The British Constitution

Term Paper # 101475

Law > Constitution
Political Science > Non-U.S.

This paper explores the separation of powers within the "unwritten" British constitution.

2,018 words () | 17 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper studies the separation of powers and the common law of the United Kingdom by looking at the rule of law as articulated in British case law and by discussing the division of rights and responsibilities between the legislative branch of government, the judicial branch of government and the executive branch of government. The paper then explores the broad concept of parliamentary supremacy. The paper shows clearly how a separation of powers exists within the British constitution.

From the Paper:

"As mentioned above, the government of the United Kingdom is constrained by the fact that it must rely upon the will of Parliament for the passage of its legislative agenda and that all of it's (and, by extension, Parliament's) legislation and activity must conform to the dictates set forth by judicial review. Furthermore, the government does not have wide discretionary powers: the informal constitution of the United Kingdom, since at least Entick v. Carrington (1765) has often (but not always) made it clear that governments cannot do various things - like search peoples' homes - if there is no law authorizing such activity. The common law uncertainty indicated in the last sentence deserves some elaboration; to wit, the courts have sometimes been unenthusiastic about being called upon to keep the government within its legal bounds. A good example of this is Malone v. Metropolitan Police Commissioner (1979) where it was decided that wire-tapping was permissible in one instance even though no law existed authorizing wire-tapping."