Elections in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • Robinson v Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
    • House of Lords
    • 25 July 2002

    The 1998 Act does not set out all the constitutional provisions applicable to Northern Ireland, but it is in effect a constitution. So to categorise the Act is not to relieve the courts of their duty to interpret the constitutional provisions in issue. But the provisions should, consistently with the language used, be interpreted generously and purposively, bearing in mind the values which the constitutional provisions are intended to embody.

    I think that section 16(8) operates in a similar but in one respect significantly different way. Like sections 16(2) and (3) it does not implicitly confer a power to elect the First Minister and deputy First Minister; it assumes the existence of such a power the source of which lies elsewhere.

  • R (Miller and Another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union; Re McCord's application
    • Supreme Court
    • 24 January 2017

    This principle rests on the so-called dualist theory, which is based on the proposition that international law and domestic law operate in independent spheres. The second proposition is that, although they are binding on the United Kingdom in international law, treaties are not part of UK law and give rise to no legal rights or obligations in domestic law.

    Thus, the referendum of 2016 did not change the law in a way which would allow ministers to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union without legislation. But that in no way means that it is devoid of effect. It means that, unless and until acted on by Parliament, its force is political rather than legal. It has already shown itself to be of great political significance.

    In our view, this important provision, which arose out of the Belfast Agreement, gave the people of Northern Ireland the right to determine whether to remain part of the United Kingdom or to become part of a united Ireland. It neither regulated any other change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland nor required the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

  • R (The Good Law Project) v Electoral Commission
    • Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court)
    • 14 September 2018

    An example discussed in oral argument which provides a good means of testing these conclusions is a case involving spending for referendum purposes on travel and accommodation. Suppose that during a referendum campaign volunteers affiliated with a particular campaign organisation (which is a permitted participant) travel from London to Birmingham by rail to attend a public meeting and stay in a hotel overnight.

  • R (Wheeler) v Office of the Prime Minister
    • Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court)
    • 25 June 2008

    In our judgment, it is clear that the introduction of a Bill into Parliament forms part of the proceedings within Parliament. To order the defendants to introduce a Bill into Parliament would therefore be to order them to do an act within Parliament in their capacity as Members of Parliament and would plainly be to trespass impermissibly on the province of Parliament. Nor can the point be met by the grant of a declaration, as sought by the claimant, instead of a mandatory order.

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Legislation
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Books & Journal Articles
  • Simultaneous elections
    • No. 37-1, January 2025
    • Journal of Theoretical Politics
    • 0000
    This article analyzes the possible electoral advantages and disadvantages of a unique party that competes in two simultaneous elections with respect to those obtained when it competes as two differ...
  • Council elections.
    • No. 2000, December 2000
    • Financial Management (UK)
    • Brief Article
    ...Area 4 (West Midlands) The following member of council is elected to serve from the close of the annual general meeting on 10 June 2000 until the close of the annual general meeting in 2003: Susan Margaret Hoof. Vacancy in Area 9 (Republic of Ire......
  • Disengaging elections? Political interest, number of elections, and turnout in elections to the European Parliament
    • No. 22-3, September 2021
    • European Union Politics
    • 0000
    Since direct elections to the European Parliament began in 1979, variations in voting behavior in European Parliament elections from national elections have raised interesting questions about polit...
  • Free and fair elections
    • No. 53-4, July 2016
    • Journal of Peace Research
    • 0000
    The holding of elections has become universal but only about half of all elections are free and fair. Electoral malpractice not only distorts the quality of representation but has implications for ...
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Law Firm Commentaries
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