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Cours en anglais sur les institutions étatiques de deux grands pays de la Common Law : UK et USA
Enseignante : Mme Myriam DEMAN
♦Semaine 3 /12 : lundi 20 et mardi 21 septembre
Section 1: The British constitutional system ( continued)
III – Devolution of power
Since the early 70’s the United Kingdom has engaged into a process of decentralisation. It was speeded up in 1988 the enactment of devolution laws grating more autonomy to its national components and creating an ‘almost’ federal state.
A- The Scotland Act 1998
Scotland now enjoys reinforced autonomy but laws enacted by its Scottish Parliament must not overlap with UK laws and must comply with EU laws and ECHR. The UKSC is in charge of checking their compliance.
The executive body is headed by a First Minister ( to differentiate from the PM of UK) assisted with a Scottish Cabinet including 2 law officers ( solicitor General of Scotland and Lord Advocate). They are in charge of implementing Scottish and UK laws on the territory of Scotland.
B- The Northern Ireland Act 1998
Its autonomy is not as large; its parliament must reflect the double political identity of unionists and nationalist parties. Even its executive body is dual : a First Minister and a Deputy First Minister elected at the same time but each issued from a different party. Many areas are excluded from enactment or under the control of the Secretary of State for Ireland.
C- The Government of Wales Act 1998
The devolution here has been much more progressive and is even more limited. The Welsh assembly( elected) has no legislative power; it can only be consulted by Wesminster on any projected Bill; its power is regulatory
Section 2- The British normative system
I - Sources of law
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Common law can have several meanings: * Common law as unified law versus local laws and customs * or Common law as case law versus Statute law or legislation * or Common law as a branch