ABSTRACT
Is Parliament ‘sovereign’? Before looking at how Parliament operates as a legislature, we should consider the nature of Parliament’s powers. In the past, writers on the constitution would have described these as constituting the ‘sovereignty of Parliament’, but a better modern term might be ‘legislative supremacy’, because to call Parliament sovereign is disputable in several ways: much of government’s authority derives from the prerogative powers of the Crown, for example, rather than from Parliament. When the government decides to commit the UK’s armed forces to military action, it does so formally by exercising a prerogative power, even though there is a recent but robust convention that Parliament’s consent will be necessary. More clearly still, when the Prime Minister sacks or appoints ministers – or, indeed, creates or dismantles government departments – she does so by exercising prerogative powers, with no role for Parliament.
