AQA AS Politics GovP2 09/06/16 Official Thread

could someone please answer this question

Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, identify and explain reasons why judgesmay have been accused of being ‘driven by a human rights agenda

ok ,
A constitution is a set of rules that defines themanner a country is run. The British constitution is said to be an unwrittenconstitution, more accurately it is uncodified as much more of the British constitution is written down, however, theyare not all written down in a single document like a codified constitutionwould require as how the US is, however draws from several different sourcessuch as; statutes laws, common law, conventions, EU laws, authoritativedocuments etc. Statute law, is a written law passed down by parliament forexample the human rights act of 1998 which brought the European convention onhuman rights into British law, conventions is another source of the Britishconstitution, they are unwritten laws considered binding on members of thepolitical community for example the Salisbury convention which made sure thatthe house of lords does not obstruct proposals contained in the governments most recent manifesto.

Has the British constitution become increasinglycodified? Its not the case that the British constitution is being written in asingle document but in fact that more of the constitution is being written downas there is increasingly more written statutes that have great constitutionalimpacts as they are passed by parliament making them more rigid therefore harder to change as parliament has ultimatesovereignty, however you could say the EU laws are exempt from this, thesignificant examples of statute law with great constitutional impacts are suchas the TheHuman Rights Act [1998]which was put inplace under Tony Blair, the Human Rights Act enshrined into constitutional lawbasic human rights that appear as articles of the European Convention of HumanRights, However does allow for changes to be made by the government to theseterms. The Act's terms include: Article 2 (Right to Life), a citizen's right tolife is protected by law. No citizen can be deprived of their lifeintentionally, except in the case of serving a criminal sentence. Article6 (Fair Trial), all citizens are to be tried fairly and equally in a court oflaw, and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Article12 (Marriage and Family), all men and women have the right to marry and start afamily. Anotherexample that could be used is Devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as much of it hasthe character of fundamental law, it has limited the powers of Westminster itcontributes to the case that the British constitution has becomemore codified in the sense that it is more rigid and hard to change because itis derived through referendums, defying this means that the government is againstthe wish of the people.

Another statute that supports that indeed theBritish constitution is becoming more codified is the 2005 constitutionalreform act which separate the judiciary form the executive and legislature bycreating a supreme court court which more adopts the idea of separate powersmostly found n codified constitutions like the US for example , it also tookover the judicial work of the house of lords, establishing the judicial appointments commission. The prospect of a coalition government in 2010 opens up the discussion even more as it led to the coalition agreement for stability and reform and called for constitutional clarification by the cabinet secretary,which demonstrates that indeed the constitution is becoming more codified asthere was a need for ‘clarification’ which without a doubt a codified constitution does establish.

Authoritative documentation has undoubtedly been imbedded into the constitution for example theministerial code first published as questions of procedure for ministers in1992, and now as a set of ‘rules’ for ministers. The cabinet manual alsodemonstrates hugely the change of the British constitutions as traditions arebeing replaced as it set out how the government and civil service relate to themonarchy, devolved administrations and international institutions such as theEU.

In conclusion there is no doubt that theBritish constitution is becoming more codified not in the sense that everythingis written down on piece of authoritative document making it highly entrenchedbut in the sense that there is a growing body of codified statute la, that aremaking the constitution more rigid, however it is still a far cry from a completecodified constitution as laws and be flexibly changed by the sovereignty ofparliament just needing a majority.

Anyone else not revised enough and anything they have revised, they don't understand????? Please someone relate xD I'm panicking, don't know any government

ok ,
A constitution is a set of rules that defines themanner a country is run. The British constitution is said to be an unwrittenconstitution, more accurately it is uncodified as much more of the British constitution is written down, however, theyare not all written down in a single document like a codified constitutionwould require as how the US is, however draws from several different sourcessuch as; statutes laws, common law, conventions, EU laws, authoritativedocuments etc. Statute law, is a written law passed down by parliament forexample the human rights act of 1998 which brought the European convention onhuman rights into British law, conventions is another source of the Britishconstitution, they are unwritten laws considered binding on members of thepolitical community for example the Salisbury convention which made sure thatthe house of lords does not obstruct proposals contained in the governments most recent manifesto.

Has the British constitution become increasinglycodified? Its not the case that the British constitution is being written in asingle document but in fact that more of the constitution is being written downas there is increasingly more written statutes that have great constitutionalimpacts as they are passed by parliament making them more rigid therefore harder to change as parliament has ultimatesovereignty, however you could say the EU laws are exempt from this, thesignificant examples of statute law with great constitutional impacts are suchas the TheHuman Rights Act [1998]which was put inplace under Tony Blair, the Human Rights Act enshrined into constitutional lawbasic human rights that appear as articles of the European Convention of HumanRights, However does allow for changes to be made by the government to theseterms. The Act's terms include: Article 2 (Right to Life), a citizen's right tolife is protected by law. No citizen can be deprived of their lifeintentionally, except in the case of serving a criminal sentence. Article6 (Fair Trial), all citizens are to be tried fairly and equally in a court oflaw, and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Article12 (Marriage and Family), all men and women have the right to marry and start afamily. Anotherexample that could be used is Devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as much of it hasthe character of fundamental law, it has limited the powers of Westminster itcontributes to the case that the British constitution has becomemore codified in the sense that it is more rigid and hard to change because itis derived through referendums, defying this means that the government is againstthe wish of the people.

Another statute that supports that indeed theBritish constitution is becoming more codified is the 2005 constitutionalreform act which separate the judiciary form the executive and legislature bycreating a supreme court court which more adopts the idea of separate powersmostly found n codified constitutions like the US for example , it also tookover the judicial work of the house of lords, establishing the judicial appointments commission. The prospect of a coalition government in 2010 opens up the discussion even more as it led to the coalition agreement for stability and reform and called for constitutional clarification by the cabinet secretary,which demonstrates that indeed the constitution is becoming more codified asthere was a need for ‘clarification’ which without a doubt a codified constitution does establish.

Authoritative documentation has undoubtedly been imbedded into the constitution for example theministerial code first published as questions of procedure for ministers in1992, and now as a set of ‘rules’ for ministers. The cabinet manual alsodemonstrates hugely the change of the British constitutions as traditions arebeing replaced as it set out how the government and civil service relate to themonarchy, devolved administrations and international institutions such as theEU.

In conclusion there is no doubt that theBritish constitution is becoming more codified not in the sense that everythingis written down on piece of authoritative document making it highly entrenchedbut in the sense that there is a growing body of codified statute la, that aremaking the constitution more rigid, however it is still a far cry from a completecodified constitution as laws and be flexibly changed by the sovereignty ofparliament just needing a majority.

For Core Executive, I just can't wrap my head around question about whether the Cabinet makes key policy decisions. Any help?

The content to the essay is brilliant and clear with relevant examples but, make sure you balance your argument. So you strongly mentioned how the British constitution has become increasingly codified but lacked a counter argument as to why the constitution has stayed uncodified. Such as the concept that the uncodified constitution is flexible due the the 2006 Terrorism Act which was implement as a result of the 7/7 bombings in 2005 thus it keeps up to date and current with major issues etc.
In essence, balance out your points. 2 for 2 against!

so what are peoples final prediction for the exam tomorrow? do you think judiciary could come up?

HELP. Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, identify and explain two arguments forhaving common law as part of the constitution.
What reasons are there????????

so what are peoples final prediction for the exam tomorrow? do you think judiciary could come up?

just the pros of judicial activism and review (a bit)

For this question you've only gotta analyse the key roles of Cabinet. It's essentially asking "Is making decisions REALLY one of Cabinets roles"

So you could say yes because one of their roles is to legitimise policy. If Ministers don't have the backing of Cabinet then they have nothing at all which suggests that they do make the key decisions.
E.g. Thatcher's Shop Bill in 1986 didn't go through because of Cabinet not supporting it.

Another role of Cabinet is to act as a debate forum. They debate key policies within their department and as a whole before they actually become policies.
E.g. In 1997-2001 the Northern Ireland Secretary in Cabinet had debated issues and formalised the Good Friday Agreement before it was fully processed.

Another role is to settle disputes. In this sense, by settling disputes between two cabinet ministers, they are, in effect, making key decisions. The disputes are often around policy.
E.g. Gordon Brown and Margaret Beckett disputed over the policy of what the minimum wage should be raised to in 1997. It was resolved by cabinet in Brown's favour.

But then you could say that they dont because:
Recently cabinet are becomming less important:
Blair's bilateral meetings. Short meetings with cabinet and only briefing them on subjects.
E.g. Iraq War was largely debated by Cabinet but they weren't allowed access to any papers or files so did they really have much of a chance to decide?

Also now Cabinet is much less of a debate chamber, more of a rubber stamp. I.e. most policy is decided by the main ministers (Quads) and then sent to Cabinet for 'approval'.
E.g. Decisions about adopting the Euro had been debated by Cabinet a lot, but this meeting seemed more like a chance to just air their grievances as the decision to not change to the Euro had already been done by Blair and his ''club'' of senior ministers (including Tony Blair)

Hope this helped!

Which are??

I like it, especially the intro.
You should mentioned other 'written down' parts such as the cabinet manual (I forgot what that does) xD

Can someone please help me with the judiciary. How has the judiciary become more politicised? It would be really helpful if you included 2 points for and against with examples!