Deck 2: Sources of the Constitution

Question 1

Statutes, judicial decisions and the law and custom of Parliament are the ONLY sources upon which the UK constitution is based.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Which of these is not a year in which the convention of collective ministerial responsibility was relaxed or 'waived'?

A) 1932
B) 1975
C) 1998
D) 2010

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following are NOT contained in the provisions of the Bill of Rights 1689?

A) Free Parliamentary elections
B) Parliamentary freedom of speech
C) The right to privacy
D) Parliament needs to meet more than 50 times a year

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following are constitutional conventions?

A) The granting of the Royal Assent
B) The Government must resign after a vote of no confidence
C) The Prime Minister should be a Member of the House of Commons
D) Collective ministerial responsibility

Question 5

Using examples to support your answer, evaluate the difficulties inherent in determining whether or not an Act of Parliament is 'constitutional' in nature.

Question 6

Define constitutional conventions and outline how they form part of the UK's unwritten constitution.

Question 7

Explain how conventions can be distinguished from 'habits', 'understandings', 'practices' and laws.

Question 8

Explain how the convention of ministerial responsibility can be 'waived' in certain circumstances and why this is important.

Question 9

Evaluate whether or not the monarch's withholding of the Royal Assent would be a breach of convention.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT one of the words used by AC Dicey in 1885 to describe constitutional conventions?

A) Practices
B) Agreements
C) Understandings
D) Habits

Question 11

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) A UK court will not question the validity of an Act of Parliament
B) A UK court will not question the validity of a piece of secondary, or delegated, legislation
C) Intra vires means 'within the powers of'
D) A UK court will question the validity of acts of an organisation which has been given powers by an Act of Parliament

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a change enacted by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005?

A) Reform of the membership of the House of Lords
B) The ability of the House of Lords to select its own Speaker
C) Reform of the role of Lord Chancellor
D) The establishment of the Supreme Court

Question 13

There is a definitive consensus as to which rules in the UK system are 'constitutional' and which are not.

Question 14

The Act of Settlement of 1700 ended the Monarch's power to dismiss judges at will.

Question 15

The provisions of the Bill of Rights 1689 cannot be repealed.

Question 16

The European Community should now be referred to as the European Union.

Question 17

Royal Prerogative powers are based in statute.

Question 18

The Bill of Rights 1689 states that the leader of the party with the highest majority in the House of Commons will become Prime Minister.

Question 19

The case of Attorney General v Jonathan Cape Ltd (1976) illustrates that, while courts cannot adjudicate on conventions, they will recognise them.

Question 20

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) The Human Rights Act was passed in 1998
B) Prior to the Human Rights Act coming into force only the House of Lords could hear cases based on human rights principles
C) Since the Human Rights Act came into force UK courts can now rule on and uphold the rights contained in the ECHR
D) The European Court of Human Rights is based in Strasbourg

Question 21

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of codifying constitutional conventions.