Law

This is an essay ive started to write on the sovereignty of Parliament, just the intro so far! Let me know what you think!



"The orthodox doctrine of the supremacy of Parliament can no longer be regarded as

an immutable part of British constitutional law."


The traditional notion of the supremacy of Parliament can no longer be regarded

as applying. This much can be seen from a relatively basic examination of Dicey’s

definition of Parliamentary sovereignty. If we go forward through the major events

involving cases of Parliamentary sovereignty since Dicey’s definition, attempting to

match up and verify the definition to the actual outcome of the event, we would come

across problems. This point is best shown if we break down a question such as “is

Parliament sovereign?” into much more specific questions in an attempt to avoid a

generic “it is and it isn’t it” response. What we should do is ask if/how/to what extent

Parliament is sovereign in regards to questions of devolution of powers, ex colonial

powers, the European Union, Human Rights, and the relationship it has with Judges.

An answer to one of these questions should perhaps not be applied to the others

as a definite answer, in the same way that a Doctor wouldn’t treat two patients with

different forms of cancer in the same way. The separation of the issue is vital and an

attempt to get an objective answer to a question involving Parliamentary sovereignty

is maybe unattainable.

First let us look at Dicey’s definition of Parliamentary sovereignty:

“The principle of Parliamentary sovereignty means neither more or less than this,

namely, that Parliament has, under the English Constitution, the right to make

or unmake any law whatever; and, further, that no person or body is recognized

by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of

Parliament.”

This definition became a fundamental principle of the law, as Turpin and Tomkins say

in British Government and the Constitution:

“the courts have held that the statutes enacted by Parliament must be enforced, and

must be given priority over rules of common law, over international law binding upon

the United Kingdom, over the enactments of subordinate legislative authorities , and

over earlier enactments of Parliament itself.”

Let us look at an example of Parliamentary sovereignty in action. In the case of

British Railway Board v Pickin3, Mr Pickin bought a piece of land close to the railway

line with the probable intention of gaining control of the land underneath the line if

the line was discontinued. This did not happen however due to a private members

bill from British Railway. Mr Pickin wanted a provision of the bill disregarded on the

grounds that Parliament had been misled. This was rejected by the House of Lords.

Lord Reid stated that:

“…the function of the court is to construe and apply the enactments of Parliament.

The court has no concern with the manner in which Parliament or its officers carrying

out its standing orders perform these functions”.


Will let you know when ive done more!