Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Public Law - Essay Example Conversely, the 1688 settlement between the incoming king and Parliament enshrined the independence of the judiciary under the Bill of Rights, however required them to implement the will of the Sovereign Parliament. However, the supremacy of Parliament itself has been attacked on limits of judicial review4. The 1688 settlement introduced checks and balances in restraint of autocratic power. Theoretically, the Crown, House of Commons and the House of Lords could not pass any legislation to support a course of action unless they were accepted by the other bodies involved. However, the gradual erosion of the power of the House of Lords means that there is effectively no check on the House of Commons5. For example, the executive clearly carries out legislative functions and a prime example is the Law Commission. Additionally, the judiciary obtain their power from the Crown and there is a distinct overlap of functions between the powers, which should be separated for the effective application of the separation of powers and the efficacy of Parliament as check on the executive6. This is further compounded by the fact that the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers are Parliament members and part of the legislature and the Prime Minister is head of the executive. This obfuscation of the theoretical separation of powers has ramifications for the procedure of passing Acts of Parliament. Parliament is essentially the legislative section of the British political system. As such, through the executive Prime Minister and the Cabinet, Parliament sanctions executive sovereignty in a party governmental system. Theoretically Parliament is a policy influencing body, relying on the executive to formulate policy and reacts to it and therefore the party machine reinforces power of the executive to initiate policy. Parliament is not therefore involved in the policy making process and has minor powers of initiation. Whilst government controls Parliament the passing of an