Chapter One: Introduction to Public Law
1.Write a brief definition of a Constitution.
2.List at least four characteristics that constitutions may have (for example a constitution may be federal or unitary).
3.List at least four characteristics of the British constitution.
4.What are the primary characteristics of the British Constitution (you should be able to list at least three).
Chapter Two: Sources of the Constitution
1.Write a brief definition of the Royal prerogative (you may draft your own definition or recite either Blackstone or Dicey).
2.Name at least one difference between Blackstone’s and Dicey’s definition.
3.List at least three prerogative powers relating to the Crown.
4.Write a brief definition of a constitutional convention.
5.Name three differences between a legal rule and a constitutional convention.
6.Name three conventions relating to the Crown.
7.Name three conventions relating to the government.
8.Name two conventions relating to the judiciary.
1. To what extent is it accurate to describe the British Constitution as ‘unwritten’?
2. To what extent is the exercise of the Royal prerogative compatible with the rule of law?
3. ‘The acts of the prerogative are as reviewable as any other executive act.’
Discuss.
4. ‘It is high time that the Royal prerogative be placed under statutory authority.’
Do you agree? What are the constitutional implications entailed in this proposal?
Chapter Three: Separation of Powers
1.Name the eighteenth-century French writer who explained the importance of the separation of powers.
2.What is the purpose of the separation of powers (i.e. what does it achieve and what does it prevent?)?
3.Name the three principal institutions of the state and write a brief definition of their role and functions.
1. To what extent is the doctrine of separation of powers respected under the constitution of the UK?
2. Critically assess the view that the ‘British constitution is firmly based on the doctrine of the separation of powers’.
3. To what extent was Walter Bagehot correct in his assertion that the close fusion of the executive and legislature represents the ‘efficient secret’ of the constitution? (Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution (1867)).
Chapter Four: The rule of law
1.List three different approaches to the rule of law offered by political philosophy.
2.Write a brief definition of the rule of law as understood in contemporary Britain.
3.List the three principles identified by AV Dicey as crucial to the rule of law.
1. Given the vagueness of the term ‘the rule of law’, it can offer little guidance as to the legality, or otherwise, of government action.
2. ‘The doctrine of the rule of law is so vague as to be almost meaningless.’
Discuss.
3. Does any aspect of Dicey’s definition of the ‘rule of law’ have relevance today?
Chapter Five: Parliamentary sovereignty
1.Write a brief sentence explaining the difference between legal and political sovereignty.
2.List the three main aspects of Dicey’s theory of sovereignty.
3.Write a sentence explaining the meaning of ‘entrenchment’.
4.Giving reasons, explain whether entrenchment is or is not possible under the UK’s constitution.
1. To what extent can AV Dicey’s nineteenth-century theory of parliamentary sovereignty be supported today?
2. ‘Despite many challenges to its nature and existence, parliamentary sovereignty remains the cornerstone of the constitution.’
Discuss.
Chapter Six: The European Union
1.Name the Treaty that brought about the European Economic Community and the Treaty that introduced the European Union (EU). Continued
2.Name the four principal institutions of the EC and EU.
3.List the primary and secondary sources of EC law.
4.Write a brief sentence defining ‘direct effect’ and ‘indirect effect’.
5.Write a definition of ‘monism’ and ‘dualism’.
6.Name at least three major cases in which the European Court of Justice proclaimed the supremacy of Community law over national law.
1. Critically examine the means by which the European Court of Justice ensures the supremacy of EC Law.
2. ‘Membership of the European Union requires a fundamental reassessment of the traditional theory of parliamentary sovereignty.’
Do you agree? To what extent does the case law support such a view?
3. Outline the role and powers of the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament of the European Union. To what extent is the European Union ‘democratic’?
Chapter Seven: Central, regional and local government
1.To what extent is it accurate to describe the office of Prime Minister as ‘first among equals’?
2.What are the two principal rules relating to collective Cabinet responsibility?
3.Does devolution to national assemblies affect the supremacy of the UK Parliament?
4.List three advantages of local government.
1. With the devolution of power, the UK’s constitution now operates as different levels – central, regional/national and local.
Discuss.
2. To what extent, if at all, does devolution diminish the sovereignty of the UK Parliament?
Chapter Eight: Electoral law
1.List the categories of persons who are not qualified to vote.
2.Name the voting system used for the following elections:
- general elections
- elections to the Scottish Parliament
- elections to the European Parliament
- elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
- elections to the Welsh Assembly
3.Name the Act that regulates the conduct of elections campaigns and the Act that regulates donations to party political funds and controls expenditure at national level.
4.Name the court that adjudicates on disputed elections.
1. To what extent does electoral law in the UK reflect the principle of ‘one person, one vote, one value’? What reforms, if any, would you advocate?
2. ‘The simple majority voting system’s sole merit is that of simplicity.’
Discuss.
3. ‘It is undeniable that electoral reform is required in order to ensure truly representative government. However, detailed consideration of the constitutional consequences of such reform is necessary before such reform is undertaken.’
Discuss
Chapter Nine: Parliament
1.What is meant by the terms ‘backbench’ and ‘front bench’?
2.Write a sentence explaining the constitutional importance of the Opposition and state who represents the Opposition.
3.List at least three functions of the House of Commons.
4.What are the principal functions of:
(a)Public Bill Committees
(b)Select Committees?
5.List four categories of persons who sit in the House of Lords.
6.List at least four functions of the House of Lords.
7.List at least four Acts of Parliament, which have reformed the House of Lords since the beginning of the twentieth century.
8.Name the constitutional source that provides for freedom of speech.
9.Write a brief definition of parliamentary privileges.
10.In addition to freedom of speech, list three other privileges.
11.Write a brief sentence explaining the meaning of the term ‘proceedings in Parliament’.
1. ‘Parliamentary procedures provide adequate opportunities for backbenchers to scrutinise government policy.’
Do you agree?
2. ‘Paradoxically, the House of Lords is an essential and valuable second chamber.’
Critically assess this statement.
3.Is parliamentary privilege an entirely anachronistic concept in a modern, democratic legislature?
Chapter Ten: The protection of human rights
1.Under which organisation was the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) introduced?
2.List at least six rights protected under the ECHR.
3.List at least three criteria for an application under the ECHR to be admissible.
4.What do you understand by the word ‘derogation’?
5.What is the definition of a ‘public body’ under the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA)?
6.Who may make an application under the HRA? May interest/pressure groups apply?
7.Write a sentence explaining the status and effect of a ‘declaration of incompatibility’.
8.Is the Human Rights Act 1998 entrenched? Or is it an ‘ordinary statute’?
1. ‘Incorporation of the Convention rights through the Human Rights Act 1998 ensures the supremacy of Parliament over the rights of individuals.’
Discuss.
2. With the Human Rights Act 1998, rights and freedoms have moved centre stage in the Constitution.
Discuss.
Chapter Eleven: Freedom of expression and privacy
1.Explain what is meant by the phrase ‘civil liberties’.
2.What is the distinction between civil liberties and rights?
3.List five different legal restrictions on freedom of expression.
4.Explain what is meant by ‘contempt of court’.
5.Is there a right to privacy under English law?
Critically assess the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on freedom of expression.
Chapter Twelve: Freedom of assembly and public order
1.Explain the concept of ‘breach of the peace’.
2.Is the definition of breach of the peace sufficiently clear?
3.Outline the conditions that may be imposed on (a) public processions; (b) public assemblies.
4.Which Act of Parliament regulates demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament?
To what extent does the law relating to public order achieve an appropriate balance between the
rights and freedoms of individuals to demonstrate and the rights of others to a peaceful, secure
society.
Chapter Thirteen: Judicial review of administrative action
1.Which statute regulates the jurisdiction for judicial review?
2.Write a brief definition of the phrases ‘intra vires’ and ‘ultra vires’.
3.Name the three principal headings that represent grounds for judicial review.
4.Several subheadings fall under these three principal headings, list at least four.
5.Write a brief sentence defining the word ‘proportionality’.
6.List the remedies that are available under judicial review.
1. Judicial review of administrative action does little to protect the rights of the individual against the power of the state.’
Do you agree?
2. ‘In making sense of the inconsistencies in the application of the rules of natural justice, it should never be forgotten that natural justice is not intended to be a precise and uniform code of procedure.’ (de Smith)
Discuss.
Chapter fourteen: Ombudsmen
1.List three examples of ‘maladministration’.
2.What is meant by the ‘MP filter’?
3.Is the Parliamentary Commissioner obliged to investigate a complaint?
4.What remedies can the Parliamentary Commissioner grant?
5.To which body is the Parliamentary Commissioner accountable?
Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of seeking a remedy under proceedings for judicial review and through the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.