Essay Example on Discussing the effects some of the constitutional acts such as Magna Carta The Scottish Act

Subcategory:

Category:

Words:

346

Pages:

1

Views:

163

In this essay I will be evaluating and discussing the effects some of the constitutional acts such as Magna Carta The Scottish Act Northern Ireland Act and the Human Rights Act have on the unitary nature of the constitution In accordance to Laws J in Thoburn V Sunderland constitutional statutes are ones which a conditions the legal relationship with the citizen and state in some manner overarching manner b enlarges or diminishes the scope of which we would regard as fundamental constitutional rights Constitution is known as a set of rules which help govern citizens within a state In the United Kingdom constitution is evolving with times aswell as being parliamentary and unitary furthermore it is unwritten making it an un codified constitution The unitary nature is understood as a central government such as the authoritative bodies sitting in Westminster to make decisions to subordinate local governments The case of Thoburn V Sunderland led to the formation of the Magna Carta an organic document that is evolving over time directed by Laws J 



This led to the formation of the Parliament Elected mayors have revitalised some aspects of the local government in London and a few other locations again this presents central government with rival centres of power The sovereignty of Parliament is expressed as the doctrine of implied repeal However Thoburn stresses constitutional statutes should not be subject to implied repeal as they protect the special statues of the constitutional rights This was a very powerful symbol in democracy opened doors to the rights of citizens and started the idea of a unitary nature as it decisions are now made through a central government Since 1999 the United Kingdom's government has been massively changed by a process of administrative decentralization of the parliamentary sovereignty to make decisions on issues without the need of Parliament's permission Power was devolved between England Wales Northern Ireland and Scotland and is seen as asymmetrical state Some legislative acts are affecting the unitary nature of UK Parliament one of which is devolution to the Scottish Parliament It was said by David Mundell a Scottish secretary that the Scottish parliament are now one of the most powerful devolved administrations in the world After the Scottish referendum 2014 



Devolution max was introduced which would have allowed Scotland to gain full control over reserved matters such as tax and fiscal policy the parliament had control over 13 institutions after the referendum it would have dropped to only defence and the foreign policy This would have affected the unitary nature of the constitution as the maximum decentralization would have reduced the supreme legislation power of the UK parliament over Scotland However in accordance to the Scottish Act 1998 the Scottish Parliament were allowed to pass their own legislations in regards to Scotland s domestic policy albeit the UK sovereignty retained the decision making powers over tax and other policies Under S 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 it clearly states It is recognised that the parliament of the United Kingdom will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament Therefore if they do so it will be a breach of a Convention Unlike in the case of Fraser V HM

Advocate where Scottish parliaments were in breach of the right to privacy and UK parliament could intervene It can therefore be argued the unitary nature has not been massively impacted as they still make majority decisions Under the Belfast Agreement 1998 the Northern Ireland assembly are able to pass primary and delegated acts in relation to healthcare education and environment This affected the unitary nature as it represents a diminution in Parliament s legislative role for example unlike the rest of the UK the Abortion Act 1967 is not effective over Northern Ireland as devolved powers allowed the formation of their own healthcare acts However it can be argued the unitary nature is not massively affected as UK still holds major decision making powers such as policing international relations and justice Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 S1 1 reads It is hereby declared that Northern Ireland in its entirety remains part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland voting in a poll held for the purposes of this section in accordance with Schedule 1 



However in regards to recent political debates surrounding Brexit Northern Ireland is calling for a referendum to join the Republic of Ireland in order to remain a member of the EU the province believe Brexit would lead to a disastrous effect on the economy this action will leave the unitary nature of the nation completed shattered The Human Rights Act 1998 is not obliged to any entrenched rights It can be repealed at any time although it is dependent on the majority votes in the House of Commons The HRA 1998 incorporates the European nature into domestic law questioning the sovereignty Because the acts of parliament have to uphold the constitutional conventions the unitary nature of the central constitution is losing the power over certain legislative decisions in regards to for example article I To conclude there are many aspects of the EU constitution which have been affected by the constitutional laws and can be seen to be unitary in their nature It is clear instead of possessing supremacy of parliament Westminster barely has a nebulous right of supervision


Write and Proofread Your Essay
With Noplag Writing Assistance App

Plagiarism Checker

Spell Checker

Virtual Writing Assistant

Grammar Checker

Citation Assistance

Smart Online Editor

Start Writing Now

Start Writing like a PRO

Start