Constitutional and Administrative Law

This chapter examines the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the commonly used shorthand for the legal supremacy attributed to Acts of Parliament within the hierarchy of norms in the UK’s constitutional system. The characteristics of the doctrine are examined, alongside its historical origins and the crucial distinction between the idea of legal sovereignty and that of political or popular sovereignty. We then go on to examine potential limitations on Parliament’s legislative power, before examining and assessing contemporary challenges to the orthodox model of legal sovereignty. While the doctrine of legal sovereignty undoubtedly forms the backbone of the UK’s Constitution, it should be considered alongside the principle of the rule of law and – to a lesser extent – that of separation of powers. Parliamentary sovereignty is also closely aligned with the idea of political accountability. Each of these additional constitutional principles is considered in the chapters which follow.