Archive for May 2011
Alternative Dispute Resolution: Interview with Karl Mackie
In this podcast I talk to Karl Mackie, Chief Executive of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). Karl Mackie has been one of the leading figures in the development of alternative ways of resolving disputes, other than by using the courts. These developments are now central to the present Government’s thinking on the future of civil justice.
For more information about CEDR go to http://www.cedr.com/.
To hear the interview go to http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/Mackie.mp3
Fixed-term Parliaments
One of the peculiarities of the British system of Government is that the duration of the Westminster Parliament – i.e. the length of time a Government lasts following a General Election – is not fixed. At present, the maximum duration of a UK Parliament is five years. This is dictated by the Septennial Act 1715 , as amended by the Parliament Act 1911. Under those provisions, if a Parliament is not dissolved in the period up to five years after the day on which it was summoned to meet, it automatically expires.
The formal position is that the prerogative power to dissolve Parliament before the maximum five-year period is exercised by the Queen, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister. In reality, this gives the Prime Minister of the day considerable flexibility on when he or she ‘goes to the country’ – a decision that may well be determined by the state of the public opinion polls.
A consequence of the creation of the Coalition Government has been the introduction of the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill. This provides for fixed days for polls for parliamentary general elections. The polling day for elections would ordinarily be the first Thursday in May every five years. The first such polling day would be on 7th May 2015.
The Prime Minister is given power to alter, by statutory instrument, the polling day for such parliamentary general elections but only to a day not more than two months earlier or later than the scheduled polling day.
The holding of early parliamentary general elections can be triggered either by a vote of no confidence in the Government following which the House of Commons did not endorse a new Government within 14 days, or a vote by at least two-thirds of all MPs in favour of an early election. Where such an early election occurs, the next scheduled election after that will be five years from the previous first Thursday in May.
The Queen’s notional residual power to dissolve Parliament will be abolished.
The Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill has almost completed its passage through Parliament and should receive the Royal Assent by the end of June 2011.
Electoral reform – round 2
So, the referendum on the Alternative Voting system went against those who were arguing for change. But as I have noted before, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 did more than make provision for the AV referendum. It also started a process of reducing the numbers of constituencies to the House of Commons from 650 to 600.
The detailed work on this is being undertaken by the Boundary Commissions – there are four Commissions, for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In the case of England there will be 502 MPs rather than the current 533. The number of electors in each constituency must be no smaller than 72,810 and no larger than 80,473. In other words constituencies will become more equal in size than they are at present.
The Boundary Commission for England has stated: ‘Early indications are that the changes will have to be significant in order to reduce the number of constituencies by 31 and to ensure that they are of equal size. The majority of existing constituencies are likely to be affected.’
Provisional proposals for changes will be published in the autumn 2011. This will be followed by a period of consultation – with final recommendations due by the end of 2013.
You can follow developments at http://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/ which also links to the other boundary commission websites.
Martin Partington: Introduction to the English Legal System 15th ed 2021
Oxford University Press Learning Link Resources
Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System 