Act of parliament’.
In constitutional terms, it is therefore important to explore the means by which the UK constitution secures the accountability for the exercise of prerogative powers by the executives.
Historically the prerogative was exercised by the monarchy, the majority of powers are now used by ministers, and very few remained the personal preserve of the sovereign. The extent to which the judiciary and the legislature are able to regulate the exercise of prerogative powers by the executive has increased. However, there are still some who are concerned by the lack of control that can be exerted by the other constitutional bodies.
The challenges to the power of the Monarch was by the reign of James I (1603-25) the monarch was faced with an increasing effective Parliament, culminating in the temporary abolition of the monarchy in (1625). Consequently, the monarchy’s powers were eroded by both revolution and by legal challenges, which included the case of Proclamations (1611) , the monarchy could not change the law by proclamation. The law of the land, which required that the law be made by Parliament, limited the prerogative. In the case of Prohibitions Del Roy (1607) the Monarch had no right to act as a judge, and in the case of the Ship Money Case (1637), although th...
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Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials by Andrew Le Sueur, Maurice Sunkin and Jo Murkens (Paperback - 12 Aug 2010) chapter 8 p 368-418
Straw, J, ‘Abolish the royal prerogative’, in A. Barnett Ed., Power and the throne; the monarch Debate (1994) London: Vintage, p. 129.
Websites
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-03861.pdfaccessed on 16/03/2012
http://www.law201.co.uk/95.pdfaccessed on 16/03/2012
http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199219742/01student/mindmaps/loveland_mindmaps_royal_prerogative.pdfaccessed on 17/03/2012
http://www.justice.gov.uk/royal-prerogative.pdf accessed on 17/03/2012
http://www.justice.gov.uk/royal-prerogative.pdf accessed on 18/03/2012
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf accessed on 19/03/2012
Other
Further reading was from the lecture notes by Dr.PareshKathrani.
I was able to relate to when Jessie said that borders are symbols of the divisions we make of each other. These borders are made up by people to keep each other apart from one another. Whether it is for social, economic, or cultural reasons, the division remains. As Brooke pointed out, these borders prevent freedoms and deny opportunities.
In his essay, “The Fence of Lies,” Mario Vargas Llosa explores the potential consequences of building a wall across the Mexican-American border. He argues that, if built, the wall would be ineffective and a waste of resources. He proposes that the money allotted for the border wall be used instead to offer better job opportunities to Latin American citizens within their own borders. However, this proposal is unrealistic as it offers no real solutions to the economic problem of illegal immigration, nor is it an effective plan.
When the term “monarch” is used, the first thing that comes to mind is a bombastic king and queen with unlimited power. The reality is, this is not always true. The definition of a monarch is “someone who is the head of a state government, either in reality or symbolically” (Nederman 2). Such a government is known as a monarchy. A monarch usually either inherits sovereignty by birth or is elected. Either way, a monarch typically rules for life or until abdication. Depending on the type of government in place, the “monarch’s true power varies from one monarchy to another” (Nederman 2). They may be complete tyrants, known as an absolute monarchy. On the other hand, they may be ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power and are only a figure head which is known as a constitutional monarchy (Nederman 2). These different types of governments have all been around for about the same amount of time. However, some are more renowned than others.
Martinez, Oscar. Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1994), 232.
The creation of borders and boundaries has been around since the beginning of civilization. The division of property and possessions among individuals establishes a sense of self-worth. The erection of fences and walls keeps property separate. Walls also serve as a means of separating worlds. Modern society demands the creation, and maintenance of these boundaries. In his poems, “The Tuft of Flowers,'; and “Mending Wall,'; Robert Frost explores the role that walls play in our lives. He examines how the lives of men are both separated, and drawn together by walls.
What are borders and what do they represent? In Gloria Anzaldua’s reading Borders/La Frontera, she writes about how borders are all invisible and they exist to create separation and difference. Not only that, but she refers to an area called the “borderlands”; which is an area of “mezcla”. Mezcla is spanish for a mix, and that can refer to the people today in our society and unique areas unknown to the American or Mexican culture. Through Anzaldua’s writing she is arguing that today barrier have been created that separate society and even people close to us. Whether that border be invisible or actually there, language and sexuality are major contributors to the disconnect between human beings today.
... idea of Parliamentary Sovereignty: The Controlling Factor of Legality in the British Constitution’ (2008) OJLS 709.
The RP helps to keep our powers separated which avoiding the judicial tyranny. After the formation of the two houses of parliament, which called the legislature, the creation of our statutes prevail to the RP. In the case of De Kayser, RP and statute found to co-exist and statute prevails, for the reason that the representatives in the House of Commons are elected from the public in order to create statute to help the development of the country. Moreover, the constitutional conventions are also part of our unwritten constitution and have conflict to the royal prerogative. Some of the RP powers are included to the conventions such as the automatic granting of royal assent, which the Queen should sign after the convention. Finally, the fire brigades union case mentioned that the executive cannot exercise the prerogative in a way which would derogate from the due fulfilment of statutory duty. The data indicates that the current prime minister, has power to overrule the UK’s parliament recent vote of a military intervention in Syria by using the RP which bypass any common decision of acts of war. Generally, powers such as the parliamentary immunity and prerogative powers, destroy the equality and justice of the society, by giving permission, to avoid the soft process of the legitimate society and finally breaking the rule of law. Supporting this argument, a member of parliament, Jack Straw strongly
The British public’s view on the monarchy has changed tremendously over the past two centuries. Because of this, the monarchy’s social and political roles have been steadily declining. The reasons behind this are the Great Reform Bill of 1832, growing political parties, and the actions of the Royal Family.
On one hand, political constitutionalists argue that parliamentary sovereignty is the underlying principle in the British constitution as power and law making are bo...
INTRODUCTION: Parliament, the supreme law-making body, has unrestricted legislative power, and the laws it passes cannot be set aside by the courts. The role of judges, in relation to laws enacted by Parliament, is to interpret and apply them, rather than to pass judgment on whether they are good or bad laws. However, evidence has shown that they have a tendency to deviate from their ‘real roles’ and instead formulate laws on their own terms. Thus, the real role of a judge in any legal system continues to be a phenomenon questioned by many.
The wall is a simple stone structure, but the narrator feels as if it creates two separate worlds between the men. It’s unnatural, something that even nature doesn’t love, as it “ sends the frozen-ground-swell under it / And spills the upper boulders in the sun” (ll 2-3): that is to say, when the ground freezes in cold weather, the stone divider begins to fall apart, as if nature never wanted it there to begin with. The neighbor, on the other hand, adores the wall, and repeatedly tells the narrator, “good fences make good neighbors” (l 27). It’s a statement the narrator has learned to despise. Why must they put any border between one another? The only purpose it serves is to make the narrator feel more isolated from his neighbor, who is more than happy to keep others out. No matter how much the narrator pleads to be rid of the barrier between them, the neighbor simply claims, “good fences make good
Judicial review seeks to enforce and uphold constitutional doctrines which govern the UK’s uncodified constitution by scrutinising administrative action. One constitutional function of judicial review is to enforce the rule of law. It can be argued, in defining the rule of law as “negative value...designed to minimised the harm to freedom and dignity which the law may cause in its pursuit of its goals” Joseph Raz characterised judicial review. The principle of which states the executive is to be ruled by the law and subject to it.
This type of rule of law is upheld through administrative law and by the practice of judicial review. This states out the fact that ‘no one is above the law’ , although there are some aspects that can undermine this factor. Take for instance the powers of the prime minister who’s powers are based solely on the Royal prerogative which is not subject to judicial
Walls comes in different elements from stone to the human mind. In Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”, he wrote “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offense.” A person, before he puts up a wall, needs to know exactly who and what they are trying to wall in or out. For generations, walls were used to protect, as well as keep out those affected by the wall. People used emotional walls to keep feelings from others, but in the 20th century science and psychology, came into play and people started noticing the reasons behind this figurative wall that they were creating. I have had many occurrences in my life that I had to build that invisible