Parliamentary sovereignty

Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the <a href="/facts/Constitutional_law/zygegD9G">constitutional law</a> of some <a href="/facts/Parliamentary_democracies/HAsnSsRz">parliamentary democracies</a>. It holds that the <a href="/facts/Legislative_body/ycUCe91S">legislative body</a> has absolute <a href="/facts/Sovereignty/QnYhTTem">sovereignty</a> and is supreme over all other government institutions, including <a href="/facts/Executive_(government)/fPCCh3VU">executive</a> or <a href="/facts/Judicial/CvMkSB6T">judicial</a> bodies. It also holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation and so it is not bound by written law (in some cases, not even a <a href="/facts/Constitution/GppU7erf">constitution</a>) or by <a href="/facts/Precedent/2tdUu2Bw">precedent</a>. Changes to the constitution typically require a <a href="/facts/Supermajority/UrN29DaU">supermajority</a>, often two thirds of votes instead of one half.
In some countries, parliamentary sovereignty may be contrasted with <a href="/facts/Separation_of_powers/erlL7IMq">separation of powers</a> and <a href="/facts/Constitutionalism/PKDbRQEz">constitutionalism</a>, which limits the legislature's scope often to general law-making and makes it subject to external <a href="/facts/Judicial_review/uYAcGDsm">judicial review</a>, where laws passed by the legislature may be declared invalid in certain circumstances. 
States that have sovereign legislatures include: the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="/facts/New_Zealand/4mpSlJdg">New Zealand</a>, the <a href="/facts/Netherlands/y8xn5stT">Netherlands</a>, <a href="/facts/Sweden/u3qC7lyj">Sweden</a>, <a href="/facts/Finland/G5Ak6T91">Finland</a>, <a href="/facts/Jamaica/jeDulmwE">Jamaica</a>.

Parliamentary sovereignty open-in-new

Parliamentary sovereignty