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In Thoburn v Sunderland City Council, Lord Justice Laws defines a constitutional statute as one that either conditions the legal relationship between citizen and state in a general manner, or, one that changes the scope of fundamental constitutional rights.

He expressed the view that: "Ordinary statutes may be impliedly repealed. Constitutional statutes may not."

I want to know to what extent this is persuasive authority, or if this is now binding law.

An old gov.uk page says that "his remarks did not relate directly to the judgement being made and are controversial."

Has the position of the law changed since then or is it still the case that this is controversial and not fully established?

FD_bfa
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1 Answers1

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Lord Justice Laws' remarks were made obiter dicta, i.e. they were his opinion in passing, not essential to the reasoning in the case. His remarks have been cited positively in some judgements (and judges' speeches) since, but they are not binding authority.

In a recent case, Allister & Peeples, Re Applications for Judicial Reviews (Northern Ireland) [2023] UKSC 5 (08 February 2023), the Supreme Court said:

  1. The debate as to whether article VI created fundamental rights in relation to trade, whether the Acts of Union are statutes of a constitutional character, whether the 2018 and 2020 Acts are also statutes of a constitutional character, and as to the correct interpretative approach when considering such statutes or any fundamental rights, is academic. Even if it is engaged in this case, the interpretative presumption that Parliament does not intend to violate fundamental rights cannot override the clearly expressed will of Parliament. Furthermore, the suspension, subjugation, or modification of rights contained in an earlier statute may be effected by express words in a later statute. The most fundamental rule of UK constitutional law is that Parliament, or more precisely the Crown in Parliament, is sovereign and that legislation enacted by Parliament is supreme.
Lag
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