Constitutional law worksheet with answers

The Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) consists of:

1. AThe House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) and the Senate (Eerste Kamer)
2. BThe King and the Council of Ministers
3. CThe Council of State and the Supreme Court
4. DThe provincial councils and municipal councils

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

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

In the UK, the royal prerogative is:

1. AA set of powers conferred on the Prime Minister by the Constitutional Reform Act
2. BThe right of judges to overrule Parliament
3. CA set of powers of the Crown recognised by common law, not created by statute
4. DThe monarch's personal right to veto any Act

Under Article 94 of the Dutch Constitution, Dutch courts:

1. AMust refer all treaty questions to the Council of State
2. BApply statutes even if they conflict with treaties
3. CDo not apply statutes that conflict with treaty provisions binding on everyone
4. DCan strike down statutes that conflict with the Constitution or with general principles

In CCSU v Minister for the Civil Service (the GCHQ case), Lord Diplock classified the grounds of judicial review as:

1. ALegality, legitimacy and proportionality
2. BJurisdiction, motive and fairness
3. CFraud, mistake and duress
4. DIllegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety

In the GCHQ case, the House of Lords held that the exercise of prerogative powers:

1. ACan be reviewed only if Parliament agrees
2. BCan be judicially reviewed, depending on its subject matter
3. CCan never be reviewed by the courts
4. DIs always fully reviewable, whatever subject matter it concerns

Officers enter a writer's house and seize his papers under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State with no legal authority to issue it. In Entick v Carrington, the court held:

1. AThe writer could only complain to Parliament
2. BThe search was lawful, because state necessity justified seizing the papers
3. CThe search was lawful, because the warrant was signed
4. DThe search was unlawful, because state action needs legal authority

Walter Bagehot described the "efficient secret" of the English constitution as:

1. AThe close union of the executive and legislative powers
2. BThe independence of the House of Lords
3. CThe strict separation of all three powers
4. DThe monarch's power to veto legislation