The definition of parliamentary sovereignty in its basic form simply means that the Parliament is supreme and has unlimited law-making power. The Parliament may enact, amend or repeal any law as it wishes. This concept is practised in countries without a written constitution. For example, United Kingdom.
The concept of Parliamentary Sovereignty is best explained under AV Dicey's 3 postulates
i) Parliament is legally competent to legislate upon any subject matter
ii) No Parliament can bind its successors nor be bound by its predecessors
iii)Once Parliament has legislated, no one can question the validity of the legislation
Application of Dicey's 3 postulates
1st Postulate
- Resignation of King Edward VIII in UK. King Edward wanted to marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson but the marriage would be deemed morally unacceptable because remarriage after divorce was opposed by the Church of England. However, King Edward chose to marry Simpson, thus he would be abdicated. The Parliament then had to enact such law as there were no law regarding the abdication. Therefore, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed. Under the Act, King Edward may no longer be king and the generations after his may no longer be king.
- Burmah Oil Company v Lord Advocate 1965
During the World War, Japan conquered Burmah and the British ran away but they burnt all of the oil rigs to prevent the Japanese from obtaining the oil. After the war, Burmah Oil Co. sued the British government for compensation. The House of Lords decided that the British government has to pay compensation to Burmah Oil Co. because the oil was not destroyed during the war. The government immediately introduced into Parliament the War Damage Bill to nullify the decision. War Damage Act 1965 states that in future, any damage done during the war whether during the actual battle or not during battle, compensation will not be paid. The House of Lords' decision was overturned by the passing of the Act by Parliament.
- In 1991, the British government tried to pass an act known was War Crimes Bill to punish whoever committed crimes during the 2nd World War. Any of the British soldiers who had committed crimes such as rape,molest,etc are to be punished. However, the people opposed and the government couldn't pass the law.
- Septennial Act 1715.
Parliament can also extend or shorten their own 'life' in the Parliament. In the past, the Parliament has done so, extending from 5 years to 7 years, but it is back to 5 years.
- Mortensen v Peters 1906
Those in the United Kingdom who wishes to do fishing must apply for a license from the Fisheries Department. There was also can international law which says that countries can only regulate their own territories up to 10 miles outside their shore. Up to 10 miles from the beach, and after that it is considered as international waters regulated by international laws even though it is under UK territory. In this case, the person was fishing in the sea and he was outside 10 miles without a licence. UK government charged him for fishing without a licence. The UK law did not apply to him because he was not in UK territory and international law didn't ask for any licence. However, the Court held that an Act of Parliament is the highest and will overwrite international law if they want to.
2nd Postulate
- Vauxhall Estates Ltd v Liverpool Corporation
In this case, the government wanted to purchase a piece of land from Vauxhall Estates. The Government needs to pay compensation to purchase the land. At the time, there were two different schemes of compensation from The Housing Act 1925 and the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919. The 1925 Act did not mention anything about the earlier Act. Section 7(1) of the 1919 Act provides that compensation cannot be amended by future Parliaments. The Court decided that the later Act will always prevail over the previous Act. The earlier Act can never bind the future Act. Thus, the Parliament is always supreme.
- Ellen Street Estates v Minister of Health
The facts of this case are similar to Vauxhall Estates'. However, the lawyer in this case tried to circumvent the previous case. It was argued that under normal circumstances, the later Act will always prevail over the earlier Act. However, the circumstance in this case is not normal because the earlier act says that this act will be applicable forever. If that is the situation, then the only way for the later act to repeal the earlier act is by mentioning expressly to repeal the earlier act. The Court held that the lawyer's argument is wrong because the Parliament can always expressly or impliedly repeal an act. There are 2 ways for the Parliament to repeal the earlier laws; by the doctrine of express and implied repeal.
3rd Postulate
- Pickin v British Railways Board
In this case, there was an Act of Parliament that says that for every carriage of train that goes through a person's land, the person will be compensated. The British Railways Board proposed a Private Members Bill into the Parliament to remove such compensation. The Bill went through Parliament and became an Act. Pickin was an owner of a land where carriages of train would go through. After the passing of the Act, he would not receive any more compensation. He brought an action in court saying that certain procedures were not followed. After the 1st and 2nd reading, the Parliament was supposed to inform those who would be affected by the Bill so that they could defend their own rights. Court held that once a Bill becomes an Act, we cannot enquire into the validity of the Act. Even if a Bill did not go through the 2nd or 3rd reading, the Act still cannot be questioned.
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