16, 17, 18, 19 - Civil Liberties

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of this chapter:

1) Freedom and the liberties in the UK - (a) Distinction between civil rights and human rights (b) Introduction to European Convention and Human Rights (c) Introduction to Human Rights Act (d) Remedies for breach

2) Freedom Expression - (a) Control of obscenity and decency (b) Contempt of Court

3) Police Powers - (a) Introduction to the Police and criminal Evidence Act (b) Powers to stop and search (c) Powers to detain and arrest (d) Powers to enter property, search and seizure (e) Willful obstruction of duty buy police

4) Freedom of Assembly and Public Order - (a) Rights and freedoms (b) Breach of peace (c) Common law preventive powers (d) Introduction to the Public Order Act

15 - Tribunals, Inquires and the Ombudsmen Remedy

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of this chapter:

1) Tribunals - see this link.

2) Inquiries - Statutory and non-statutory

3) The Ombudsman - see this link.

12, 13, 14 - Judicial Review of Administrative Action

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of these chapters:

1) The natures of judicial review - (a) Rule laid down in O'Reilly and contrast this with Mercury Communication, broad v narrow interpretation (b) public law and private law distinction (c) Collateral challenge, can public law issue be raised in private law proceeding, see the the case of Wandsworth London Borough Council (d) Ouster clause (e) Procedure viz: 2 step process

2) The grounds of judicial review - See the case of Wednesbury restated in GCHQs case ie, (a) Illegality (b) Irrationality and (c) Procedural impropriety

3) Remedies - (a) Quashing order (b) Mandatory order (c) Prohibiting order (d) Declaration (e) Injunction (f) Interim declaration (g) Substitutional remedy (h) Damages only in certain circumstances as laid down in s31(4) of Supreme Court Act

9, 10, 11 - Sources of Public Law

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of these chapters:

Work in progress...

8 - The Structure of the UK and devolution

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of this chapter:

1) The structure of the UK - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

2) The devolution - Welsh devolution, Scottish devolution and Northern Ireland devolution - See the difference in the legislative powers of Welsh assembly and Scottish, Northern Ireland Parliaments

Read this document for a brief summary of the devolution. Also watch this video:

7 - The European Communty and the European Union

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of this chapter:

1) European Community and European Union

2) Pillars of European Union - (a) European Communities (b) Common foreign and security policy (c) Police and judicial cooperation (d) Visa, asylum and immigration

3) The Institutions - (a) Council of Ministers (b) Commission (c) Parliament (d) ECJ

Before you leave this page, browse this site and watch this video:

The UK Parliament

If you are studying the UK Constitutional Law, then you should watch these clips. There are many such clips on youtube if you are interested...

6 - Parliament

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

Following is the summary of this chapter:

1) House of Commons - (a) Election (b) Franchise (c) Electoral system - first past the post

2) Composition o House of Commons - (a) 3 main parties - Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem (b) Universal adult suffrage (c) Membership by peers (d) Disqualification (e) Resignation

3) Officers of House of Commons - (a) Speaker (b) Father (c0 Life of parliament

4) House of Commons Sitting - (a) Voting (b) Abstaining (c) Pairing

5) The Committee System of the HC

6) House of Lords - (a) Composition - Hereditary peers, life peers, bishops

7) Reform of the House of Lords - See these links 1, 2, and 3

8) Parliamentary privilege

5 - Legislative Supremacy

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

This is important in the UK constitutional law and there are a number of cases laws (and so scope for setting MCQ!). A summary of this chapter is given below:

1) Parliament's legislating power -Understand the historical context and compare it with present day context. Remember the rules viz: Supremacy, Entrenchment, Implied Repeal and Enrolled Rule

2) Limitation - Scope and subject matter (HRA), manner and form, territorial, membership of EU (ECA)

3) Interpretation of a statutes in the light of HRS and ECA (dis-application rule, removal of implied repeal and retention of  express repeal), difference between constitutional statutes and normal statutes

4) Cases to ponder: Mortensen v Peters (supremacy rule), Vauxhall Estate case (implied repeal rule), Pickin v British Railway Board (enrolled Act rule), Belliger's case (declaration of incompatibility), R v Lambert (presumption against retrospective effect of HRA, contract this with Kansal's case)

Answer to the question 1 of the sample questions given by Kaplan lies here.

4 - Prerogative and Statute

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

A summary of this chapter is given below:

1) Royal Prerogative - History and the present context (it is issued in the name of the crown by the executive), difference between Dicey and Blackstone test

2) Interaction between royal prerogative, statutes and courts - see Burma Oil Case, GCHQ case (where it was held that RP can be reviewed by the court. Further see the limitations laid down in Blackburn etc), views of Billings and Pontin

3) See the list of RPs including order required for a Bill to become an Act (answer to the question 8 of the sample questions given by Kaplan lies here)

4) Scope for reform

3 - Rule of Law

Source: Core Text on Constitutional and Administrative Law

A summary of this chapter is given below:

1) Rule of of Law as per Raz - 8 principles have been laid down

2) Rule of Law as per Decey - 3 principles have been laid down

3) Rule of Law and ECHR  - eg article 7

See this interesting case: R v Home Office about the contempt of court; Entick v Carrington

2 - Separation of Powers

Source: Core Text Series on Constitutional and Administrative Law

The summary of this chapter is as under:

1) Meaning and importance of separation powers - L'Esprit des Lois, is there a separation of powers in the UK? (strict answer is No because there are significant overlaps particularly between legislature and executive)

2) Recent reforms made in the UK including the role of lord Chancellor and setting up of the Supreme Court

Contrast the position in the UK with other countries particularly the US in order to understand the real dimension of this concept.

The Constitutional Law

Here is 7 part lecture on British Constitutional Law. It is excellent:

1 - Introduction to Constitution Law

Source: Core Text Series on Constitutional and Administrative Law

This is an interesting chapter. The summary is since the UK does not have a written constitution, the sources of the law are certain statutes such as Bill of Rights Act, Union of England Act, Parliament Act, European Communities Act, Human Rights Act, etc + common law + constitutional conventions + the royal prerogatives + European community law + customs and practices and certain scholarly work such as Dicey, Blackstone and Jenning. If you dont have a clue about UK government and the monarchy, then you should get some insight.

This subject (except may be Human Rights Act) is relevant only for MCQs and I dont think for the other two.

 As usual I will try to spice up my posts with videos. Here is an youtube video on UK constitutional law.