{"id":300,"date":"2019-08-05T08:50:02","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T08:50:02","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-08-07T11:24:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T11:24:09","slug":"devolution-sovereignty-parliament-2945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/free-law-essays\/constitutional-law\/devolution-sovereignty-parliament-2945.php","title":{"rendered":"Has Devolution Limited the Sovereignty of Parliament?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is
\nimportant to understand what devolution is and how it was established. In 1997
\n-1998 a successful referendum was held in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
\nwhich evidently led to the \u2018Devolution Acts\u2019. This consisted on the Scotland
\nAct, the Government of Wales Act and the Northern Ireland Act (all in 1998).
\nThese Acts gave the countries \u201ctheir own directly elected representative
\nbodies\u201d.[1]<\/a> As
\nEngland did not take part in this, they established devolved administrations;
\nwhich they delegated certain powers to.1 <\/sup><\/p>\n

A well-known
\ndefinition for devolution was provided by Bogdanor who stated that \u201cDevolution
\ninvolves the transfer of powers from a superior to an inferior political
\nauthority.\u201d2<\/sup> [\u2026] He also states that \u201cDevolution involves the
\ncreation of an elected body [\u2026] it seeks to preserve intact that central
\nfeature of the British constitution.\u201d[2]<\/a>
\nSo, essentially, devolution is the transferral of powers given to other bodies.<\/p>\n

When
\nconsidering if devolution has limited Parliamentary sovereignty, it is
\nessential to look at the effects that it has had on the UK. In the Royal
\nCommission Report[3]<\/a>, it expressed that
\nParliament were sovereign in respect to legislative devolution. The report
\ndemonstrated the idea that as Parliament could repeal the Devolution Acts if
\nwanted, and that they could legislated on all issues, this held them to be
\nsovereign as this still respected the fundamentals of Dicey\u2019s Doctrine.[4]<\/a>
\nAlthough the report states that Parliament are sovereign, it states that before
\nenacting legislation the consent of the region must be given. Theoretically,
\nthis means that Parliaments sovereignty is limited as it needs \u2018the permission\u2019
\nof the region before legislating. Although this can be seen as a limitation, it
\ncan still be argued that Parliament maintain sovereignty as they still have the
\npower legislate above other bodies. <\/p>\n

When
\nlooking into the overall position of Parliament, Westminster retains all of it
\npowers in comparison to the three devolved institutions. This is evident
\nthrough the fact that the institutions are restricted from legislating against
\nthe European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). However, if Westminster wanted
\nto pass an act that opposed to the ECHR, they are entitled to do so. In
\naddition to this, Feldman supported the idea that Parliament were sovereign. He
\nsuggests that the UK constitution has not changed yet the three devolved
\nnations have been changed by devolution.[5]<\/a>
\nHadfield then develops on this concept and stated that \u201cDevolution shows how
\nmuch change is possible and how little is likely for as long as the government
\ndominates a sovereign Parliament.\u201d[6]<\/a>  <\/p>\n

Overall, it can be reasonably be drawn to the conclusion that although in theory Parliament remain sovereign, in reality there are limitations that are in place due to devolution. There are various arguments that devolution has in fact honoured the traditional view that Parliament are sovereign as seen in the Royal Commission Report whereby it states that Parliament can legislate on any matter. However, when looking at the underlying facts, it is also apparent that devolution imposes limitations on Parliament. This is evident through the fact that Parliament has to take into consideration the perspectives of the region. But surely Parliament can pass any law at any time? In relation to this, it can be argued that in some sense there is an \u2018unspoken\u2019 rule that Parliament are not to legislate on devolved matters. This clearly illustrates that devolution has placed some limitation of the sovereignty of Parliament as it restricts certain powers Parliament has. To sum up this argument, it is reasonable to state that devolution has both honoured and limited the sovereignty of Parliament.<\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/h3>\n