Thoburn v Sunderland City Council, 2002 EWHC 195
Citation:Thoburn v Sunderland City Council, 2002 EWHC 195
Rule of thumb: Does Britain have an unwritten constitution? No, Britain no longer has an unwritten constitution, and the Supremacy of Parliament is no longer absolute – legislation cannot be contrary to the constitutional Acts within Britain – Magna Carta 1297, the Bill of Rights 1689 incorporated in the Acts of Union 1707, and the ECHR 1953/HRA 1998.
Judgment:
- ‘We should recognise a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament: as it were “ordinary” statutes and “constitutional” statutes. The two categories must be distinguished on a principled basis. In my opinion a constitutional statute is one which (a) conditions the legal relationship between citizen and State in some general, overarching manner, or (b) enlarges or diminishes the scope of what we would now regard as fundamental constitutional rights... The special status of constitutional statues follows the special status of constitutional rights. Examples are Magna Carta 1297, the Bill of Rights 1689, the Union with Scotland Act 1706... the Human Rights Act 1998... The European Communities Act clearly belongs in this family...’ Laws LJ
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.