Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law Syllabus

Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law in Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Sources and Principles of the UK Constitution

   4 topics

   • Nature of the UK constitution
     • Unwritten and uncodified character
     • Sources: statute, common law, conventions, royal prerogative
     • Constitutional statutes and the principle of legality
   • Parliamentary sovereignty
     • Dicey's orthodox doctrine
     • Limits and challenges (devolution, HRA, retained EU law)
     • Implied repeal and entrenchment debate
   • Rule of law and separation of powers
     • Formal and substantive conceptions
     • Independence of the judiciary
   • Constitutional conventions
     • Ministerial responsibility (individual and collective)
     • Enforcement and the courts
2. 2

   The Executive, Parliament and Royal Prerogative

   4 topics

   • Royal prerogative powers
     • Categories of prerogative
     • Judicial control (GCHQ, Miller cases)
   • Parliamentary supremacy and legislative process
   • Devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
   • Parliamentary privilege
3. 3

   Judicial Review

   4 topics

   • Standing, amenability and procedural exclusivity
     • Sufficient interest test
     • Public body and public function
   • Grounds of review
     • Illegality and ultra vires
     • Irrationality / Wednesbury unreasonableness
     • Procedural impropriety and natural justice
     • Legitimate expectation
   • Remedies and ouster clauses
   • Time limits and the pre-action protocol
4. 4

   Human Rights and the ECHR

   4 topics

   • Human Rights Act 1998 scheme
     • Sections 3, 4 and 6 mechanisms
     • Declarations of incompatibility
   • Convention rights
     • Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11
     • Absolute, limited and qualified rights
   • Proportionality and margin of appreciation
   • Horizontal effect and victims
5. 5

   EU Law and Retained EU Law

   4 topics

   • Institutions and sources of EU law
   • Supremacy and direct effect
     • Direct and indirect effect
     • State liability (Francovich)
   • Free movement principles overview
   • Retained EU law post-Brexit framework

Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law flashcards for Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS)

23 of 57 cards from the Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What type of constitution does the UK have, and what are its three defining characteristics?

   The UK has an uncodified constitution. It is (1) unwritten/not contained in a single document, (2) flexible (changed by ordinary legislation or convention rather than special amendment procedures), and (3) unitary (sovereignty centralised in the Westminster Parliament) rather than federal.

2. What are the main sources of the UK constitution?

   Acts of Parliament (statute), case law/common law, the royal prerogative, constitutional conventions, works of authority (e.g. Dicey, Bagehot), and (historically) directly applicable EU/retained EU law and international treaties.

3. State A.V. Dicey's classic definition of parliamentary sovereignty.

   Parliament has the right to make or unmake any law whatever; and no person or body is recognised by the law as having the right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.

4. What three principles make up the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty?

   (1) Parliament can legislate on any subject matter (legislative supremacy); (2) no Parliament can bind its successors; (3) no body, including the courts, may question the validity of an Act of Parliament (the enrolled bill rule, per Pickin v British Railways Board).

5. What is the doctrine of implied repeal, and which case illustrates it?

   Where two statutes conflict, the later in time impliedly repeals the earlier to the extent of the inconsistency, because no Parliament can bind its successors. Illustrated by Vauxhall Estates v Liverpool Corporation and Ellen Street Estates v Minister of Health.

6. What is a 'constitutional statute' and which case established that they are exempt from implied repeal?

   A constitutional statute is one that conditions the legal relationship between citizen and state in some general way or enlarges/diminishes fundamental rights (e.g. Magna Carta, Bill of Rights 1689, ECA 1972, HRA 1998, devolution Acts). In Thoburn v Sunderland CC (Metric Martyrs), Laws LJ held such statutes can only be repealed expressly, not by implied repeal.

7. List Dicey's three meanings of the rule of law.

   (1) No punishment except for a distinct breach of law established before ordinary courts (no arbitrary power); (2) equality before the law — all persons, including officials, subject to ordinary law and ordinary courts; (3) the constitution is the result of ordinary law (rights derive from judicial decisions, not an abstract charter).

8. What is the separation of powers, and how does the UK constitution deviate from a strict version of it?

   It divides state power into legislature (makes law), executive (implements law) and judiciary (interprets/applies law) to prevent concentration of power. The UK has significant fusion: the executive (government ministers) sits in and is drawn from the legislature, and historically the Lord Chancellor and Law Lords overlapped roles — though the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created an independent Supreme Court and reformed the Lord Chancellor's role.

9. What is a constitutional convention?

   A non-legal, binding rule of constitutional behaviour — a settled practice considered obligatory by those it concerns — that is not enforceable by the courts but is followed for political/constitutional reasons (e.g. the monarch grants Royal Assent; ministers are individually and collectively responsible to Parliament).

10. State the Jennings test for identifying a constitutional convention.

    Three questions: (1) What are the precedents? (2) Did the actors in the precedents believe they were bound by a rule? (3) Is there a good constitutional reason for the rule? All three must be satisfied.

11. How do conventions differ from laws regarding enforcement, per the Patriation Reference and Miller cases?

    Conventions are not legally enforceable; breach has political, not legal, consequences. Courts may recognise a convention's existence but will not enforce it (Re Resolution to Amend the Constitution; R (Miller) v Secretary of State (No 1) held the Sewel Convention was not justiciable).

12. What is the royal prerogative?

    The residue of discretionary or arbitrary authority legally left in the hands of the Crown (Dicey) — common law powers unique to the Crown, exercised in practice by ministers, e.g. making treaties, declaring war, deploying armed forces, granting pardons, conducting foreign affairs and issuing/withdrawing passports.

13. What is the relationship between statute and prerogative when they conflict (Attorney-General v De Keyser's Royal Hotel)?

    Where statute and prerogative cover the same ground, statute prevails; the prerogative is held in abeyance/suspended for as long as the statute is in force. The Crown must act under the statute, not the prerogative.

14. Are prerogative powers subject to judicial review? Cite the leading authority.

    Yes — in Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service (GCHQ, 1985) the House of Lords held that the exercise of prerogative power is reviewable depending on its subject matter, not its source. Some prerogatives remain non-justiciable (e.g. treaty-making, defence of the realm, mercy historically, dissolution).

15. In R (Miller) v Secretary of State (No 1) [2017], what did the Supreme Court decide about triggering Article 50?

    The Government could not use the prerogative to give notice under Article 50 TEU to leave the EU, because doing so would remove rights enacted by Parliament (the European Communities Act 1972). Prerogative cannot be used to change domestic law or nullify statutory rights; an Act of Parliament was required.

16. What are the three readings of a Bill in each House during the legislative process?

    First reading (formal introduction, no debate); Second reading (debate on general principles); Committee stage and Report stage (detailed scrutiny and amendment); Third reading (final review and vote). The Bill then goes to the other House and finally receives Royal Assent.

17. What do the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 allow?

    They allow a Bill to be passed without the consent of the House of Lords. The Lords can delay most public Bills for up to one year (originally two), and money Bills (certified by the Speaker) for only one month. The Lords cannot block Bills to extend the life of Parliament beyond five years.

18. What is the Salisbury Convention?

    The convention that the House of Lords will not vote down at second reading, or wreck in committee, a Government Bill that was a manifesto commitment of the governing party at the last general election.

19. Distinguish 'reserved powers' and 'conferred/transferred powers' models of devolution.

    Reserved powers model (Scotland and Wales now): the devolved legislature can legislate on anything except matters specifically reserved to Westminster. Conferred powers model (originally Wales, and Northern Ireland's hybrid): the legislature may only act on matters expressly conferred/transferred, with 'reserved' and 'excepted' matters held back.

20. Which Acts established devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

    Scotland Act 1998 (Scottish Parliament), Government of Wales Act 1998/2006 (Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament), and Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Northern Ireland Assembly, following the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement).

21. What is the Sewel Convention and where was it placed on a statutory footing?

    The convention that the UK Parliament will 'not normally' legislate on devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislature. It was placed on a statutory footing in s.28(8) Scotland Act 2016 and s.107(6) Wales Act 2017, but Miller (No 1) held it remains a non-justiciable political convention.

22. What are the two main components of parliamentary privilege, and which instrument protects freedom of speech in Parliament?

    (1) Freedom of speech in parliamentary proceedings; (2) the exclusive cognisance/exclusive right of each House to regulate its own internal affairs and proceedings. Freedom of speech is protected by Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689 — proceedings in Parliament may not be impeached or questioned in any court.

23. What is the test for 'standing' (sufficient interest) in judicial review, and under what statutory provision?

    Under s.31(3) Senior Courts Act 1981, the claimant must have a 'sufficient interest' in the matter to which the application relates. The leading case is R v IRC, ex p National Federation of Self-Employed (Fleet Street Casuals), which treats standing as a mixed question of fact, law and the merits/context, applied generously for public-interest bodies.

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