Essentially as a result of history, the UK does not have a formal codified constitution but it does have constitutional arrangements which include the Legislative Supremacy of Parliament.
As
Parliament itself notes -
'Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.'
A weakness of that principle is that whoever controls Parliament has, in effect, the ability to try to enact ANY law they wish. In law, there is nothing that Parliament cannot change but there are both practical and political constraints.
One Parliament has enacted legislation there is no court with power to declare the legislation unconstitutional.
Furthermore,
Ministers have vast powers to take action under "Royal Prerogative" powers especially in relation to Defence and Foreign Affairs.
In addition, a myriad of Acts of Parliament permit Ministers to make secondary legislation and Henry VIII powers allow Ministers to use secondary legislation to amend Acts of Parliament.
The UK's arrangements therefore permit a powerful to exist and, depending mainly on the size of its House of Commons majority, the executive is able to bring about major changes to the law.
Such powers are perhaps acceptable in the hands of the "good guys" who respect democracy and the rights of citizens but will the "good guys" always be in charge or could more dictatorial individuals come to power? In the current state of British politics, the answer to that is a clear YES and steps ought to be taken to improve democracy within the UK. Ministerial power - (the elective dictatorship) - needs to be brought much more under democratic control.
The report does not set out a programme for radical constitutional reform but, instead, presents a list of 28 "must do" changes required to safeguard or ‘future-proof’ the constitution and protect the integrity of UK democracy.
The report covers seven topics: safeguarding parliament, improving scrutiny, protecting ethics regulators, increasing transparency, strengthening elections, updating political finance rules and improving the information environment. It says that many of its 28 recommendations can be quickly implemented by the government alone or through non-legislative parliamentary processes, while others can be added to existing legislative plans, and government-initiated reviews and future legislation are needed to advance some changes.
The report is a thoughtful and serious contribution and offers sensible proposals for change to the arrangements under which we all live. If the survival of true democracy is to be ensured then the report requires implementation in the short-term and should not be consigned to dusty shelves to be ignored.
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