PART IX
PROTECTION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
46 The
Armed Forces
(1) Acts of Parliament shall provide for, and
regulate, the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, comprising the
Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force, together
with the Territorial and Reserve Forces.
(2) Each such Act shall expire at the end of
the fifth year following its enactment.
(3) Expenditure with respect to the Armed Forces
shall be authorised by annual Appropriation Act.
(4) There shall be a Defence Council, consisting
of the Minister having responsibility for defence (who shall
chair the Council) and such other Ministers, officers in the public
services or in the Armed Forces as Act of Parliament shall prescribe;
and an Act of Parliament shall provide for appointments, tenure
of office and conditions of office of members of the Council.
47 War
and Armed Conflict Abroad
(1) Any decision of the Executive or any agency
of state to commit the United Kingdom to direct participation
in any international armed conflict or any international peace
keeping activities shall require the prior approval of each House
of Parliament.
(2) Any declaration of a state of war by the
Executive under the terms of any international covenant shall
be expressed by way of Order in Council, provided that that no
such Order shall be made unless a draft of the Order has been
approved by resolution by a two thirds majority of those voting
in each House of Parliament.
(3) As early as practicable prior to the parliamentary
proceedings referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), the opinion
of the Attorney General on the legal grounds for the United Kingdom's
participation in the international armed conflict, international
peace keeping activities, or declaration of war, as the case may
be, proposed by the Executive, shall presented to Parliament.
48 Use
of the Armed Forces within the State
(1) An Act of Parliament shall regulate the deployment
of the Armed Forces in support of the civil authorities in the
state for -
(a) the maintenance of national security or civil
order;
(b) the maintenance of essential supplies to
preserve life and livelihood in a civil emergency;
(c) the undertaking of necessary work of urgent
national importance.
(d) the alleviation of distress and for connected
purposes arising out of natural or other disaster.
(2) The minister responsible for national security
and civil order may by Order in Council direct deployment of the
Armed Forces under paragraph (1) provided that,
(a) no such Order may be made unless -
(i) a draft of Order is accompanied by a certificate
signed by at least two-thirds of the members of the Defence Council
stating their assent to such deployment of the Armed Forces; and
(ii) a draft of the Order is approved by each
House of Parliament;
(b) the Order expires at the end of fourteen
calendar days after it is made, but may be renewed in the manner
provided in this paragraph.
(3) Nothing in this Constitution prevents the
taking of any measures necessary for the defence of the country
from imminent or actual invasion by a foreign power.[855]
(4) No armed force of any country outside the
United Kingdom, nor any weapons or equipment for the use of such
force, shall be based in, or used from the landspace, airspace
or territorial waters of, the United Kingdom, the other British
Islands or any Overseas Territory or their territorial waters.
49 The
Police and Security Services
The Police Service
(1) An Act of Parliament or, in the case of Scotland
and Northern Ireland, an Act of the Scottish Parliament or Northern
Ireland respectively, shall provide for -
(a) the establishment, organisation, governance,
and financing of such number of police authorities or directly
elected Police and Crime Commissioners, serving such areas, as
the Act shall prescribe, whose duty shall be to secure the maintenance
of an efficient and effective police force for its area;
(b) the selection, appointment, and conditions
of service of police officers and, in particular, procedures for
the identification of candidates which will ensure, so far as
practicable, that adequate numbers of candidates of both sexes
and from diverse racial, religious and social backgrounds are
considered for appointment;
(c) procedures whereby each police force can
be held accountable with respect to the performance of its functions
to such body of persons holding elected membership of Parliament,
or appropriate devolved Parliament or Assembly, or local authority
as the Act shall prescribe;
(d) the establishment of independent bodies with
the duty of investigating, on their own initiative and on complaints,
acts, omissions and practices in connection with the performance
of their functions by police officers or police authorities, and
means of redress including payment of compensation for persons
adversely affected by the defective performance of such functions.
The Security Services
(2) For the purposes of this Constitution, the
expression "national security" means the protection
of the territorial integrity of the state, the safety of its citizens
generally, and the maintenance of its system of government against
espionage, sabotage or subversion by methods aimed at undermining
that system of government, or against the use of violence in pursuit
of political ends or against or between members of any group defined
by race, ethnicity, national origins or religious beliefs; and
the expression "security service" means those employed
by the state for the purpose of national security.
(3) The security services shall be structured
and regulated by Act of Parliament.
(4) The security services shall act in all matters
in accordance with the law, including international agreements
binding on the United Kingdom, and no member of any security service
may obey a manifestly illegal order.
(5) The Prime Minister shall -
(a) establish a National Security Committee of
the Cabinet to exercise a general direction over the activities
of the security services, which shall be entitled to have access
to all information and all records relating to the activities
of security service
(b) submit annual report to Parliament concerning
the activities of the security services, which may exclude any
matter the publication of which the National Security Committee,
after consultation with the Inspector-General of Security Services,
considers to be prejudicial to the proper performance of the functions
of any such service.
(6) An Office of Inspector General of Security
Services, appointed by the Head of State on the advice of the
Prime Minister, shall be established by Act of Parliament making
provision for such functions, powers and resources as may be necessary
to -
(a) keep under review the operational activities
of the security services, and
(b) investigate complaints arising from any of
their activities or policies that appear to be unlawful or unreasonable,
(c) inquire into any matter at the Prime Minister's
request connected to the security services, and
(d) submit annual reports with any recommendations
to the National Security Committee.
Political Neutrality
(7) The police service and the security services
shall be politically neutral, and neither they nor any of their
members shall act in a manner calculated to further the interest
of any particular political party.
50 Emergencies
and Suspension of the Constitution
Suspension of the Constitution
(1) Where, in the opinion of the Prime Minister,
in the United Kingdom or any part of the United Kingdom -
(a) a grave threat to national security or public
order has arisen or is likely to arise; or
(b) a grave civil emergency has arisen or is
likely to arise,
the Head of State may, by Order in Council, make
provision, to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of
the situation and reasonably justified in a democratic society,
suspending, in whole or in part, absolutely or subject to conditions,
any of the provisions of this Constitution set out in paragraph
(2).
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the following provisions
may be suspended under this Article -
(a) Article 36 (Bill of Rights);
(b) Articles 19 with respect to the duration
of Parliament and its electoral cycle, and 31(5) with respect
to the Assemblies;
(d) the provisions of an Act made under Article
53 in so far as it affects any provision of the Bill of Rights.
(3) The following provisions set out in Article
36 may not be suspended under this Article -
(a) Paragraph (1) (Right to life), except
in respect of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war;
(b) Paragraph (2) (Freedom from torture);
(c) Paragraph (3)(a) (Freedom from slavery);
(d) Paragraph (4)(f) (Treatment of persons
in detention);
(e) Paragraph (5)(b) to 5(f) (Right to fair
hearing in criminal cases);
(f) Paragraph (6) (Prohibition of retrospective
offences);
(g) Paragraph (8) (Freedom of thought);
(h) Paragraph (18) (Equality).
(4) Unless the urgency of the situation makes
it impracticable to obtain such approval, an Order in Council
under this Article shall not be made, unless a draft of the Order
has been approved, by resolution, by a two-thirds majority of
those voting in each House of Parliament.
(5) An Order in Council that has been made without
having been approved in draft under paragraph (4) ceases to have
effect unless, within 14 days after it is made, it is confirmed,
by resolution, by a two-thirds majority of those voting in each
House of Parliament.
(6) The validity of an Order in Council made
under this Article may be challenged in proceedings for judicial
review.
(7) An Order in Council made under this Article
has effect only for such time as shall be specified in the Order;
and the duration of the Order may be extended, by resolution,
by a two-thirds majority of those voting in each House of Parliament,
if, and to the extent that, the making of a new Order in Council
would be justified under this Article.
Detention in Emergencies
(8) Where a person is detained under an Order
in Council made under this Article -
(a) the person shall, as soon as reasonably practicable
and not more than 7 days after commencement of the detention,
be provided with a statement in writing, in a language that the
person understands, specifying in detail the grounds of the detention;
(b) not more than seven days after the commencement
of the detention, a notification shall be published in newspapers
having general circulation in the United Kingdom stating that
the person has been detained and the particulars of the provision
of law under which the detention is authorised;
(c) not more than 3 weeks after the commencement
of the detention and thereafter during the detention at intervals
of not more than 6 months, the detention shall be reviewed by
an independent and impartial tribunal, the members of which shall
be appointed by the appropriate Judicial Services Commission;
(d) the person shall be afforded reasonable facilities
to cons~1t a representative of his or her choosing and to appear,
m person or through such a representative, before the tribunal.
(9) The tribunal reviewing a detention under
this Article may make recommendations concerning the necessity
or expediency of continuing the detention, which shall be communicated
to the detainee; and unless an Act of Parliament or the Order
in Council otherwise provides, the authority by which the detention
was ordered, after consideration of the recommendations, is not
obliged to act in accordance with them.
855 Countries such as France who have experienced invasion
in recent history may require a declaration of Siege to accompany
such measures, which in the case of the United Kingdom might be
issued by Order in Council. Back
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