7: THE CONSTITUTION

1.codified or uncodified
2.unitary or federal
3.entrenched or unentrenched

1. authoritative, constitutes 'higher' law, stands above the statute law made by the legislature
2. entrenched, difficult to amend or abolish
3. judiciable, political bodies are subject to the authority of the courts

1.not authoritative, enjoy the same status as ordinary laws
2.not entrenched, can be changed by passing a statute law, reflected in principle of parliamentary sovreignity
3. not judiciable, judges do not have a legal standard to declare laws as 'unconstitutional'

- establishes the constitutional supremacy of central government over local bodies
- entrusting sovereignty in national legislature, meaning it can create or abolish all other institutions

- divides powers between two levels of government, both central and regional government posses a range of powers that the other cannot enroach upon

- made by parliament
- outranks all other sources of the constitution
e.g. humans rights act 1998, translated european convention of human rights into statute law

- a body of law created by judicial rulings established over time
- exists where there is no statute law
- used to ensure the law is constantly evolving to meet changing social attitutes

-customs or traditions that have endured throughout history
e.g. powers of royal prerogative are exersised by the prime minister

- the need to consult works by authors who are considered to be authorities on constitutional issues
- although written, not legally enforceable

1. parliamentary sovereignity, sovreignity is located in parliament
2. constitutional monarchy
3.the rule of law, in the absense of higher law, gov is still subject to legal checks and constraints
4. parliamentary government, fusion of legislative and executive branches

-administrative devolution allows regional institutions to implement policies decided somewhere else
-legislative devolution operates through elected regional assemblies that are invested with policy making responsibilities

-constitution
-foreign affairs
-defence and national security
-immigration
-the economy
- international trade

-welsh parliament, justice
-NI assembly, tax varying powers

- chairs of most select committees are directly elected by the house
- members of departmental and similar committees are lected by the house
- backbench business is scheduled by newly created backbench bussiness committee
-an effective e-petitions system was introduced, if achieves over 100,000 can be considered by the BbBC

- an MP can lose their seat if there is a successfull request to recall them
-they can be recalled if..
1.convicted of an offence and recieved a custodial sentence
2. barred from HoC for 10 sitting days
3.convicted of providing false infomation for allowence claims
-petitions triggered by MPs

where: brecon and radnorshire
when: march 2019
who: chris davies
-pleaded guilty to charges brought under the parliamentary standards act 2009
-triggered a recall and lost his seat to lib dem jane dodds