UK Constitution MCQs with Answers
What is the UK’s constitution primarily based on?
a) Written documents
b) Parliamentary statutes
c) Common law
d) Royal proclamations
Answer: c) Common law
Which document outlines the fundamental rights and liberties of individuals in the UK?
a) Bill of Rights
b) Magna Carta
c) Universal Declaration of Human Rights
d) European Convention on Human Rights
Answer: d) European Convention on Human Rights
What is the term for the doctrine that Parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK?
a) Judicial supremacy
b) Royal prerogative
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Constitutional monarchy
Answer: c) Parliamentary sovereignty
Which principle states that government ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament?
a) Ministerial accountability
b) Executive prerogative
c) Parliamentary immunity
d) Royal oversight
Answer: a) Ministerial accountability
Which legal principle dictates that similar cases should be decided consistently by the courts?
a) Judicial activism
b) Precedent
c) Legal positivism
d) Habeas corpus
Answer: b) Precedent
What is the term for the unwritten conventions and traditions that guide the behavior of government officials?
a) Constitutional amendments
b) Parliamentary statutes
c) Common law
d) Constitutional conventions
Answer: d) Constitutional conventions
Which monarch signed the Magna Carta in 1215, laying the foundation for constitutional rights?
a) Queen Victoria
b) King Edward III
c) King John
d) King Henry VIII
Answer: c) King John
What is the term for the principle that individuals’ personal liberties are protected from government interference?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Due process
d) Civil rights
Answer: c) Due process
Which legal doctrine ensures that everyone is subject to the law, including government officials?
a) Parliamentary sovereignty
b) Rule of law
c) Royal prerogative
d) Constitutional monarchy
Answer: b) Rule of law
What is the term for the legal principle that restricts government actions to those authorized by law?
a) Parliamentary sovereignty
b) Constitutional monarchy
c) Rule of law
d) Habeas corpus
Answer: c) Rule of law
Which document is often considered the first significant limit on the power of the monarchy in England?
a) Magna Carta
b) Bill of Rights
c) Petition of Right
d) English Declaration of Independence
Answer: a) Magna Carta
Which legal term refers to the legal process that prevents unlawful detention?
a) Habeas corpus
b) Due process
c) Royal prerogative
d) Rule of law
Answer: a) Habeas corpus
What is the term for the practice of non-elected officials in the civil service making administrative decisions?
a) Bureaucracy
b) Aristocracy
c) Oligarchy
d) Plutocracy
Answer: a) Bureaucracy
What legal principle ensures that government actions must be authorized by a valid law and not based on arbitrary decisions?
a) Due process
b) Royal prerogative
c) Executive privilege
d) Habeas corpus
Answer: a) Due process
What is the term for the separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government?
a) Parliamentary sovereignty
b) Constitutional monarchy
c) Rule of law
d) Trias politica
Answer: d) Trias politica
Which legal document limited the powers of King Charles I and established that the monarch could not levy taxes without Parliament’s consent?
a) Magna Carta
b) Bill of Rights
c) Petition of Right
d) Habeas corpus
Answer: c) Petition of Right
Which principle states that government ministers are individually responsible for their actions to Parliament?
a) Ministerial responsibility
b) Judicial review
c) Rule of law
d) Royal prerogative
Answer: a) Ministerial responsibility
What is the term for the process through which the monarch’s powers were gradually transferred to Parliament?
a) Magna Carta
b) Constitutional monarchy
c) Royal prerogative
d) Devolution
Answer: b) Constitutional monarchy
Which of the following is considered one of the fundamental constitutional documents of the UK?
a) Universal Declaration of Human Rights
b) European Union Treaty
c) Charter of Fundamental Rights
d) Magna Carta
Answer: d) Magna Carta
What is the term for the formal approval required from the monarch to pass legislation?
a) Royal assent
b) Executive approval
c) Legislative consent
d) Parliamentary sanction
Answer: a) Royal assent
What legal principle establishes that the government’s actions must adhere to established laws and procedures?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Executive privilege
d) Due process
Answer: a) Rule of law
Which legal document ensured that Parliament’s approval was required for taxation and prohibited arbitrary imprisonment?
a) Magna Carta
b) Petition of Right
c) Bill of Rights
d) English Declaration of Independence
Answer: b) Petition of Right
What is the term for the unwritten constitutional principle that the monarch’s powers are limited by law?
a) Rule of law
b) Royal prerogative
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Constitutional monarchy
Answer: d) Constitutional monarchy
Which document, signed in 1689, confirmed parliamentary supremacy and established rights for citizens?
a) Magna Carta
b) Bill of Rights
c) Petition of Right
d) English Declaration of Independence
Answer: b) Bill of Rights
What is the term for the legal principle that prevents individuals from being held in custody without evidence of a crime?
a) Due process
b) Habeas corpus
c) Judicial review
d) Royal prerogative
Answer: b) Habeas corpus
Which principle refers to the idea that government actions are subject to judicial review and can be challenged in court?
a) Judicial supremacy
b) Parliamentary sovereignty
c) Rule of law
d) Ministerial accountability
Answer: c) Rule of law
What is the term for the formal process of removing a government official from office?
a) Impeachment
b) Disqualification
c) Recall
d) Suspension
Answer: a) Impeachment
Which document confirmed that Parliament could not be suspended without its consent and established other rights?
a) Magna Carta
b) Bill of Rights
c) Petition of Right
d) English Declaration of Independence
Answer: c) Petition of Right
What is the term for the legal process through which a court reviews the lawfulness of government actions?
a) Judicial review
b) Habeas corpus
c) Due process
d) Ministerial accountability
Answer: a) Judicial review
Which principle asserts that government actions must be taken according to established laws and procedures?
a) Parliamentary sovereignty
b) Rule of law
c) Constitutional monarchy
d) Ministerial responsibility
Answer: b) Rule of law
What is the term for the legal doctrine that allows Parliament to make or unmake any law?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Due process
Answer: c) Parliamentary sovereignty
Which legal doctrine states that the monarch’s powers are derived from and limited by law?
a) Rule of law
b) Royal prerogative
c) Constitutional monarchy
d) Parliamentary sovereignty
Answer: c) Constitutional monarchy
What is the term for the unwritten constitutional principle that government is based on the will of the people?
a) Royal prerogative
b) Rule of law
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Popular sovereignty
Answer: d) Popular sovereignty
Which legal doctrine ensures that government ministers are held accountable for their actions to Parliament?
a) Rule of law
b) Ministerial responsibility
c) Due process
d) Habeas corpus
Answer: b) Ministerial responsibility
What is the term for the legal principle that prevents the government from imprisoning individuals without legal justification?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Due process
d) Ministerial accountability
Answer: b) Habeas corpus
Which principle ensures that individuals have the right to challenge government actions in court?
a) Judicial review
b) Habeas corpus
c) Rule of law
d) Ministerial responsibility
Answer: a) Judicial review
What is the term for the legal doctrine that allows courts to declare laws unconstitutional?
a) Habeas corpus
b) Judicial review
c) Rule of law
d) Due process
Answer: b) Judicial review
Which legal doctrine gives Parliament the authority to make and change laws?
a) Royal prerogative
b) Rule of law
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Constitutional monarchy
Answer: c) Parliamentary sovereignty
What is the term for the unwritten constitutional principle that the government is accountable to Parliament?
a) Royal prerogative
b) Rule of law
c) Ministerial responsibility
d) Parliamentary sovereignty
Answer: c) Ministerial responsibility
Which legal doctrine asserts that government actions must conform to established laws?
a) Due process
b) Habeas corpus
c) Ministerial accountability
d) Rule of law
Answer: d) Rule of law
What is the term for the legal doctrine that limits government actions and protects individual rights?
a) Royal prerogative
b) Rule of law
c) Ministerial responsibility
d) Constitutional monarchy
Answer: b) Rule of law
Which principle asserts that the government is accountable for its actions and decisions?
a) Ministerial responsibility
b) Rule of law
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Royal prerogative
Answer: a) Ministerial responsibility
What is the term for the unwritten constitutional principle that limits the government’s powers to those authorized by law?
a) Ministerial accountability
b) Royal prerogative
c) Rule of law
d) Constitutional monarchy
Answer: c) Rule of law
Which legal doctrine ensures that government ministers are accountable to Parliament for their actions?
a) Rule of law
b) Ministerial responsibility
c) Habeas corpus
d) Royal prerogative
Answer: b) Ministerial responsibility
What is the term for the legal doctrine that ensures individuals have access to legal procedures and protections?
a) Due process
b) Habeas corpus
c) Ministerial accountability
d) Rule of law
Answer: a) Due process
Which principle establishes that government officials are subject to the same laws as the general population?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Due process
d) Ministerial responsibility
Answer: a) Rule of law
What is the term for the unwritten constitutional principle that the monarch’s powers are subject to legal limits?
a) Constitutional monarchy
b) Royal prerogative
c) Parliamentary sovereignty
d) Rule of law
Answer: a) Constitutional monarchy
Which legal doctrine ensures that government actions are in accordance with established laws and procedures?
a) Habeas corpus
b) Due process
c) Ministerial accountability
d) Rule of law
Answer: d) Rule of law
What is the term for the legal doctrine that gives courts the authority to review the legality of government actions?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Due process
d) Judicial review
Answer: d) Judicial review
Which principle asserts that the government’s powers are limited by established laws and regulations?
a) Rule of law
b) Habeas corpus
c) Due process
d) Ministerial responsibility
Answer: a) Rule of law