🔒 The Evolving Boundaries: Parliamentary Sovereignty in Modern Britain

Law Sessions With Jennifer Housen’s Podcast

Subscriber-only episode

Parliamentary sovereignty faces significant challenges from EU membership and the Human Rights Act, reshaping the UK's constitutional framework. We explore how these developments have created a "special legal order" that impacts Parliament's traditional supremacy while maintaining its theoretical sovereignty.
• EU membership created a new legal order where community law takes precedence over inconsistent national law
• The European Communities Act 1972 incorporates EU law directly into UK law
• Lord Denning described EU law as an "incoming tide" flowing into UK legal estuaries
• Courts have treated the ECA as a "constitutional statute" not subject to implied repeal
• The Human Rights Act requires courts to interpret UK law compatibly with human rights
• Section 4 of the HRA allows courts to make declarations of incompatibility
• Section 10 enables amendment of incompatible legislation through delegated legislation
• Parliament remains theoretically sovereign but faces practical limitations
• These constitutional developments create potential "constitutional nightmares" if reversed
I urge you to review the EU law session and Human Rights Act lecture for more depth on how these interpretative obligations impact parliamentary sovereignty.
💡⚖️ Let’s learn the law together—one session at a time!

Chapters

1. Introduction to Parliamentary Sovereignty (00:00:00)

2. EU Impact on Parliamentary Supremacy (00:01:58)

3. UK Courts and EU Legal Order (00:06:51)

4. Doctrine of Implied Repeal Challenged (00:09:19)

5. Human Rights Act's Constitutional Impact (00:11:30)

6. Conclusion and Further Study (00:14:09)