ABSTRACT
Textbooks on constitutional law often deal with parliamentary sovereignty and European Community law in separate chapters. However, exam questions on sovereignty will now often have explicit EC dimensions, and will, in any event, almost invariably require explanation of the impact of EC law on the traditional doctrine. Therefore, this chapter deals with the traditional view of parliamentary sovereignty and the impact of EC law together. In this edition, we have decided to drop the question on the institutions of the EU, their relationship with each other and the issue of the ‘democratic deficit’, since such issues will nearly always be dealt with on a separate EC course, now that EC law has become a seventh core subject. We have substituted for that question one on the Human Rights Act 1998 and sovereignty, a very topical subject. Thus, four main issues are covered in this chapter: the nature of parliamentary sovereignty and possible legal limitations on it; the impact of Community law on the traditional doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty; the means by which Community law can take effect in the UK (direct and indirect effect); and the impact of the HRA on sovereignty. Questions on sovereignty and on the applicability of EC law in the UK may be of the problem or essay type, though essays are probably more common.
