The European Communities Act 1972

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ACT
XXXXXXXXXXX
2/25/2019
Anglia Ruskin University
Sharhan, Amar (Student)

The European Communities Act 1972
The chief reason for the existence of communities’ law is the free flow of
capital goods, services and workers inside the countries among which there is
the existence of a treaties. In 1972, the United Kingdom legislated an Act for
the country declaring that it is a member of the European Communities Act.
However, on June 23, 2016, the EU referendum took place and the people of
United Kingdom jointly voted for leaving the European Union. This essay shall
focus on how the parliament of UK can repeal the EU Communities Act 1972
or art 501.
Commencing with the state of United Kingdom, the UK government is a
parliamentary democracy of a constitutional monarchy. It has the monarch as
the head of the state. The power of the state has been divided amongst three
branches namely- the parliament, the judiciary and the executive. These are
the three main elements of law and constitute as common law in England and
in Wales. The legislation made in the parliament is enforceable as European
Law. Further, there are two chambers in the UK Parliament: the House of the
Commons and the House of the Lords. The House of Commons comes
through General Election of member of parliamentary MPs. The electorate
votes once in every five years. On the other hand, the members of the House
of the Lords are elected by the Monarch and generally include the aristocrats,
the bishops and other noble personalities2.
The Executive and the Court do not have the authority to repeal the 1972
European Communities Act. The reason for the same is that the Parliament
has the sovereign powers to do so3. Besides, the legislation is the
responsibility of the Parliament. Nevertheless, the Parliament is the supreme
authority that is authorized to make, amend or repeal any law. United
Kingdom does not have single document constitution like Italy or the United
1 Geoffrey Howe, 'The European Communities Act 1972' (2019) 49 International Affairs (Royal
Institute of International Affairs <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2612901.> accessed 25 February
2019.
2 Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler, 'T.V.UK Case' (BBC, 2019) <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
politics-32810887> accessed 25 February 2019.
3 Constitutional Affairs' (Parliament UK, 2019)
<https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-
administration-and-constitutional-affairs-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/inquiry12/>
accessed 25 February 2019.