Assignment
You have been taught about the US Constitution, its philosophical underpinnings and checks and balances which is related to the separation of powers.
As discussed in class the UK system does not have a system of which thoroughly implements separation of powers. The system in the United States constitution has formally separated the legislature from the executive.
The South African Constitution has a similar weakness to the UK system in that the President, the head of the executive, is elected by parliament.
However, it has several institutions created by Chapter 9 of the Constitution of South Africa which seek to police the other branches of Government and guard democracy. These include, amongst others, the Public Protector.
You have been introduced to both direct constitutional mechanisms for limiting the power of the three primary branches of government and indirect constitutional mechanisms, for example, freedom of the press which is in the first amendment.
The above is the background to the assignment below.
Herewith some further instructions:
1. The constitutions you are obliged to reference are those of the UK, USA and KSA but you can also employ the constitutions of Australia and South Africa.
2. You are encouraged to use other sources, such as the SDL, in order to supplement your notes and the textbook if you feel this is necessary.
3. You are obliged to support your answers with reference to case law when this is at all possible.
4. You should have an introduction and conclusion of half a page each as well as a separate bibliography.
5. Please use APA style.
6. There is to be no copying or plagiarism.
The Assignment
Write an essay which is divided into two parts.
The first part is to be 2 ½ pages long and
The first part concerns the design of different constitutions. Please identify the important parts or elements of the relevant constitutions and then, based on those elements, and using what you have learned in class, explain which elements you believe should be present in a modern constitution and your reason for stating this.
For example, a bill of rights, a constitutional court, checks and balances and if so which checks and balances etc. You are not limited to these elements or to those that I have mentioned in class.
The Second part is to be 4 ½ pages long.
The Second part concerns judicial review in the UK, USA and KSA. In this section you are obliged to support your answer using appropriate court cases, both old and new, where possible. The use of court cases should be extensive.
There are four primary issues, or questions, to be addressed in this section.
1) Identify the highest court in the land for each country
2) Is that highest courtauthorized to review any of these categories of laws and if so which of them can be reviewed:
i. Primary legislation
ii. Delegated or subordinate legislation
iii. Decisions or orders made by the executive branch of government or by a public body or by a public authority.
3) Can a human rights instrument be used to review any of the three categories of laws and if so which categories.
4) Can any international or supra-national court review any of the above categories of laws and if so on what basis.