Implied Limitations on Legislative Power in the United Kingdom

18 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2007 Last revised: 20 Nov 2007

See all articles by Anne Twomey

Anne Twomey

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law

Date Written: August 2007

Abstract

The ban on fox-hunting in the United Kingdom provoked large protests and a number of legal challenges. The English Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, while upholding the validity of the Hunting Act 2004 (UK), added to the controversy by accepting that the courts could determine the validity of an Act of Parliament, contrary to the accepted principle of parliamentary supremacy, and that there were implied limitations on the power of the Westminster Parliament to enact laws under the Parliament Act 1911 (UK). For good measure, the courts added warnings about the use of the Parliament Act to push through undemocratic measures. This article examines the judgments and draws parallels with the position in Australia.

Keywords: parliamentary supremacy, Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 (UK), leigslative power, justiciability, parliamentary procedure, abolition of House of Lords, manner and form, constitutional amendment, prolongation of Parliament, parliamentary privilege, use of parliamentary materials

JEL Classification: K10, K30

Suggested Citation

Twomey, Anne, Implied Limitations on Legislative Power in the United Kingdom (August 2007). Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 07/59, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1007343 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1007343

Anne Twomey (Contact Author)

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

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