迟到的“革命”:英国人关于“议会主权”的一场争论

A "Revolution" Coming Late: The British Dispute about Its Parliamentary Sovereignty

英国经典议会主权理论认为,英国议会具有最高立法权,法院只能服从而不能质疑议会的立法,议会后来通过的法令可以修改或废止此前通过的任何法令。英国加入欧洲共同体后上述经典议会主权理论受到了欧共体法的最高效力和直接效力原则的挑战,由此引发英国人关于欧共体法优先还是议会主权至上的法理争论,围绕Factortame判案这一争论达到高潮,形成了"革命"论和"建构"论两种不同的观点。实际上,"革命"早在英国加入欧共体时即已发生,经典议会主权理论的核心受到冲击,但这种"革命"是有限的,它并没有动摇英国宪法主权的地位。

By classical British theory of Parliamentary sovereignty,the British Parliament holds supreme power of legislature to which the British courts are obliged to be subject without any right to question,and the acts passed by the Parliament could be revised or waived by any act passed later.Since Britain entered the European Community,however,this theory has been challenged by the principles of the EU laws supremacy and their direct effects,which led to a lasting legal dispute about whether the EU laws are superior to the British Parliament's acts or the reverse is true.This dispute reached the climax around the controversial views of 'revolution' and 'construction' about the Factortame Case.Actually,the revolution has already happened once Britain entered the EU due to the fact that the classical Parliamentary theory conflicts with the principles of the EU laws,but this revolution is limited and does not fluctuate the status of British constitutional sovereignty.