Constitutional conventions of the United Kingdom
Written conventions can be found in the Ministerial Code, Cabinet Manual, Guide to Judicial Conduct, Erskine May and even legislation.
Unwritten conventions exist by virtue of long-practice or may be referenced in other documents such as the Lascelles Principles.
Minority party members sit in the back rows below the gangway on the left.
[1] The chair generally calls members from alternating sides and prioritises those who have been present for a longer period.
[3] The Speaker enjoys wide discretion to interpret the Standing Orders and relevance of precedent.
[1] Same Question Rule – The same or substantially similar motion will not be debated twice in the same parliamentary session.
[1] Members of His Majesty's Opposition front bench (the Shadow Cabinet) should be made privy councillors so that information can be shared with them on 'privy council terms.
Commons Financial Privilege – The Lords will not oppose or make wrecking amendments to bills dealing with taxation or expenditure.
Where such an amendment is made, the bill will be returned to the Lords with a note indicating a breach of the convention.
Maiden and valedictory speeches should be short and uncontroversial; they should be heard without interruption (members should remain seated throughout).
[16] Prorogation – The Prime Minister advises the sovereign on when to end a parliamentary session.
Similar to the above, Parliament shall not legislate for nor the government intervene in decisions taken by the local legislatures of the British Overseas Territories (formerly Crown Colonies) without their consent.
If breached, the Welsh Ministers must notify the Presiding Officer of this fact when the SI is laid and explain the reasons why it was late.
[22] A further convention in relation to Law Officer advice, operating on other ministers, is that the Law Officers must be consulted by ministers or their officials in good time before the government is committed to critical decisions involving legal considerations.
A fundamental principle underlying the constitutional convention is that it is not subject to enforcement by a court of law.
That follows from the nature of the content, and is acknowledged by the words (“it is recognised” and “will not normally”), of the relevant subsection.
We would have expected UK Parliament to have used other words if it were seeking to convert a convention into a legal rule justiciable by the courts.In taking this view, the court noted 'the practical benefits of achieving harmony between legislatures in areas of competing competence' which would require the retained capacity of the Westminster Parliament to avoiding duplication of effort, enable the UK Parliament to make UK-wide legislation where appropriate and avoid any risk of legal challenge to the authority of the devolved legislatures.
