The place of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the Assignment

The place of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the government of the United Kingdom has changed in recent years and - Assignment Example This concept consists of two cardinal principles. First, Parliament has the power to make or annul any law irrespective of its nature. Second, no other agency, entity, or person has the power or right to override or annul the statutes made by Parliament (Warren, 2008, p. 3). In Britain, the sovereignty of Parliament has been reviewed in domestic and international contexts. As a member of the European Union, Britain had to permit the incursion of the laws of the European Council. This required Britain to review its domestic laws, on a regular basis, so as to ensure that they were compatible with the European Council (EC) law and Britain’s international obligations (Ginsburg, 2003, p. 3). As a result of these developments, the national courts in Britain have to interpret domestic law in the light of EC law. An important constituent of the common law is the fundamental tenet of legislative supremacy. Nevertheless, it would be erroneous to describe it as being inviolable. In fact, there are a number of precedents that inexorably establish that legislative supremacy can be altered by judicial decisions and Acts of Parliament. Consequently, it is imprudent to vehemently assert the supremacy of Parliament (Bradley & Ewing, 2007, p. 78). The inexorable incursions of European integration have significantly diluted the Diceyan principle of legislative supremacy. Thus, the courts, consequent to empowerment by the Human Rights Act 1998, are nearly proximate to a position, whereby they can rescind an Act of Parliament. Moreover, the introduction of the principle of devolution implies that legislation is not the sole preserve of Westminster (Bradley & Ewing, 2007, p. 78). In the UK, an Act of Parliament had precedence over any other international law, under the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty. This was the situation in the UK prior to its becoming a member to the European Union. The enactment of the European Communities Act 1972 changed this situation by making the national laws subordinate to EC law (Fabunmi & Araromi, 2009, p. 198). As such, the European Communities Act 1972 obliged the Member States of the European Union to circumscribe their sovereign rights. This was the outcome of their having to transfer power from their domestic legal system to the EC. Thus, EC law takes precedence over domestic law (Fabunmi & Araromi, 2009, p. 198). Furthermore, every Member State has to implement the provisions of the Treaties and give legal effect to them, without any deviation. Consequently, the UK Parliament is constrained by the European Communities Act to enact laws that are compatible with Community Law. Specifically, section 2(1) of the European Communities Act 1972, precludes Parliament from making laws that are incompatible with Community Law. Furthermore, the provisions of this section make it obligatory for Parliament to give effect to the EC Treaties in its legislation. Thus, EC Law has to be recognised and implemented. Membership of the European Union caused the UK to change its system of weights and measures to the metric system. This was greeted with considerable hostility among the public and culminated in the Thoburn v Sunderland City Council or metric martyrs’ case. In its ruling the Court of Appeal opined that the Parliamentary sovereignty was seriously impacted by the European Communities Act 1972. This specific Act had engendered the harmonisation of the domestic legislation of