Routledge

About the Lawcards Series

Constitutional Lawcards

What you need to know...

1) Introduction;

  • The purpose of a constitution
  • How constitutions are defined
  • The differences between written and unwritten constitutions
  • The characteristics of the UK constitution
  • Sources of the constitution
  • Legal sources
  • Non-legal sources including conventions

2) Fundamental concepts underlying the constitution;

  • Fundamental concept: Rule of law
  • Fundamental concept: Separation of powers
  • Fundamental concept: Parliamentary sovereignty including EU law

3) The executive;

  • The function of central government
  • The exercising of executive power
  • The role and scope of collective ministerial responsibility
  • The role and scope of individual ministerial responsibility

4) The legislature;

  • The function of the House of Commons
  • The legislative process
  • Scrutiny of the executive by the Legislature
  • The function of the House of Lords
  • The reform process of the House of Lords
  • Devolution of power to the countries of the Union
  • The nature of electoral law in the UK
  • The different voting systems used and available for use
  • The scope of parliamentary privilege
  • The range of parliamentary standards

5) Human rights and civil liberties;

  • The historical protection of fundamental rights and liberties
  • The nature of residual rights and its contemporary relevance in the UK
  • The role and function of the European Convention on Human Rights
  • The Human Rights Act 1998 and the arrival of positive rights
  • How to raise Convention rights under the Human Rights Act 1998
  • The scope of rights restricted by statute and the common law

6) The Royal Prerogative

  • The concept of the royal prerogative
  • Examples of prerogative
  • Judicial Control of the prerogative
  • GCHQ Case

7) Introduction to administrative law;

  • The role and function of judicial review
  • The distinction between review and appeal
  • The threefold classification for judicial review
  • Who can apply for judicial review?
  • The remedies available in judicial review