The Sovereignty of Parliament



The Sovereignty of Parliament

Parliamentary Sovereignty

Parliamentary Sovereignty represents a compilation of essays dealing with the four principal issues that still represent a stumbling stone for those seeking to construct a comprehensive theory about the exact meaning and implications of the sovereignty of parliament. A Sovereign parliament is a conception which is central to the constitution of UK. It can be fairly called the constitution's cardinal rule. In “An Introduction to the Study of the Law of Constitution,” Professor A.V. Dicey wrote, “The sovereignty of Parliament is (from a legal point of view) the dominant characteristic of our political institutions” (Dan 2009, 56-85).

According to some analysts, the parliament sovereignty is being compromised through the codification of the instruction. The desirability of the sovereignty arguments suggests that the codification hampers the flexibility and strengthens the parliament. However, others believe that the sovereignty of the parliament is the major barrier to the existence of a codified constitution, requisite to its unique riles and regulatory requirements. They believe that a codified system will be incompatible with the constitution of parliamentary sovereignty. The development of parliament sovereignty emerged from the English civil war. Since then, it expanded and remained a dominant theme in British politics.

The paper discusses Dicey's theory regarding sovereignty of parliament and the simple relationship between parliament and courts. In this context the paper answers as to why an explanation today is more complex and uncertain.

Discussion

Albert Venn Dicey

Dicey is counted amongst one of the most influential lawyer and scholars. A.C. Dicey, during the 19th century wrote about the British constitutional's two pillars in his book “An Introduction to the Study of the Law of Constitution” in 1885. According Dicey, the word sovereignty is used to depict the thought of “the power of law making unrestricted by any legal limit”.

He was a British jurist and a constitutional law theorist. His seminal book “An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution” (1885) is still considered non-codified by the English constitution. Graduated from Balliol College Oxford, he became Professor of English Law Vinerian to Oxford University before becoming a law professor at the London School of Economics. He popularized the term "Rule of Law", often translated in French as a rule of law.

Public law is a part of the legal system that governs the relations of subordination between the State and individuals and super ordination relations of subordination and coordination of organs and functional divisions of the state together. The two pillars of the British constitution are, firstly, the principles of Parliamentary sovereignty and secondly, the rule of law. The principles of Parliamentary sovereignty mean that the supreme authority of law making is the parliament which means that the Acts of the Parliament is the law of British's highest source (Bevir 2008, 559-577). The rule of law is the idea that all of the actions of government, and the laws follow certain, unchanging and fundamental rules and principles. These basic rules and principles include that the law is applied ...