United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland

(Jallen Mae Mabunga & Zephres Badilla)

Flag of the United Map of the United

Kingdome of Great Kingdome of Great
Britain Britain
and Northern Ireland II. Country Profile
and Northern Ireland
COMPLETE NAME OF THE
COUNTRY:
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN
IRELAND
CAPITAL: LONDON
POPULATION: 2016 estimate –
65.64 million (22nd)
AREA: 93,628 square miles (78th)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: English
Religion: 59.5% Christian, 25.7% Irreligious, 4.4% Muslim, 1.3% Hindu, 0.4%
Jewish, 1.5% other religions, 7.2% unknown
CURRENCY: Pound sterling (GBP, £)

OVERVIEW AND HISTORY

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United

Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago. By the end of the
region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have belonged, in the main, to a
culture termed Insular Celtic, comprising Brythonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland. The
Roman conquest, beginning in 43AD, and the 400-year rule of southern Britain, was
followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers, reducing the Brythonic area
mainly to what was to become Wales, Cornwall and the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde.
Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of
England in the 10th century. Meanwhile, Gaelic-speakers in north-west Britain (with
connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated
from there in the 5th century united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in
the 9th century.

The early modern period saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation
and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country. Wales was fully
incorporated into the Kingdom of England, and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in
personal union with the English crown. In what was to become Northern Ireland, the
lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and given to
Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. In 1603, the kingdoms of England,
Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI, King of Scots,
inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to
London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its
separate political, legal, and religious institutions.

In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms were involved in a series of

connected wars including the English Civil War which led to the temporary overthrow of
the monarchy and the establishment of the short-lived unitary republic of the
Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. During the 17th and 18th centuries,
British sailors were involved in acts of piracy privateering, attacking and stealing from
ships off the coast of Europe and the Caribbean. The State House in St. George's,
Bermuda. Settled in 1612, the town is the oldest continuously-inhabited English town in
the New World. Although the monarchy was restored, the Interregnum ensured along
with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights 1689, and the
Claim of Right Act 1689 that, unlike much of the rest of Europe, royal absolutism would
not prevail, and a professed Catholic could never accede to the throne. The British
constitution would develop based on constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary
system. With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly
encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of naval power
(and the interest in voyages of discovery) led to the acquisition and settlement of
overseas colonies, particularly in North America. Though previous attempts at uniting
the two kingdoms within Great Britain in 1606, 1667, and 1689 had proved
unsuccessful, the attempt initiated in 1705 led to the Treaty of Union of 1706 being
agreed and ratified by both parliaments.

TREATY OF UNION
 On 1 May 1707, the United Kingdom of Great Britain came into being, the result
of Acts of Union being passed by the parliaments of England and Scotland to ratify the
1706 Treaty of Union and so unite the two kingdoms.

In the 18th century, cabinet government developed under Robert Walpole, in

practice the first prime minister around 1721–1742. A series of Jacobite Uprisings
sought to remove the Protestant House of Hanover from the British throne and restore
the Catholic House of Stuart. The Jacobite’s were finally defeated at the Battle of
Culloden in 1746, after which the Scottish Highlanders were brutally suppressed. The
British colonies in North America that broke away from Britain in the American War of
Independence became the United States of America, recognized by Britain in 1783.
British imperial ambition turned towards Asia, particularly to India.

Union with Ireland

The term "United Kingdom" became official in 1801 when the parliaments of
Britain and Ireland each passed an Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms and creating
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Battle of Waterloo, 1815, marked
the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the start of Pax Britannica

In the early 19th century, the British-led Industrial Revolution began to

transform the country. Gradually political power shifted away from the old Tory and
Whig landowning classes towards the new industrialists. An alliance of merchants and
industrialists with the Whigs would lead to a new party, the Liberals, with an ideology of
free trade and laissez-faire. In 1832 Parliament passed the Great Reform Act, which
began the transfer of political power from the aristocracy to the middle classes. In the
countryside, enclosure of the land was driving small farmers out. Towns and cities
began to swell with a new urban working class. Few ordinary workers had the vote, and
they created their own organizations in the form of trade unions.

After the defeat of France at the end of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
around 1792–1815, Great Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of
the 19th century with London the largest city in the world from about 1830.
Unchallenged at sea, British dominance was later described as Pax Britannica "British
Peace", a period of relative peace among the Great Powers which is around 1815–1914
during which the British Empire became the global hegemon and adopted the role of
global policeman. By the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Britain was described as
the "workshop of the world".

The British Empire was expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and
many other territories throughout the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over
its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively
controlled the economies of many regions, such as Asia and Latin America.
Domestically, political attitudes favored free trade and laissez-faire policies and a
gradual widening of the voting franchise. During the century, the population increased at
a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanization, causing significant social and
economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the
Conservative Party under Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt,
South Africa, and elsewhere. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-
governing dominions. After the turn of the century, Britain's industrial dominance was
challenged by Germany and the United States.

Social reform and home rule for Ireland were important domestic issues after
1900. The Labor Party emerged from an alliance of trade unions and small socialist
groups in 1900, and suffragettes campaigned for women's right to vote before 1914.
Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme more than 885,000
British soldiers died on the battlefields of the First World War, fought alongside France,
Russia and after 1917 the United States, against Germany and its allies in the First
World War around 1914–1918. British armed forces were engaged across much of the
British Empire and in several regions of Europe, particularly on the Western front. The
high fatalities of trench warfare caused the loss of much of a generation of men, with
lasting social effects in the nation and a great disruption in the social order.

After the war, Britain received the League of Nations mandate over many
former German and Ottoman colonies. The British Empire reached its greatest extent,
covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population. However,
Britain had suffered 2.5 million casualties and finished the war with a huge national
debt.

Irish independence
 The rise of Irish nationalism, and disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish
Home Rule, led eventually to the partition of the island in 1921. The Irish Free State
became independent, initially with Dominion status in 1922, and unambiguously
independent in 1931. Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom. A wave of
strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the General Strike of 1926. Britain had still not
recovered from the effects of the war when the Great Depression around 1929–1932
occurred. This led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial
areas, as well as political and social unrest in the 1930s, with rising membership in
communist and socialist parties. A coalition government was formed in 1931.

Britain entered the Second World War by declaring war on Nazi Germany in
1939, after Germany had invaded Poland. Winston Churchill became prime minister and
head of a coalition government in 1940. Despite the defeat of its European allies in the
first year of the war, Britain and its Empire continued the fight alone against Germany.
In 1940, the Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe in a struggle for control of
the skies in the Battle of Britain. Urban areas suffered heavy bombing during the Blitz.
There were also eventual hard-fought victories in the Battle of the Atlantic, the North
Africa campaign and the Burma campaign. British forces played an important role in the
Normandy landings of 1944, achieved with its United States ally.

The Second World War

After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the UK was one of the Big Four
powers along with the U.S., the Soviet Union, and China who met to plan the post-war
world it was an original signatory to the Declaration of the United Nations. The UK
became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and
worked closely with the United States to establish the IMF, World Bank and NATO.
However, the war left the UK severely weakened and depending financially on the
Marshall Plan. In the immediate post-war years, the Labor government initiated a radical
program of reforms, which had a significant effect on British society in the following
decades. Major industries and public utilities were nationalized, a welfare state was
established, and a comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare system, the National
Health Service, was created. The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with
Britain's now much-diminished economic position, so that a policy of decolonization was
unavoidable. Independence was granted to India and Pakistan in 1947. Over the next
three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence. Many
became members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
 The UK was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal with its
first atomic bomb test in 1952, but the new post-war limits of Britain's international role
were illustrated by the Suez Crisis of 1956. The international spread of the English
language ensured the continuing international influence of its literature and culture. As a
result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the government encouraged immigration
from Commonwealth countries. In the following decades, the UK became a more multi-
ethnic society than before. Despite rising living standards in the late 1950s and 1960s,
the UK's economic performance was less successful than many of its main competitors
such as France, West Germany and Japan.

Leaders of member states of the European Union in 2007. The UK entered the
European Economic Community in 1973. In a referendum held in 1975, 67% of voters
voted to remain in the EEC, but 52% voted to leave the EU in 2016. In the decade-long
process of European integration, the UK was a founding member of the alliance called
the Western European Union, established with the London and Paris Conferences in
1954. In 1960 the UK was one of the seven founding members of the European Free
Trade Association (EFTA), but in 1973 it left to join the European Communities (EC).
When the EC became the European Union (EU) in 1992, the UK was one of the 12
founding members. The Treaty of Lisbon was signed in 2007, which forms the
constitutional basis of the European Union since then.

From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary
violence (sometimes affecting other parts of the UK) conventionally known as the
Troubles. It is usually considered to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday"
Agreement of 1998. Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and
industrial strife in the 1970s, the Conservative government of the 1980s under Margaret
Thatcher initiated a radical policy of monetarism, deregulation, particularly of the
financial sector for example, Big Bang in 1986 and labor markets, the sale of state-
owned company’s privatization, and the withdrawal of subsidies to others. This resulted
in high unemployment and social unrest, but ultimately also economic growth,
particularly in the services sector. From 1984, the economy was helped by the inflow of
substantial North Sea oil revenues.

Around the end of the 20th century there were major changes to the
governance of the UK with the establishment of devolved administrations for Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. The statutory incorporation followed acceptance of the
European Convention on Human Rights. The UK is still a key global player
diplomatically and militarily. It plays leading roles in the EU, UN and NATO. However,
controversy surrounds some of Britain's overseas military deployments, particularly in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
 The 2008 global financial crisis severely affected the UK economy. The
coalition government of 2010 introduced austerity measures intended to tackle the
substantial public deficits which resulted. In 2014 the Scottish Government held a
referendum on Scottish independence, with 55.3% of voters rejecting the independence
proposal and opting to remain within the United Kingdom. In 2016, 51.9% of voters in
the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The legal process of leaving
the EU began on 29 March 2017, with the UK's invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty of
Lisbon, formally notifying the EU of the UK's intention to leave. The article stipulates that
the negotiations to leave will last at least two years. The UK remains a full member of
the EU during this time.

United Kingdom

Form of Government

The United Kingdom is governed by a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary

democracy and a Unitary government by which the center government is in Britain. The
head of state is the monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) while the head of
government is the Prime Minister (currently Theresa May, Home Secretary). The UK
has an unwritten constitution. The constitution is based on legislation and precedent, as
well as European Union laws. The three branches of government are the legislative,
executive, and judicial, though they are not always clearly separated, as there is no
formal separation of powers or checks in balances.

Legislation is passed in the UK Parliament at Westminster, in London. The

legislature is divided into two separate houses:
“The House of Commons and the House of Lords.”
The House of Lords is appointed, and maintains very little actual legislative power.
The House of Commons is elected, and is where actual sovereign power resides.
The most powerful office in the government is that of the Prime Minister, who is created
the head of government by being the leader of the majority party in the House of
Commons. The Prime Minister creates a cabinet from Members of Parliament, and
generally must maintain their support to fully exercise power. The majority party in
Parliament supports the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The highest judicial court in the UK
is the Supreme Court, which was created in 2009 and replaced the Appellate
Committee of the House of Lords.
The Crown

The legal embodiment of executive, legislative and judicial governance in the UK,
currently Monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, The head of the state and the sovereign. The
crown takes little part in the government and remains neutral in political affairs,
however, the legal authority of the state that is vested in the sovereign, known as The
Crown, remains the source of the executive power exercised by the government.
The Crown has explicit statutory authority, possesses a body of powers known
as the Royal Prerogative, which can be used for many purposes, from the issue or
withdrawal of passports to declaration of war. By long-standing custom, most of these
powers are delegated from the sovereign to various ministers or other officers of the
Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament.

Royal Prerogative powers:

Domestic powers:
 The power to appoint a prime minister. By convention she appoints the individual
most likely to can command the confidence of a majority in the House of
Commons.
 The power to dismiss and appoint other ministers (this power is exercised by the
monarch on the advice of the prime minister)
 The power to assent to and enact laws by giving Royal Assent to Bills passed by
both Houses of Parliament, which is required in order for a law to make it into the
Statute Books, as an Act of Parliament. This is exercised by the monarch, who
also theoretically has the power to refuse assent, although no monarch has
refused assent to a bill passed by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708.
 The power to give and to issue commissions to commissioned officers in the
Armed Forces.
 The power to command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom. This power is
exercised by the Defense Council in the Queen's name.
 The power to appoint members to Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council.
 The power to issue and to suspend, cancel, recall, impound, withdraw or revoke
British passports and the general power to provide or deny British passport
facilities to British citizens and British nationals. This is exercised by the Home
Secretary.
 The Royal Prerogative of mercy to issue pardon in the highest level.
 The power to grant and to cancel and annul honors.
 The power to create corporations by Royal Charter, and to amend, replace and
revoke existing charters.
Foreign powers:
 The power to ratify and make treaties.
 The power to declare war and conclude peace with other nations.
 The power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas.
 The power to recognize states.
 The power to credit and receive diplomats.

Appointment:
The monarchy is hereditary following legislative elections.

Executive Branch

Prime Minister (Theresa May, Conservative Party).

Prime Minister is the most senior minister in the Cabinet. Simply choses the
ministers who run Government departments and chairs in the Cabinet with the approval
of the crown. The head of the government. Appointed by the queen for 5 years and
there is no term limit.

The Cabinet

The Cabinet, appointed by the Prime Minister, is the collective decision-making

body of Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime
Minister and 21 cabinet ministers, the most senior of the government ministers.

Consists of Secretaries of State from the various government departments, the

Lord High Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the President of the Board of Trade, the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Ministers without portfolio. Cabinet meetings
are typically held weekly, while Parliament is in session.

The Cabinet is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the
Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory. A body which has
legislative, judicial and executive functions, and whose large membership includes
members of the opposition. Its decisions are generally implemented either under the
existing powers of individual government departments, or by Orders in Council.
 The Privy Council (Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council)

 Formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and
corporately it issues executive instruments known as Orders in Council, which among
other powers enact Acts of Parliament.

The Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly
used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the
issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies,
and city or borough status to local authorities. Otherwise, the Privy Council's powers
have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Appointed by her majesty on the advice of her majesty’s government. The
majority of appointees are senior politicians, including Ministers of the Crown, the few
most senior figures of Loyal Opposition, the Parliamentary leader of the third-largest
party, a couple of the most senior figures in the devolved British governments and
senior politicians from Commonwealth countries, includes a very few members of the
Royal Family usually the consort and heir apparent only, a few dozen judges from
British and Commonwealth countries, a few clergy and a small number of senior civil
servants.

Devolved National Government

The Scottish Government is responsible for all issues that are not explicitly
reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament at Westminster, by the Scotland Act;
including NHS Scotland, education, justice, rural affairs, and transport. It manages an
annual budget of more than £25 billion. The government is led by the First Minister,
assisted by various Ministers with individual portfolios and remits. The Scottish
Parliament nominates a Member to be appointed as First Minister by the Queen. The
First Minister then appoints their Ministers now known as Cabinet Secretaries and junior
Ministers, subject to approval by the Parliament. The First Minister, the Ministers but not
junior ministers, the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are the Members of the
'Scottish Executive', as set out in the Scotland Act 1998. They are collectively known as
"the Scottish Ministers".

The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more
limited powers than those devolved to Scotland, although following the passing of the
Government of Wales Act 2006 and the Welsh devolution referendum, 2011, the
Assembly can now legislate in some areas through an Act of the National Assembly for
Wales. Following the 2011 election, Welsh Labor held exactly half of the seats in the
Assembly, falling just short of an overall majority. A Welsh Labor Government was
subsequently formed headed by Carwyn Jones.

The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have powers closer to those
already devolved to Scotland. The Northern Ireland Executive is led by a diarchy.

Ministerial departments

- Attorney General's Office

- Cabinet Office
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Department for Education
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for Exiting the European Union
- Department for International Development
- Department for International Trade
- Department for Transport
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Her Majesty's Treasury
- Home Office
- Ministry of Defense
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Ministry of Justice
- Northern Ireland Office
- Office of the Advocate General for Scotland
- Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
- Office of the Leader of the House of Lords
- Scotland Office
- UK Export Finance
- Wales Office

Non-ministerial departments
 - Charity Commission for England and Wales
- Competition and Markets Authority
- Crown Prosecution Service
- Food Standards Agency
- Forestry Commission
- Government Actuary's Department
- Government Legal Department
- Her Majesty's Land Registry
- Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
- National Crime Agency
- National Savings and Investments
- Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
- Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
- Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
- Office of Rail and Road
- Ordnance Survey
- Serious Fraud Office
- Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- The National Archives
- UK Statistics Authority
- UK Trade & Investment
- Water Services Regulation Authority

Legislatures

The Parliament “Responsible Parliament”

A bi-cameral parliament consist of two chambers the House of Lords as upper

house and the House of Commons as lower house. The House of Lords has less
legislative power and the House of Commons is the center of the legislative power of
the parliament.

House of Lords

The upper house of the UK parliament, it is independent from and complements

the work of the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and
shaping laws and checking and challenging the work of the government. The number of
members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 793 sitting Lords. The
House of Lords, through the Law Lords, acted as the final court of appeal in the United
Kingdom judicial system. House of Lords members should serve a nonrenewable term
for 12 – 15 years of time, a member of the parliament can become a house of lords
once.

3 main roles:
o Making Laws
o In depth consideration of public policy
o Holding government to account

Qualification:
 Must be at the age of 21 and above.
 Only United Kingdom, Irish and Commonwealth citizens may sit in the
House of Lords
 Must be Natural Born Subject
 92 hereditary peeresses is eligible for appointment to the upper house.
 Must have Secondary educational attainment

Appointment:
- Hereditary peerage
- Election by the house of common.

House of Commons

The lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Elected body
consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are
elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until
Parliament is dissolved. 5 years of term. Bills of importance generally originate in the
House of Commons. The supremacy of the Commons in legislative matters is assured
by the Parliament Acts, under which certain types of bills may be presented to the
Queen for Royal Assent without the consent of the House of Lords
.
Only the House of Commons may originate bills concerning taxation or Supply.
Furthermore, supply bills passed by the House of Commons are immune to
amendments in the House of Lords. In addition, the House of Lords is barred from
amending a bill to insert a taxation or supply-related provision, but the House of
Commons often waives its privileges and allows the Lords to make amendments with
financial implications. Under a separate convention, known as the Salisbury
Convention, the House of Lords does not seek to oppose legislation promised in the
Government's election manifesto. Hence, as the power of the House of Lords has been
severely curtailed by statute and by practice, the House of Commons is clearly the most
powerful branch of Parliament.

Qualification:
 Must be aged at least 18yrs old
 Must be a citizen of the United Kingdom, of a British overseas territory, of
the Republic of Ireland, or of a member state of the Commonwealth of
Nations.
 Natural-born citizen
 Must have Secondary educational attainment

Elections:
- Each Member of Parliament has represented a single constituency
- Divided into 650 constituencies, with 533 in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in
Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland.
- General elections occur whenever Parliament is dissolved (5 years).
- Elected for 5 years of term.
- There is no limit in how many terms to run.

Judicial Department

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The supreme court in all matters under English and Welsh law, Northern Ireland
law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and the highest appellate court in
the United Kingdom, although the High Court of Justiciary remains the court of last
resort for criminal law in Scotland.

The Supreme Court also has jurisdiction to resolve disputes relating to devolution
in the United Kingdom and concerning the legal powers of the three devolved
governments or laws made by the devolved legislatures.
 The Lord Chief Justice is the head of the Supreme Court, became responsible for
some 400 statutory functions, which were previously the responsibility of the Lord
Chancellor.

The Lord Chief Justice has an 11 Judicial Executive Board to help provide
judicial direction and a Judges’ Council, which is representative of all levels of the
judiciary.

Finally, judges also have access to administrative support within the court
environment, whether this is their own allocated clerk, court staff, or legal advisers for
magistrates.

Appointment:

o Appointed by Queen through the Judicial Appointment Commission

o Basis of merit, and on the recommendation of the Judicial
Appointments Commission

Qualifications:

- Age limits for appointment are all but abolished but the retirement age was
restored to 70
- At least ten years' qualified experience in practice or served for at least
three years in one of many judicial posts.
- All are former barristers or solicitors.
Structure:
Separation of power

Separation of executive and legislature (Integration)

- The Prime Minister is usually both head of the executive branch and
leader of the majority party in the legislature, which gives the executive
branch much more freedom of action than a president usually enjoys in a
presidential system of government.
- Additionally, Parliament may delegate law-making powers to the
Government through powers to draft secondary or delegated legislation.
This can liberate Parliament from the need to scrutinize small technical
details, while maintaining the safeguard of Parliamentary approval.
- In this way, in the UK legislature and executive are far from separate
powers. On the other hand, the executive presence in Parliament may
actually facilitate scrutiny provided that the necessary procedures are in
place.

Separation of legislature and judiciary

- Judges in the higher courts have life tenure, which protects their
independence, and a resolution of both Houses is needed to remove a
High Court judge from office, while judges at the lower levels can only be
removed after disciplinary proceedings. Judges are also protected by
immunity from legal action in relation to their judicial function and absolute
privilege in relation to court proceeding.
- Constitutionally, judges are subordinate to Parliament and may not
challenge the validity of Acts of Parliament. However, there remains some
leeway for judges to interpret statute.
- The cooperation between judiciary and legislature has been described as
a “constitutional partnership” as Parliament may give tacit approval to
judge-made law by not interfering with it.

Separation of executive and judiciary

- The judicial scrutiny function with regard to the executive is to ensure that
any delegated legislation is consistent with the scope of power granted by
Parliament and to ensure the legality of government action and the actions
of other public bodies.
 - On the application of an individual, judicial review is a procedure through
which the courts may question lawfulness of actions by public bodies. This
requires judges to be independent of government and Parliamentary
influence.

Ideology:
- Liberalism, conservatism and socialism core values and social policy
dominated the political field and especially to the policy making of the
parliament.

Culture:
- The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the UK's history as a
developed island country, a liberal democracy and a major power, its
predominantly Christian religious life and its composition of four countries
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each of which has distinct
customs, cultures and symbolism.
- The wider culture of Europe has also influenced British culture, and
Humanism, Protestantism and representative democracy developed from
broader Western culture.