Constitutional law worksheet with answers

A codified constitution is one whose main rules are:

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

A referendum is:

1. AAn election of members of parliament
2. BA vote of no confidence in the government by members of parliament
3. CA decision of the constitutional court
4. DA direct vote by the electorate on a particular question

The UK convention of collective ministerial responsibility means that:

1. AEach minister can veto Cabinet decisions
2. BAll ministers are jointly liable in court for government decisions
3. CMinisters must publicly support government decisions or resign
4. DMinisters are elected together as a group

Which rights in the ECHR are absolute and allow no derogation even in an emergency?

1. AFreedom of assembly (Article 11)
2. BRight to respect for private life (Article 8)
3. CThe prohibition of torture (Article 3)
4. DFreedom of expression (Article 10)

In Soering v UK, the European Court of Human Rights held that extraditing a man to the US to face a possible death sentence would breach Article 3 because:

1. AOf the extreme conditions and long wait on death row
2. BThe US is not a party to the Convention
3. CThe death penalty itself always amounts to torture under Article 3
4. DHe would not receive a fair trial

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

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

Soldiers shoot dead three suspected terrorists in Gibraltar. In McCann v UK, the European Court of Human Rights found a breach of Article 2 because:

1. AThe UK had not ratified the Convention for Gibraltar
2. BAny killing by state agents breaches Article 2
3. CThe soldiers acted out of personal hatred
4. DThe operation was not planned and controlled to minimise the use of lethal force

A health authority moves a severely disabled woman into a care home after promising it would be her "home for life", then decides to close it. In R v North and East Devon HA, ex p Coughlan:

1. AThe promise was void because the authority had no statutory power to make it
2. BOnly a fair consultation was required
3. CThe promise could be broken whenever policy changed
4. DFrustrating her substantive legitimate expectation was an abuse of power