Parliament’s sovereignty relates to its law making capacity and it has three aspects:
- The right to enact: Parliament may enact laws on any subject.
- The right to repeal: Parliament may repeal laws on any subject, including ones passed by a previous government (or indeed itself). This is why it is often said that (i) no Parliament may bind a successor, and (ii) no Act may have a higher status than any other.
- The right not to be questioned: the so called ‘Enrolled Act’ rule means that once an Act has entered the Parliamentary Roll, ie received Royal Assent, a court may not consider whether it was passed by a defective or irregular procedure. Statutory legislation is law, no matter how it got there.