Sovereignty in the UK Political System

Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 11.4.1

Under parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament is the most important legal authority in the UK with the power to create or end laws.

Sovereignty has shifted from Parliament to the executive through the use of royal prerogative powers.
In 2018, PM Theresa May ordered airstrikes on Syria in response to the regime's use of chemical weapons without seeking parliamentary approval.
The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated ECHR rights into UK law, allowing courts to issue declarations of incompatibility, though Parliament retains legal sovereignty.

The UK’s membership of the European Union from 1973 to 31 January 2020 moved sovereignty away from Parliament towards the EU.
The 1990 Factortame case saw the European Court of Justice rule that the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 was incompatible with EU law, requiring UK courts to disapply it.
The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated ECHR rights into UK law; courts may issue declarations of incompatibility but cannot strike down Acts of Parliament.

Constitutional reform has moved sovereignty away from Parliament to other UK political institutions.
The devolution of power in 1998 transferred authority to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly, covering areas such as education, health and the environment.
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 established the Supreme Court, transferring the House of Lords' role as the UK's final appeal court to the new body.

Parliament demonstrated its legal sovereignty by passing the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017, triggering Article 50 and beginning the process of leaving the EU.
The UK formally left the EU on 31 January 2020, with the transition period ending in December 2020.
Parliament retains legal sovereignty over the UK's most important powers, including foreign policy, taxation and defence.

Referendums place sovereignty in the hands of UK voters, enabling citizens to make key political decisions.
The 2016 EU referendum, in which over 33.5 million people voted to leave the EU, showed that popular sovereignty can override parliamentary decisions.
Prior to Brexit, the EU could make laws that overruled Acts of Parliament, including directives and regulations.
The executive can restrict parliamentary sovereignty by deploying troops without a parliamentary vote.

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