‘Devolution represents a major change in our political constitution. What has been less apparent is that devolution has also produced important changes to the role of the judiciary in our constitutional arrangements.’ Discuss.

Prior to devolution, the United Kingdom (UK) is probably the most centralised state in Western Europe. After devolution, the UK is often described as a de jure unitary state where power is decentralised from the Westminster Parliament and devolved to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales (the territories). Devolution is the process of granting power from the centre to new regional institutions, which then exercise the power that is devolved to it.  It differs from federalism in that the ultimate power resides in central government. The framework for this discussion will focus on the changes made to the political constitution and the role of judiciary as a result of devolution.

A MAJOR CHANGE IN POLITICAL CONSTITUTION?

To begin, I will briefly discuss the subtle change of political to a legal constitution. This is followed by answering the question of whether devolution h…(short extract)