To What Extent Has the Location of Sovereignty in the Uk Changes in Recent Years?

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Date Submitted: 10/23/2015 07:46 AM

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To what extent has the location of sovereignty in the UK changes in recent years?

Sovereignty is having ultimate authority over a territory, with the absolute right to govern. It is a principle of absolute and unlimited power by which a state can act in any way that it wishes without its actions being vetoed by a superior body. This means that a political body has unrestricted powers and that no other authority can control how it manages its internal and external affairs. There are 3 types of sovereignty. Popular sovereignty, where the people of the territory are given a certain amount of power, this is active in elections in which the people decide who will govern us or in referenda. There is legal sovereignty, which is associated with the supreme law-making authority in the state. Political sovereignty refers to the highest level of absolute power through which independent states are controlled by a designated political authority. In the United Kingdom, the parliament is politically sovereign. in recent years Parliamentary Sovereignty has come under threat from a variety of sources. in recent years, that position of having “untouchable” ruling power has become even more difficult to maintain, as the location of sovereignty in the UK continually appears to be shifting, mainly as a result of EU membership.

The EU is arguably the biggest reason for loss of sovereignty in the UK in recent years. Although parliament is the law making body in the UK, many of the laws it passes are blinded by EU laws and framework. The EU retains the right to strike down any law parliament passes which interferes with existing EU law. Although in theory parliament is politically sovereign, EU law comes above British law. Since the UK joined the European Union, its power has been expanded to cover a larger amount of areas in which its law comes above ours, such as trade, fishing and agriculture, on which decisions on the council of ministers are taken by qualified majority...