Constitutional law worksheet with answers

A codified constitution is one whose main rules are:

1. ABased entirely on unwritten customs
2. BAgreed afresh after every election
3. CFound only in judicial decisions
4. DCollected in a single written document

Judicial review allows courts to:

1. ADecide elections
2. BRewrite any legislation they consider unwise
3. CAppoint government ministers
4. DCheck whether public bodies act lawfully

The principle of legality in public law means that a public authority:

1. ACan ignore laws during weekends
2. BNeeds a legal basis for its actions, especially when interfering with rights
3. CMust always be elected
4. DCan act freely unless a statute expressly prohibits the particular action taken

Under the UK Human Rights Act 1998, if a court cannot read an Act compatibly with Convention rights, it can:

1. AMake a declaration of incompatibility, leaving the Act in force
2. BRefer the case to the European Court of Human Rights automatically
3. CStrike down the Act immediately
4. DOrder Parliament to amend the Act within a month

In Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza, the House of Lords used section 3 of the Human Rights Act to read "as his or her wife or husband" in the Rent Act as:

1. AIncompatible, so it issued a declaration
2. BApplying only to registered marriages
3. CIncluding same-sex partners
4. DExcluding all unmarried partners

Ellen Street Estates v Minister of Health is cited for the principle that:

1. ACourts may refuse to apply a later Act
2. BParliament cannot bind its successors, and a later Act impliedly repeals an inconsistent earlier one
3. CEarlier Acts always prevail over later Acts
4. DParliament can entrench an Act against later repeal by stating expressly that it may not be amended in future

A woman with a terminal illness asks for a guarantee that her husband will not be prosecuted for helping her die. In Pretty v UK, the European Court of Human Rights held that Article 2:

1. AWas not engaged by her case at all
2. BRequires an immunity for her husband
3. CRequires states to allow assisted suicide
4. DDoes not include a right to die

A statute says a commission's "determination ... shall not be called in question in any court of law". In Anisminic v Foreign Compensation Commission, the House of Lords held:

1. AThe clause excluded all judicial review
2. BThe clause was invalid as unconstitutional
3. CThe decision was immune from review because the ouster clause applied to all its determinations
4. DThe clause did not protect a decision based on an error of law, because that was a nullity