Lecture 2: Parliament as constitutional agent

This lecture addresses the role of the legislature in the governance system of the United Kingdom in terms of legal theory and practical reality. It discusses the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and how that is reconciled with ideas of fundamental rights and a presumptive constitutional order. The structure of the constitution is at its strongest when landmark legislation runs with the grain of, and reinforces, ideas embedded in the common law. What happens when they pull apart? The lecture discusses how parliamentary agency is reflected in statutory interpretation and the concepts of legislative intention and legislative purpose. It examines the interaction of parliamentary authority and the framework created by the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights. It also locates Parliament’s authority in the quasi-federal environment of the United Kingdom created by devolution.