What is Parliamentary Sovereignty?

The traditional definition of parliamentary sovereignty is that there is no legal limit to the laws that can be enacted by Westminster Parliament. All restraints flow from political checks and balances and conventions as opposed to any legal restrictions. 

The UK courts cannot strike down or refuse to apply Acts of Parliament because there are no external constraints upon what Parl can do. Additionally, current parliaments cannot entrench future parliaments as this would place a restriction on that future parliament's sovereignty. There are different models of parliamentary sovereignty argued by academics and even the idea that parliament is not actually sovereign at all. 

LM
Answered by Lauren M. Politics tutor

2774 Views

See similar Politics A Level tutors

Related Politics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Why has affirmative action failed in the United States- how to answer this question


What is meant by the term 'sofa government'?


Is perfect competition always a more desirable market structure than a monopoly?


Is the current American president imperial?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning