Public Law Assignment 4

Name: Muhammad Abdul Rehman

Student Id: 214446
CertHe Common Law

Question: Consider the extent to which collective responsibility can still be

considered a cornerstone of cabinet government

This essay requires an analysis of the extent to which collective responsibility

can still be considered a cornerstone of cabinet government. Collective
responsibilty plays a massive role in a cabinet government. It is a cornerstone, a
building block on which everything else is built upon. It has a lot of benefits and
some drawbacks. The benefits include that it helps avoid contradictions, ensuring
loyalty and accountability and achieving agreements. It is essential for a cabinet
to function normally.

Collective responsibility also know as Collective Ministerial responsibility is is a

constitutional convention that requires cabinet members to officially support all
governmental decisions taken in Cabinet, even if they do not agree with them
privately. It is a constitutional convention that has existed since the 18th century.
The principle of collective responsibility has two main components. First,
ministers should be able to have honest and open conversations before coming
to a collective decision, and these decisions should remain confidential. Second,
once a position has been agreed upon in cabinet, all ministers are expected to
follow as well as vote with the government for the position. This helps in
maintaining a united front for the cabinet and helps with development of the law.

The concept of collective responsibility is very important but it also has benefits
and drawbacks. One of its biggest benefit is that helps avoid the contradictions
between the Council of Ministers and the cabinet. Another one being that it
benefits by ensuring political loyalty and the party of the Prime Minister. It also
helps with policy making and policy decision as well as the passing legislation. It
helps achieving an agreement more quickly.
Collective responsibility has a lot of benefits but it does have some drawbacks as
well. The main one being that it limits the inner workings of democracy by
requiring cabinet ministers to officially agree with the prime minister's decisions.
This could essentially lead to the supremacy of the PM. Another drawback is that
because of collective responsibility, the individual initiatives of ministers often get
overshadowed by the initiatives of the party. The biggest drawback however is
that any urgent attention can be delayed due to the issues of collective
responsibility, like not reaching a united decision.

Another important thing to note about collective responsibility is that it also

applies on devolved governments. It is applied in both Scotland and Wales in
both cases it functions in a broadly similar way as in Westminster. For example,
the Welsh ministerial code says that ministers "can argue freely in private" but
must maintain "a united front when decisions have been reached by the cabinet".
Similarly, the Scottish ministerial code states that a minister who publicly
disagrees with the Scottish government’s position should "consider whether it is
appropriate to resign". Both devolved bodies have a concept of collective
responsibilty present.

Ministers who violate collective responsibility are required to resign, in theory.

While the ministerial code establishes the principles for collective responsibility, it
also specifies that the document is only "advice" and that only the prime minister
has the authority to recruit and fire. A breach in collective responsibility can have
serious political consequences: frequent leaks of cabinet meetings undermine
ministers' willingness to contribute honestly to policy discussions, and
governments that fail to maintain a unified public view are vulnerable to attacks
from opposition parties. This is why collective responsibility needs to be ensured.

In conclusion, collective responsibility is essential for any cabinet government. It

is a cornerstone for any cabinet and it needs to be maintained.