Tag: Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011
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Tom Caygill and Jack Simson Caird: Constitutional Groundhog Day: The Post-legislative Review and Repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (hereafter the FTPA) removed the Prime Minister’s power to unilaterally trigger a general election, extinguished the Monarch’s prerogative power to dissolve Parliament and established a system of fixed-term (or semi-fixed) five-year Parliaments. Section 7 of the Act, a government concession following intense scrutiny in the House of Lords, requires the…
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Jeff King: The Prime Minister’s Constitutional Options after the Benn Act: Part II
This is the second of a two-part discussion of this theme. The first part addressed the obligations under the Benn Act and the legal response to attempts to frustrate it; this second part addresses non-confidence motions, resignation and change of Government. Heading numbering is continued from Part 1. 5. Non-confidence procedure under the FTPA –…
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Jeff King: The Prime Minister’s Constitutional Options after the Benn Act: Part I
This is the first of a two-part discussion of this theme. This first part addresses the obligations under the Benn Act and the legal response to attempts to frustrate it; the second part will address non-confidence motions, resignation and change of Government. There has been significant confusion about options open to Government and the opposition…
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Robert Craig: What Could Happen Next If the Government Resigns Rather than Send the Letter to the EU?
This post follows on from a previous piece where I attempted to set out the general rules, and a flowchart, to create a route map in the event of a vote of no confidence. This post seeks to address the narrower question of what could happen if the Prime Minister (‘PM’) refused to send the…
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Sam Fowles: Can the Prime Minister Prorogue Parliament to Deliver a No Deal Brexit?
In recent days certain government backbenchers have proposed a new avenue to deliver a “no deal” Brexit. As Sir Edward Leigh put it: “There are only two choices given the EU won’t change the deal and there’s no chance of parliament passing it. One is cancel Brexit: an intolerable denial of democracy. The…
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John Finnis: Royal Assent – A Reply to Mark Elliott
I agree with Mark Elliott in finding my April 1 argument about prorogation and assent astonishing and monstrous, once the argument’s important premises have been omitted, as he has omitted them. And it is left even more objectionable when he has attributed to it a premise, two assumptions, and a goal each far from my…
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Sam Fowles: Extending Article 50 – Key Legal Issues
With the second defeat of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement, the subsequent vote to reject a “no-deal” Brexit, and the proposed votes today to extend the Art. 50 period, we must consider the legal practicalities of such an extension. Art. 50(2) provides that, once a state has submitted a notification that it intends to leave the…
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David Howarth: How to Change the Government Without Causing a General Election
The Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 removed the ability of Prime Ministers to call early general elections and handed that power to Parliament. Parliament has two options: a motion supported by two thirds of MPs (434 votes) that an early election should take place; or a motion of no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government, in…
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Robert Craig: What Happens Constitutionally If the Draft Withdrawal Agreement Is Voted Down?
Now that a draft withdrawal agreement has been settled with the European Commission, the next step is a ‘meaningful vote’ in the House of Commons pursuant to s 13 European Union Withdrawal Act (‘EUWA’) which I analysed recently on this blog with Gavin Phillipson. This post seeks to explore what the Prime Minister might do…
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Robert Craig: Zombie Prerogatives Should Remain Decently Buried: Replacing the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Part 2)
Editors’ note: This is the second of a two-part contribution. The first part may be found here. Part 2: What should replace the FTPA? A previous post argued that a bare repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (‘FTPA’) would not revive the dissolution prerogative. A new statute with clear words would be required in…