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Parliamentary sovereignty, '''parliamentary supremacy''', or '''legislative supremacy''' is a concept in Constitutional Law that applies to some Parliamentary Democracies . Under parliamentary sovereignty, a Legislative Body has absolute Sovereignty , meaning it is supreme to all other government institutions (including any Executive or Judicial bodies as they may exist). Furthermore, it implies that the legislative body may change or repeal any prior legislative acts. Parliamentary sovereignty contrasts with most notions of Judicial Review , where a court may overturn legislation deemed Unconstitutional . Specific instances of parliamentary sovereignty exist in the United Kingdom and New Zealand . FINLAND The Constitution Of Finland and its place in the judicial system are unusual in that there is no constitutional court and the supreme court does not have an explicit right to declare a law unconstitutional. In principle, the constitutionality of laws in Finland is verified by a simple vote in the Parliament . However, the Constitutional Law Committee of the parliament reviews any doubtful bills and recommends changes, if needed. In practice, the Constitutional Law Committee fulfils the duties of a constitutional court. A Finnish peculiarity is the possibility of making exceptions to the constitution in ordinary laws that are enacted in the same procedure as constitutional amendments. An example of such a law is the ''State of Preparedness Act'' which gives the Council of State certain exceptional powers in cases of national emergency. As these powers, which correspond to US executive orders, affect constitutional basic rights, the law was enacted in the same manner as a constitutional amendment. However, it can be repealed in the same manner as an ordinary law. In addition to preview by the Constitutional Law Committee, all Finnish courts of law have the obligation to give precedence to the constitution when there is an obvious conflict between the constitution and a regular law. UNITED KINGDOM History The origins of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty are controversial. Some claim that in England it originated in the early 16th Century , when the parliament asserted the supemacy of statute over the Church. Others argue that originated in the 17th and 18th Centuries when Parliament asserted the right to name and depose a Monarch . In 1648 , Henry Herbert , the 2nd Earl Of Pembroke , famously commented while a member of the House Of Lords , that "Parliament can do anything but make a man a woman and a woman a man." Another classic exposition was that of Albert Dicey , in his book ''Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution'' ( 1885 ): "Parliament... has... the right to make or unmake any law whatever; and further, that no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament." The doctrine may be summarized in three points:
After the Act Of Union Of 1707 , there was some ambiguity about whether the principle applied in Scotland . It has been suggested that, prior to the Union, parliamentary sovereignty was a principle only of English Law , not of Scottish Law . Since the Act of Union guaranteed the continuity of the Scottish legal system, some members of the Scottish judiciary maintained the right in theory to rule an Act Of Parliament inadmissible. One clear statement of this from the year 1953 was in Lord Cooper's judgment in the case '' MacCormick V. Lord Advocate ''. The issue was never been tested, as no Scottish court since 1707 has actually attempted to make such a ruling. But it is now clear that the suggestion that the pre-Union Scottish Parliament was not sovereign is false: see Julian Goodare, "The Government of Scotland 1560-1625" (OUP, 2004), esp. ch.3, and "State and Society in Early Modern Scotland" (OUP, 1999), esp. ch.1, confirming Jeffrey Goldsworthy, "The Sovereignty of Parliament, History and Philosophy" (OUP, 1999), 165-69. The doctrine of parliamentary supremacy was upheld by Lord Reid in ''Madzimbamuto v. Lardner-Burke'' {Link without Title} 1 AC 645: "It is often said that it would be unconstitutional for the United Kingdom Parliament to do certain things, meaning that the moral, political and other reasons against doing them are so strong that most people would regard it as highly improper if Parliament did these things. But that does not mean that it is beyond the power of Parliament to do such things. If Parliament chose to do any of them the courts would not hold the Act of Parliament invalid." |
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