A-Level Politics: The Supreme Court, Rights and Sovereignty

This material covers relations between institutions, the part of the UK government component of A level Politics that asks how the courts, Parliament, the executive and the European Union check one another, and where sovereignty lies. It complements the category's materials on the constitution, Parliament and the Prime Minister.

The first strand is the Supreme Court. Students work through the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which moved the highest court out of the House of Lords and created an independent appointment process, and the difference between judicial independence and judicial neutrality. The Human Rights Act 1998 is treated precisely: the section 3 duty to read legislation compatibly with Convention rights, and the section 4 declaration of incompatibility, which leaves an Act in force and hands the decision to Parliament.

The second strand is a set of landmark cases, each described by what the Court actually decided: the first Miller case (2017) on the Article 50 notice, the prorogation case of 2019, the UNISON case on tribunal fees and access to justice, the 2022 reference on a Scottish independence referendum, and the 2023 judgment on removals of asylum seekers to Rwanda, followed by an Act of Parliament in 2024. Together they show the courts limiting the executive and policing the boundaries of devolution, while Parliament keeps the last word through legislation.

The third strand is the UK and the European Union: the primacy of EU law while the UK was a member, as seen in the Factortame litigation, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, which ended the supremacy of EU law and created 'assimilated law'. Students also learn why the European Convention on Human Rights is separate from the EU, and they distinguish legal, political and pooled sovereignty. The quiz closes with the executive–legislature relationship and the elective dictatorship argument.

The quiz has twelve questions built on cases and scenarios. The flashcards give eighteen terms and cases. The written work has eight extended questions, from explaining a declaration of incompatibility to evaluating whether the Supreme Court has become too powerful, each with a reference answer and key points. The oral exam asks questions one at a time and expects cases used accurately as evidence.

Cases are summarised in plain language by what they decided. The material names no current politicians and is practice material; it does not reproduce any exam board's questions.

• Explain how the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 strengthened judicial independence
• Distinguish section 3 interpretation from a section 4 declaration of incompatibility
• Describe accurately what the Supreme Court decided in Miller (2017), Miller and Cherry (2019), UNISON (2017), the 2022 Scottish referendum reference and the 2023 Rwanda judgment
• Explain why Parliament can respond to a court ruling by legislating
• Explain the primacy of EU law during membership and the effect of the 2023 Act
• Distinguish legal, political and pooled sovereignty, and evaluate executive dominance

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the relations between institutions content of the A level Politics specifications (for example Pearson Edexcel, UK Government component, and AQA). Case summaries written in plain language from the published judgments.