Are 8850 Form Legislation 2016-2023

Hey there guys, today's topic is parliamentary sovereignty. It's a really popular topic in both coursework and exams, particularly as an essay question. In this video, we're going to focus on to what extent Parliament can still be considered sovereign. We'll cover the topic generally, but keep that focus in mind. Alright, let's get started. First, we need to consider the concept of sovereignty. For our purposes, there are two types: political sovereignty held by the people, and legal sovereignty held by Parliament. To illustrate the difference, let's look at the example of the poll tax introduced by the Conservative Party in the late 1980s. This tax was passed through an act of Parliament, making it legally sovereign. However, it was incredibly unpopular and led to violent protests, rendering it unenforceable. Eventually, it was repealed and abandoned, leading to the end of Margaret Thatcher's political career. This shows that while Parliament can pass laws, the ultimate check on its power comes from the people. To define parliamentary sovereignty, let's turn to the classical theorist, A.V. Dicey, who gives three key definitions. Firstly, Parliament can do whatever it wants in terms of laws. Secondly, a Parliament cannot be bound by its predecessor or bind its successor. Finally, no one can question an act of Parliament in terms of its validity. Let's consider the idea of unlimited lawmaking power. Sir David Jennings famously said that Parliament could ban smoking on the streets of Paris and turn a man into a woman. While these examples may be extreme and unenforceable, they illustrate the idea that Parliament has the authority to legislate on virtually anything it decides. Acts such as the UK defining its own borders in the Continental Shelf Act 1964 or making retrospective laws like the War Damages Act 1965 showcase the sovereignty of...