Supremacy of British parliament LLB Notes

Supremacy of British parliament 

Introduction;-

               Admittedly, parliament of England is the mother of all other parliament. Other countries have taken their inspiration from her. In the words of De Lome “Parliament of UK can do everything but make a woman a man and a man, a woman. The U.K parliament is the oldest institution in the field of legislation. It has sovereignty and supremacy in U.K right from the beginning of parliamentary era.

Meaning of Parliamentary Sovereignty;-

      The sovereignty of parliament means that parliament is the supreme power of the state in the sense that it can make or unmake any law. Courts will obey its legislation in all respects and there is no power in the state capable of overriding (Overruling), limiting or prescribing (fixing, set down) its authority.

Constituent (Ingredient, basic) of Parliament;-

         The British parliament consists or basis on the following institutions.

a.         The Crown Institution (King/Queen).

b.         House of Commons.

c.         House of Lords.

Principle of Parliament Sovereignty;-

           The parliamentary sovereignty can be understood by taking into consideration the following principle of British constitution.

a.         The legislative sovereignty of parliament.

b.         The complete supremacy of ordinary law through the constitution.

c.         The dependence of the convention upon the law of the constitution.

Exposition (Exhibition) of parliamentary sovereignty;-

       Parliamentary sovereignty implies following three things.

a.         The right to make and unmake any law. It means that parliament has the authority to alter (Change) or repeal (Cancel) any law.

b.         No person or body of persons in U.K has a right to override or set-aside the legislation of parliament. No one has the right to brake free from the law made by the parliament and the certain law cannot be challenge in court of law. Because courts have to obey the legislation made by the parliament.

c.         This authority of parliament extends to every part of British dominions (Territory).

Examples of parliamentary sovereignty;-

     The U.K parliament has attained supremacy gradually with the passage of time. Its supremacy may be discussed under following heads.

A)Supremacy as Regards to Public Rights;-

     Following are included in this head.

  (1)Bill of Right 1689;-

      The provision of bill illustrate that how the parliament  become defacto sovereign of the state. The bill says that the election of members of parliament ought (should, must be) to be free. The power of the king of suspending or dispensing with laws without the assent of parliament is illegal.

(2)The Act of Settlement 1701;-

  The act shows that the king occupies a throne not because he was a member of the royal family, but under parliamentary title.

(3)Act of Union with Scotland 1707 and with Ireland 1800;-

 By passing these two acts parliament made Scotland and Ireland part of the U.K.

(4)The parliament Act of 1911;-

 This act curtailed the powers of the House of Lords. All legislative power relating to money bills was taken away from the house of lords.

(5)The Statute of Westminister 1931;-

   Under this act the dominion legislature were granted full legislative authority.

B)Supremacy Regarding Private Rights;-

         Parliament of U.K also has established its supremacy by interfering with the private rights. According to Coke following are the instances or parliamentary sovereignty.

(1)        It may adjudge an infant or minor of full age.

(2)        It may naturalize and alien.

(3)        It may legitimize and illegitimate child.

Limitation on Sovereignty of Parliament;-

     Following limitations are imposed on parliamentary sovereignty.

1)Rule of Law;-

   Parliament cannot make a law opposed to the rule of law. If parliament passes a law opposed to rule of the law, it imperils its own supremacy.

2)International Laws;-

    It is true that parliament can pass a law which is against the rules of international law but ordinarily while interpreting the statutes, courts proceed on the presumption that parliament did not intend to violate the principle of international law.

3) External Limitation;-

  The external limitation was due to the possibility of popular resistance parliament will hesitate to pass laws which are likely to be opposed by the public.

4)Internal Limitation;-

    The internal check comes from the nature of sovereign power itself. Parliament with the history of 18th century before its eyes will not tax the colonies or can described like this that they would not make laws against the wishes of the people.

5)Statute of Westminister 1931;-

     The statute of Westminister is imposing limitation on the parliamentary sovereignty. According to this statute the dominion constitution cannot be altered or amended by the parliament of U.K except with the consent of dominions.

6) Political Sovereignty;-

              Parliament cannot act against the wishes of the people. The ultimate rulers of England are the people of England. The voters of England can change the parliament itself at the time of next election.

7)Press and Public Opinion;-

      The press and public opinion are important checks on the sovereignty of parliament. No parliament dare pass any law which is opposed by the press or the public opinion.

8)Leagues and Association;-

      League and association formed for political and economic purpose put a limit on the sovereignty of parliament. They have to be consulted by parliament before passing a measure affecting them. It is impossible to ignore those associations.

Conclusion;-

     Parliament is the highest authority in England concerning all matters of state. It can enact, amend alter or repeal any law whatsoever at any time. At last we can say that U.K parliament is supreme in its nature as it has the control over the nation and which works in favour of Englishman.