4 ms·

Only in the sense of execution/implementation. In the UK system, without a written/arms-length constitution, the judiciary is manipulated or beholden to any ne

by drucken 15y ago

Only in the sense of execution/implementation. In the UK system, without a written/arms-length constitution, the judiciary is manipulated or beholden to any newly created laws of the land, especially in civil matters. If there are no protections in law, especially rushed laws, there is little the judiciary can do to defend or even argue one interest versus another. This is surprisingly common, particularly in matters of sovereignty, security or trade (new trade of course being in "intellectual property"). Recent examples include the slew of UK-US extraditions on non-actionable behaviour in the UK.

JumpCrisscross 15y ago
I'm reading this as the UK doesn't have a system of judicial review, i.e. the courts being able to strike down legislation as being non-compliant with some prior and of presumably higher authority law. Is this correct?
- drucken 15y ago
  Correct. "Unlike the United States and some other jurisdictions, the English doctrine of parliamentary supremacy means that the law does not know judicial review of primary legislation (laws passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom), except in a few cases where primary legislation is contrary to the law of the European Union." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law
  - hythloday 15y ago
    But not the whole story - the UK has jury nullification[0], last tested in the aftermath of the Falklands War. The "few" cases include laws in contravention of the Human Rights Act, which has been used to get judicial review (not necessarily successfully) of issues such as "do prisoners have a right to hardcore pornography", "does a university fee of more than £3000/year act as a barrier to education", and "what is the legal right to privacy"--i.e. a fairly large surface area. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#England
- rmc 15y ago
  In general sense, yes. Parliament can (legally) do what it wants. There is no list of things parliament cannot do, nor a list of things that it only can do. However the UK is part of the European Union, and the Council of Europe, and so there are higher courts (outside the UK) which can give out about the UK, and force them to do things. Some of these obligations are part of UK law, but they have to do a weird legal hack thing. E.g. if a law would go against one of the European Human Rights Treaties, a court can issue a declaration that the law is not in compliance, however the court cannot throw out the law, nor strike it down.

by drucken 15y ago

JumpCrisscross 15y ago

I'm reading this as the UK doesn't have a system of judicial review, i.e. the courts being able to strike down legislation as being non-compliant with some prior and of presumably higher authority law. Is this correct?

drucken 15y ago
Correct. "Unlike the United States and some other jurisdictions, the English doctrine of parliamentary supremacy means that the law does not know judicial review of primary legislation (laws passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom), except in a few cases where primary legislation is contrary to the law of the European Union." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law
- hythloday 15y ago
  But not the whole story - the UK has jury nullification[0], last tested in the aftermath of the Falklands War. The "few" cases include laws in contravention of the Human Rights Act, which has been used to get judicial review (not necessarily successfully) of issues such as "do prisoners have a right to hardcore pornography", "does a university fee of more than £3000/year act as a barrier to education", and "what is the legal right to privacy"--i.e. a fairly large surface area. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#England
rmc 15y ago
In general sense, yes. Parliament can (legally) do what it wants. There is no list of things parliament cannot do, nor a list of things that it only can do. However the UK is part of the European Union, and the Council of Europe, and so there are higher courts (outside the UK) which can give out about the UK, and force them to do things. Some of these obligations are part of UK law, but they have to do a weird legal hack thing. E.g. if a law would go against one of the European Human Rights Treaties, a court can issue a declaration that the law is not in compliance, however the court cannot throw out the law, nor strike it down.