Parliamentary Sovereignty
So the UK supreme court by the unanimous decision of eleven judges has decided that the current attempted prorogation of Parliament is null and void, and in fact, therefore, never happened. That the justices in the Supreme Court are prepared to be so entirely categorical in their conclusions is surprising, perhaps unique in legal history. Legal judgements are often hedged about with caveats and provisos so that appellants might feel a crumb of comfort, but, if the summary of the findings by Lady Hale is indicative, there is precious room for manoeuvre here. Parliament is in session.
I feel comforted that the Scottish Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session have been supported and endorsed in their findings. And now, perhaps, we can get back to the business of government.
Personally, I feel that our Queen, when asked to prorogue Parliament, would have been within her rights to tell our current PM to go back to his cronies and do his job within the constraints of Parliamentary procedure, fight his corner as he was paid to do, and not to lean on her to further his agendas. That our sovereign may be called upon to exercise her prerogative only once in a lifetime, and the fact that she almost invariably acts on the advice of her ministers, does not mean that, in such rare instances as this, her hands are tied. Prorogation is part of the Royal Prerogative, issuing from the Crown, and to whom we all look to keep a watchful eye on the relationships among the Houses of Commons and Lords, the Executive and the Judiciary. The Queen is not simply in place to follow orders or the expectations of her politicians. Without the Queen’s prerogative, what is her role in a constitutional monarchy?
It will be interesting to see what, if any, constitutional changes arise from this judgement. That the judges have acted quickly, carefully and in the interests of our democratic processes is most heartening. And we should all be mightily relieved that, at the last resort, a respect for law has prevailed. Even those who have sought to undermine Parliamentary sovereignty will have occasion to be grateful with this judgement.
Thanks for reading.
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September 24, 2019 @ 4:26 pm
a fascinating and really rather thrilling day. I am agog! to see what comes next.
September 24, 2019 @ 8:23 pm
Me too. We are all agog here, and delighted that finally, some commonsense has prevailed. Perhaps there will be a new general election, perhaps a new referendum on the terms of our departure from the EU. But whatever happens, I now feel at last some hope that business will be conducted within the law. 🙂 That is a major result, indeed. Thanks for your comments.
September 24, 2019 @ 9:44 pm
Very interesting, Fran. I wondered about the Queen’s role in all this. Did she have the right to say no? I don’t know what the law says about her duty, but I would like to think she does have that right, but then maybe she sympathised?
September 25, 2019 @ 11:18 am
Hi Val, thanks for popping in to comment. I think we all wonder at the Queen’s role in this. As another friend of mine comments, it’s the first time, probably ever, that our Sovereign has been seriously embarrassed by two Conservative PMs within days of each other – Cameron with his memoirs and Boris with his attempts at prorogation.
The Queen undoubtedly has a role to play in maintaining the dignity of “her” government. It’s “her” government because she is Head of State. That she is expected to take the advice of her ministers cannot be the end of the matter, because, as I say, I think she would have been within her rights to tell Boris, “Go away and fight your corner, and stop using me to prop up your political ambitions.” It is beneath the Queen’s dignity to be used by politicians. Members of Parliament who added themselves to the class action against the government include John Major, who is, no doubt, incensed that Boris would have such a nerve as to take unto himself powers that his Prime Ministerial predecessors could only dream about!
We are in the startling position that a Conservative Government which insists it has to implement Brexit (because the will of the people is that we voted to leave Europe) would force through the Brexit using illegal means and ignoring the will of the people – Parliamentarians being their elected representatives.
The Queen may sympathise, but she does not have a view on these matters, except perhaps, that she is the Queen of more than one country. She has to stay above politics. 🙂 ♥
September 26, 2019 @ 10:19 pm
Hear, hear for the UK Supreme Court! America should take a lesson from them. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court has been overwhelmed by appointments from the hard-right Conservative Republicans. They fail to uphold our written constitution and laws passed by Congress.
September 27, 2019 @ 12:07 pm
Hi Bill! Thank you so much for popping in to read and comment. Wonderful! I often wonder at the parallels between our situation and that pertaining in your good nation. We shall see what happens to POTUS, and watch with avid interest, all the many labyrinthine complexities. :-)) Take care, and enjoy your weekend. Xxx