Evaluate The View That Leaving The

European Union Has Significantly

Increased Parliamentary Sovereignty.
(30) Politics Explained Essay Plan
Topic ➡ 4. Relations Between The Branches
Structure ➡ Three paragraphs with for/against and an overall judgement within each
This Essay Plan Is Part Of A Package Of Essay Plans Covering The UK Government Part Of The
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Keep In Mind ➡ These are long plans as they’re intended to be revised from to cover the key
content you need to know for the exam. In the exam, you would need to adapt them for the
specific question you are asked and you certainly wouldn’t need to include everything, especially
not all of the examples. The judgements are also subjective and you don’t have to agree with
them!

Introduction
Key Definitions
Parliamentary Sovereignty refers to the fact that the UK Parliament is legally ‘sovereign’ within the UK
constitution.

This means it can make laws on any subject, it is the only law making and amending body in
Britain and no court or higher body, including the Supreme Court, can strike down a law passed
by Parliament.

Paragraph One ➡
There Is No Longer A Higher Court That Can
Strike Down Legislation Passed By Parliament’s
For: Parliamentary Sovereignty Has Increased As There Is No Longer A Higher
Court That Can Strike Down Legislation It Passes

Evaluate The View That Leaving The European Union Has Significantly Increased Parliamentary Sovereignty. (30)
1
Politics Explained Essay Plan
 When Britain was a member of the EU, the UK accepted the supremacy of EU Law over laws passed
by Parliament and therefore the sovereignty of EU law.

This meant that if a law was passed by the UK Parliament that contradicted EU law, the European
Court of Justice and Supreme Court could strike it down and force Parliament to remove/change
it.

The supremacy of EU law was confirmed in the 1990 Factortame Case, when the Law Lords
ruled that the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 passed by the UK Parliament breached EU law as it
required UK registered ships to have a majority of British owners. As a consequence, the UK
Parliament was forced to unmake the law.

Now that Britain has left the EU, there is no higher court that can strike down laws passed by
Parliament, therefore increasing parliamentary sovereignty and reducing the power of the UK
Supreme Court.

Against: Parliament Hasn’t Regained This Same Level Of Sovereignty Over

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland remains aligned with EU law in some areas, in order to maintain a frictionless border
with the Republic of Ireland.

Over 300 EU directives and regulations continue to apply in Northern Ireland. For example, goods
produced in Northern Ireland must comply with EU law in some areas covered by the Northern
Ireland Protocol, even after changes made by the Windsor Framework.

Even following the Windsor Framework changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol, the application of
EU law in Northern Ireland is therefore subject to EU oversight as if it were a member state.

The UK government/parliament could therefore be taken to the European Court of Justice if it

didn’t comply with the areas of EU law that still apply in Northern Ireland.

This shows how parliamentary sovereignty is still limited in relation to Northern Ireland, as EU law
is still higher law in some areas and the European Court of Justice enforces this.

Judgement
Overall, the fact that the European Court of Justice can no longer strike down laws passed by the UK
Parliament is clearly a way in which Parliamentary Sovereignty has increased since leaving the EU.

Though this isn’t the case in all areas of law applying to Northern Ireland, this is a minor limitation.

Paragraph Two ➡
Parliament Can Now Legislate On Topics
Previously Controlled By The EU
For: Parliament Can Now Legislate On Issues The EU Used To Have Control
Over
When the UK was a member of the EU, the EU controlled many significant areas of policy, in
particular trade, agriculture, fisheries and many other aspects of regulation.

This therefore limited the extent to which Parliament was the key law making body in the UK, as
there were key areas of policy it couldn’t legislate on.

Between 1993 and 2014 there were 231 Acts of Parliament passed that implemented EU
obligations.

Evaluate The View That Leaving The European Union Has Significantly Increased Parliamentary Sovereignty. (30)
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Politics Explained Essay Plan
 Now that the UK has left the EU, Parliament has the power to legislate on all of these areas of policy
in any way it wants, rather than having to draft legislation that is in line with EU law.

In order to simplify the process of leaving the EU, all EU legislation was copied into UK law and
kept its special, higher status. By the end of 2023, however, the government intends to remove
this special status with its Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill and therefore
amend/replace/repeal a lot of formerly EU regulations.

A good example of Parliament legislating in an area of policy the EU used to have significant
control over (immigration) is the Illegal Migration Bill introduced by the government in March
2023.

It can also be argued that Parliament has regained a significant amount of this sovereignty from the
UK government, as it used to be the government (and the Prime Minister in particular) that
represented Britain in EU negotiations over policy controlled by the EU, however now Parliament has
significant control.

Against: The UK Has Lost The Pooled Sovereignty Of Being In The EU

Those who supported EU membership argued that sovereignty wasn't lost through EU membership,
but pooled with the sovereignty of other countries, and the UK therefore gained influence on the
global stage it couldn't have on its own.

Further, whilst in the EU, the UK was able to have this pooled sovereignty whilst also having opt-
outs from some EU policies it opposed, therefore limiting the amount of sovereignty that was lost
by the UK Parliament.

For example, Britain opted out from adopting the Euro as a currency as they were not willing
to surrender economic sovereignty and control over interest rates to the European Central
Bank.

By leaving the EU, the UK has lost this greater global influence it had through pooled sovereignty. The
overall sovereignty and influence of Parliament can therefore be seen to have decreased

Judgement
Overall, Parliamentary Sovereignty has increased due to the ability of Parliament to legislate on policy
areas previously controlled by the EU.

Though it is true that the UK’s overall sovereignty and influence has decreased, the extent to
which Parliament is sovereign within UK policymaking can certainly be seen to have increased.

Paragraph Three
Increased?
➡ Is It Actually Executive Sovereignty That Has
Against: In Practice, Much Of The Sovereignty Regained From The EU Is
Exercised By The Executive
Whilst it is true that the UK has gained a lot of control over areas of policy previously controlled by the
EU, it can be argued that much of this control has been gained by the executive rather than by
Parliament.

A great deal of EU law that has been incorporated into UK law has been done through secondary
legislation (controlled by the government), rather than through primary legislation.

Evaluate The View That Leaving The European Union Has Significantly Increased Parliamentary Sovereignty. (30)
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Politics Explained Essay Plan
 Between 1993 and 2014, whilst just 231 Acts of Parliament were passed that implemented
EU obligations, over 4200 pieces of secondary legislation were passed that did so.

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill introduced by the government intends to give
the vast majority of the power to amend/replace/repeal formerly EU regulations to the executive
rather than to Parliament.

For example, a significant area of policy control regained by the UK since leaving the EU is over
trade. The UK government has the power to make trade deals without parliamentary approval, with
Parliament only scrutinising deals once they’ve already been agreed.

The March 2023 UK-Asia trade deal (joining the The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement
for Trans-Pacific Partnership - CPTPP), for example, was signed without parliamentary consent.

It can therefore be argued that the power of the executive has increased, rather than the sovereignty
of Parliament

For: Key Court Cases In The Process Of Brexit Strengthened Parliamentary

Sovereignty
On the other hand, a number of Supreme Court cases during the process of leaving the EU
strengthened parliamentary sovereignty against an overarching executive.

The Article 50 Case (Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union) confirmed that a
majority vote in Parliament was necessary to unmake a treaty that had originally required the
consent of Parliament.

The case also ruled that the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Parliaments had no rights to
veto an Act of Parliament giving consent to Article 50.

The 2019 Prorogation Case (Miller v The Prime Minister) reaffirmed the sovereignty of Parliament
and protected its ability to hold the government to account against an overarching executive.

The 2018 Legal Continuity Scotland Bill Case ruled that control over legislation previously held by
the EU that related to devolved matters should not be immediately granted to Scotland, but
retained by the UK Parliament which could then decide whether to devolve them to Scotland.

The process of Brexit can therefore be seen as reaffirming Parliament’s sovereignty in relation to the
executive and ensuring that the sovereignty regained from the EU goes to Parliament and not the
government.

Judgement
Overall, though key court cases during the process of Brexit did reaffirm Parliamentary Sovereignty, it
remains true that a lot of the power regained from the EU will be exercised by the executive.

This shouldn’t be seen as not increasing Parliamentary Sovereignty, though, as the Government
are all MPs and ultimately come from Parliament, whilst the executive remains accountable to
Parliament for its decisions.

Overall Argument
In conclusion, Parliamentary Sovereignty has significantly increased since leaving the EU. Whilst it is
true that the UK has lost influence by leaving the EU, that Parliament isn’t completely sovereign over
Northern Ireland and that much of the regained sovereignty will be exercised in practice by the
executive, these should be seen as minor limitations.

Evaluate The View That Leaving The European Union Has Significantly Increased Parliamentary Sovereignty. (30)
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Politics Explained Essay Plan
 The fact that there is no longer a higher court that can strike down Parliament’s laws and that
Parliament can now legislate on policy areas previously held by the EU are major changes and
have resulted in a significant increase in the sovereignty of Parliament.

Other Possible Essay Questions To Practice

Adapting This Plan To Answer
Evaluate the view that the sovereignty gained by Parliament since leaving the EU has been limited.
(30)

Evaluate the view that Brexit means that the UK Parliament is now sovereign. (30)

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Evaluate The View That Leaving The European Union Has Significantly Increased Parliamentary Sovereignty. (30)
5
Politics Explained Essay Plan