UK Constitutional Law (United Kingdom) Assignment

UK Constitutional Law (United Kingdom) - Assignment Example The legislations are however not without issues, as demonstrated in the Jackson v Attorney General [2005] case regarding the legality of the application of Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 to pass the Hunting Act, making it illegal to hunt wild animals using dogs, except in very limited circumstances. 6The case was heard by a Divisional court and later passed on the court of appeal. The court of appeal decision was that constitutional changes could not be passed under the parliament act of 1911. 2The legal issues raised in this case is that any legislation done under the parliament Act of 1911 was not primary, but a subordinate one. The legislative power wielded by the Act was not limited, and thus was open to statutory interpretation. Upon reaching the decision, the judges raised the issue that the Act did not authorize the House of Commons to change or remove any conditions on which the law-making power is based. 6 The judges observed that the 1911 Act was wide to authorize some am endments of the commons law making power, contrary to the 1949 Act, which was observed to be substantial and significant. 6The discussion by the judges was that it was highly unlikely that the House of Commons could contemplate to use the Act to enact a legislation that the House of Lords had not consented to or to abolish the House of Lords completely. 2 If however, the House of Commons had such intentions, then it would be seen as contrary to the intentions of the parliament, when it was enacting such legislations. This gives the opinion that the 1911 act was much ambiguous, and require situational interpretation for its effective applicability. The roots of the two legislations can be traced back to the Budgeting done in the year 1909, which proposed the taxation of lands, with the ideas that a land tax should be introduced to raise budget money. The conservatives, who were mainly the large landowners opposed the proposal and saw its downfall through the House of Lords where they wielded immense power. Consequently, there was a perceived need to limit the powers of the House of Lords, through granting the House of Commons more power, most significantly the power to pass legislations without seeking the approval of the House of Lords. 1The agenda of the refused budget proposal become the bottom-line of the 1910 elections, where the liberals sought to limit the powers of the House of the Lords, when they got back to parliament t after the elections. This was eventually to happen, a milestone that saw the power of the House of Lords, to control and scrutinize all legislations and give their approval before any legislation was passed to a law curtailed. The provisions of Parliament Acts of 1911 underlined the fact that the House of Lords no longer had powers to veto any legislation emanating from the House of Commons. The only exception granted was on the issue of extending the maximum term of the parliament from to over five years. 2 The effect of this was to scrap off the powers of the House of Lords, leaving them with only an authority to delay bills but not to reject