Lex Pundit
Public Law

Parliamentary sovereignty

The legislature can make or unmake any law, and no court may set its statutes aside.

The idea

In its classic British form, parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament's enactments are the highest form of law: courts interpret them, sometimes very strictly, but cannot invalidate them, and no parliament can bind a future one. The check on a sovereign parliament is political — elections — rather than judicial.

The doctrine travelled with the Westminster model, but most of the family has qualified it. Countries with entrenched constitutions — the US, India, Canada, Australia — subordinate their legislatures to a higher law that courts enforce. The UK and New Zealand keep the doctrine, softened by statutory bills of rights that permit judicial declarations but not invalidation.

An example

A UK court finds a statute incompatible with the right to a fair hearing. It declares the incompatibility — and applies the statute anyway. The choice to amend belongs to Parliament.

In Canada

Canada blends the traditions: the constitution is supreme and courts strike down inconsistent laws, but section 33 of the Charter — the notwithstanding clause — lets legislatures temporarily insist on a law despite certain rights, a deliberate echo of parliamentary sovereignty.