Are laws only valid if enacted by a sovereign power?<\/p>\n
Typically, within the UK, legislation must be enacted by a sovereign power i.e. Parliament. However, there are a number of circumstances in which many scholars argue that law is being created without its direct enactment by Parliament. Below are three examples of such situations.<\/p>\n
Scots Law<\/strong><\/p>\n There has been debate as to whether Parliamentary legislation would in fact be able to repeal the Union Act 1707 which provides Scotland with its constitution or \u2018Scots Law\u2019. Although it was conceded by the Lord Advocate in MacCormick v Lord Advocate, that an Act of Parliament could not change\/alter certain parts of the Union Act. It was ultimately decided that domestic courts were not in any position to rule on such matters. The Parliamentary Sovereignty issue that arises here, is that if an Act were created that directly conflicted with fundamental parts of the Act of Union, could it be found to be constitutionally incompatible?<\/p>\n Devolution of Power<\/strong><\/p>\n The UK Parliament has also bestowed power on other bodies to create primary legislation. These bodies are known as devolved powers; an example would include the Welsh Assembly (Government of Wales Act 1998\/2006). Their powers are limited by the Act of Parliament that provides them with their regulatory framework. As mentioned above, there are limits and controls on devolved power, however, as long as the law created remains within the framework provided, direct Parliamentary approval is not needed.<\/p>\n The Human Rights Act 1988<\/strong><\/p>\n The Human Rights Act when introduced by Parliament, permitted the European Convention on Human Rights to directly influence domestic law. When a situation arises in a court where legislation enacted by Parliament is relied upon that contradicts with the ECHR (or precedent set in the ECtHR) a judge is permitted to make a \u2018declaration of incompatibility\u2019. Such a declaration does not allow the direct overruling of the legislation in question, it permits the ECtHR to review the case and potentially declare the legislation incompatible. If declared incompatible it is often the case that Parliament will amend the law in question, as to better suit the precedent set in the ruling.<\/p>\n Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights, as amended)<\/p>\n Government of Wales Act 1998<\/p>\n Government of Wales Act 2006<\/p>\n MacCormick v Lord Advocate 1953 SC 396<\/p>\n Union Act 1707<\/p>\n The Human Rights Act 1988<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three situations in which Parliamentary approval is not necessary to enact primary legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nReferences<\/h2>\n