Constitutional and Administrative Law (CNAD): essential SQE1 knowledgeConstitutional and Administrative Law is examined in FLK1, together with the Legal System of England and Wales, sources of law and…
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Overview
Constitutional and Administrative Law (CNAD): essential SQE1 knowledge
Constitutional and Administrative Law is examined in FLK1, together with the Legal System of England and Wales, sources of law and the current constitutional position of EU law. Collectively, this classification accounts for 14–20% of FLK1, approximately 25–36 of the 180 questions. Ethics and professional conduct may be incorporated into any question. Official SRA SQE1 blueprint
The examination requires candidates to apply constitutional principles to practical scenarios. Typical questions ask:
Which institution has legal authority to act?
Whether legislation or governmental action is valid
Whether a decision is susceptible to judicial review
Which ground of review applies
Whether a claimant has standing and has acted in time
Which judicial-review remedy is appropriate
Whether a public authority has breached a Convention right
What effect retained or assimilated EU law has in the UK
1. The UK constitution
Candidates should understand that the UK constitution is:
Uncodified rather than contained in one constitutional document
Derived from several legal and non-legal sources
Flexible because Parliament can ordinarily change constitutional rules through legislation
Based on constitutional principles including parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law and separation of powers
Its principal sources are:
Acts of Parliament
Case law
Constitutional conventions
The royal prerogative
Works of authority
Retained or assimilated EU law
International obligations where incorporated into domestic law
You should distinguish between:
Legal rules, which courts can enforce
Conventions, which regulate constitutional behaviour but are not normally directly enforceable by courts
2. Parliamentary sovereignty
This is a central SQE topic.
The orthodox principle is that Parliament may:
Make or repeal any law
Legislate on any subject
Bind courts through valid primary legislation
Not generally bind a future Parliament
Candidates should understand:
Express repeal
Implied repeal
Constitutional statutes
Manner-and-form arguments
The relationship between Parliament and the courts
The effect of devolution
The historical and continuing constitutional effects of EU membership
The Human Rights Act’s preservation of parliamentary sovereignty
Courts cannot generally invalidate an Act of the UK Parliament merely because it is unconstitutional or incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
3. The legislative process
Candidates should know the principal stages of a Bill:
First reading
Second reading
Committee stage
Report stage
Third reading
Consideration by the other House
Resolution of differences between the Houses
Royal Assent
Also understand:
Public, private and hybrid Bills
The respective roles of the House of Commons and House of Lords
Money Bills
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
Parliamentary privilege
The enrolled-bill principle
Commencement of legislation
Questions may test whether a proposed measure can proceed without the House of Lords or whether a parliamentary process may be questioned by the courts.
4. Delegated legislation
Candidates should understand:
Statutory instruments
Orders in Council
By-laws
The enabling or parent Act
Affirmative and negative resolution procedures
Parliamentary and judicial control
Consultation and publication requirements
Delegated legislation may be challenged where it is:
Substantively ultra vires
Procedurally ultra vires
Irrational
Incompatible with Convention rights
Made for an improper purpose
Unlike primary legislation, delegated legislation can ordinarily be declared invalid by a court.
5. Separation of powers
Candidates must understand the functions of:
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
The UK does not have an absolute separation of powers. Instead, it combines partial separation with checks and balances.
Important matters include:
Judicial independence
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
Creation and role of the UK Supreme Court
Separation of the senior judiciary from the legislature
Executive accountability to Parliament
Judicial review of executive action
Limits on judicial interference with parliamentary proceedings
From 1 September 2026, the SRA specification uses the term “judicial function” rather than simply “the judiciary”, clarifying that candidates should understand the judiciary’s core constitutional responsibilities.
6. The rule of law
Candidates should understand that the rule of law requires:
Government to act under lawful authority
Equality before the law
Accessible and sufficiently certain laws
Fair procedures
Access to independent courts
Protection against arbitrary exercises of power
Compliance with court orders and judgments
The rule of law is frequently tested through judicial-review or access-to-justice scenarios rather than as an abstract essay question.
7. The executive and governmental accountability
Know the principal roles of:
Prime Minister
Cabinet
Ministers
Government departments
Civil Service
Parliament
Parliamentary committees
Courts
Ombudsmen
Mechanisms of accountability include:
Ministerial questions
Select committees
Debates
Votes of confidence
Ministerial responsibility
Judicial review
Statutory investigations
Ombudsman processes
Distinguish:
Individual ministerial responsibility
Collective ministerial responsibility
Legal accountability
Political accountability
8. The monarchy and the Crown
Candidates should understand:
The distinction between the monarch personally and the Crown as a legal or governmental concept
The monarch’s formal constitutional functions
Royal Assent
Appointment of the Prime Minister
Summoning and proroguing Parliament
The operation of constitutional conventions
The principle that the monarch normally acts on ministerial advice
The examination is more likely to test the legal authority for governmental action than ceremonial detail.
9. Royal prerogative powers
Prerogative powers are residual common-law executive powers exercised principally by ministers in the name of the Crown.
Examples include:
Conduct of foreign affairs
Making and withdrawing from treaties
Deployment of armed forces
Granting passports
Granting mercy
Appointment of ministers
Candidates should know:
Statute prevails where it occupies the same legal field
The executive cannot use prerogative powers to frustrate legislation
Some prerogative powers are reviewable by the courts
Reviewability depends primarily on the subject matter, not merely the source of the power
Courts may decline to determine matters that are institutionally or constitutionally unsuitable for adjudication
Key authorities include:
Attorney General v De Keyser’s Royal Hotel Ltd
Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU
R (Miller) v Prime Minister; Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland
10. Devolution
Candidates should understand the constitutional status and powers of:
Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government
Senedd Cymru and Welsh Government
Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive
UK Parliament and UK Government
Important principles include:
The UK Parliament remains legally sovereign
Devolved legislatures derive their powers from Acts of Parliament
A devolved legislature cannot legislate outside its competence
Devolution arrangements differ between the nations
The Sewel Convention is politically significant but not ordinarily judicially enforceable
Courts may determine whether devolved legislation is within legislative competence
Wales
Wales is especially important because the SQE qualifies solicitors in England and Wales.
Candidates should know:
The reserved-powers model
The role of Senedd Cymru
The role of Welsh Ministers
The difference between devolved and reserved matters
How Acts of Senedd Cymru are made
Territorial and subject-matter competence
Application of Westminster and Senedd legislation in Wales
Interpretation of bilingual Welsh and English legislative texts
The constitutional status of the Welsh language
For example, devolved Welsh taxation, including Land Transaction Tax, falls within the competence of the Welsh institutions rather than being decided solely by Westminster.
11. Judicial review: nature and scope
Judicial review is the principal method by which the courts supervise the legality of public decision-making.
It is concerned primarily with:
Legality of the decision
Fairness of the process
Rationality
Compliance with relevant rights
It is generally not concerned with whether the court would have made a better decision.
Candidates should distinguish judicial review from:
A statutory appeal
A private-law claim
An appeal on the merits
A Human Rights Act claim, although the claims may overlap
12. Amenability to judicial review
A decision may be reviewable where it involves:
A public body
Exercise of a statutory power
Exercise of a reviewable prerogative power
A private body performing a sufficiently public function
Relevant considerations include:
Source of the power
Nature of the function
Public consequences
Statutory context
Availability of alternative remedies
The examination may ask whether a nominally private organisation is performing a public function and is therefore susceptible to review.
13. Standing
A claimant must have a sufficient interest in the matter.
Candidates should understand:
Directly affected individuals normally have standing
Public-interest groups may have standing
Standing is assessed in the context of the merits and public importance
A complete stranger or mere busybody may lack standing
Important authorities include:
R v Inland Revenue Commissioners, ex p National Federation of Self-Employed
R v Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, ex p World Development Movement
R v HM Inspectorate of Pollution, ex p Greenpeace Ltd
14. Time limits and permission
A judicial-review claim must be filed:
Promptly
In any event, generally within three months after the grounds first arose
Shorter statutory periods may apply, particularly in planning and procurement matters.
Candidates should know:
Three months is a longstop, not an automatic entitlement to wait
Permission is required
The claimant must present an arguable case
Alternative remedies should normally be exhausted
Delay may cause refusal even within three months
The court may refuse relief where delay causes prejudice or detriment to good administration
15. Illegality
Illegality means that the decision-maker misunderstood, exceeded or misused its lawful powers.
It includes:
Acting outside statutory powers
Misinterpreting the law
Improper purpose
Taking irrelevant considerations into account
Failing to consider relevant considerations
Unlawful delegation
Fettering discretion
Rigid application of policy
Acting under another person’s dictation
Errors of law or fact in appropriate circumstances
Fettering discretion
A public body may adopt a policy, but it must:
Remain willing to consider exceptions
Consider the merits of individual cases
Not treat the policy as an inflexible legal rule
Delegation
Candidates should know the general principle that a power delegated to a particular decision-maker should be exercised by that decision-maker, subject to lawful administrative delegation, including the Carltona principle.
16. Irrationality
A decision may be unlawful if it is so unreasonable that no reasonable public authority could have made it.
Candidates should understand:
The traditional Wednesbury standard
The high threshold for ordinary irrationality
Heightened scrutiny where fundamental rights are affected
The distinction between irrationality and simple disagreement
The relationship between irrationality and proportionality
The court does not usually substitute its own preferred decision.
17. Procedural impropriety and natural justice
This includes:
Failure to follow a mandatory statutory procedure
Failure to provide a fair hearing
Bias or apparent bias
Failure to give adequate notice
Failure to disclose the substance of the case
Improper refusal of representation
Failure to consult fairly
Failure to give reasons where fairness requires them
Right to a fair hearing
What fairness requires depends on:
Nature of the decision
Statutory framework
Effect on the individual
Urgency
Existing procedural protections
Legitimate expectations
Bias
The test for apparent bias asks whether a fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was a real possibility of bias.
18. Legitimate expectation
A legitimate expectation may arise from:
An express promise or representation
A settled and regular past practice
A published policy
Candidates should distinguish:
Procedural legitimate expectation, such as an expectation of consultation
Substantive legitimate expectation, such as an expectation that a promised benefit will continue
The representation should ordinarily be:
Clear
Unambiguous
Devoid of relevant qualification
Made by someone with appropriate authority
The public body may sometimes depart from the expectation where justified by a sufficient public-interest reason.
19. Judicial-review remedies
Candidates should know the purpose of each remedy:
Remedy
Effect
Quashing order
Cancels an unlawful decision
Prohibiting order
Prevents an unlawful act or decision
Mandatory order
Requires the public body to perform a public duty
Declaration
States the parties’ legal position
Injunction
Requires or prevents particular conduct
Damages
Available only where an independent legal basis exists
Important principles:
Remedies are discretionary
A successful claim does not guarantee relief
The court may refuse relief because of delay, claimant misconduct or lack of practical effect
Damages are not a general remedy simply because a public decision was unlawful
The court commonly remits the matter for lawful reconsideration rather than making the substantive decision itself
20. Ouster clauses and access to justice
Candidates should understand:
An ouster clause seeks to restrict judicial supervision
Courts interpret such clauses restrictively
Clear statutory wording is required
The constitutional function of judicial review is protected by the rule of law
Tribunal decisions may remain reviewable for legal error despite apparently restrictive wording
Parliament may legislate to restrict review, but the precise statutory language is critical
Key authorities include:
Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission
R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal
R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor
21. Human Rights Act 1998
Candidates must understand the relationship between:
European Convention on Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
Human Rights Act 1998
UK courts
Public authorities
Parliament
The specified provisions in the official blueprint include:
Sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 HRA 1998
Convention rights contained in Schedule 1
Core statutory provisions
Provision
Essential effect
Section 2
UK courts must take relevant Strasbourg jurisprudence into account
Section 3
Legislation must be interpreted compatibly with Convention rights so far as possible
Section 4
Higher courts may issue a declaration of incompatibility
Section 6
It is unlawful for a public authority to act incompatibly with Convention rights
Section 7
A victim may bring or rely upon Convention proceedings
Section 8
Courts may grant appropriate and just relief
Section 10
Allows remedial action following incompatibility
A declaration of incompatibility:
Does not invalidate the legislation
Does not prevent its continued operation
Does not bind the parties in the same way as quashing legislation
Signals that legislative correction should be considered
22. Convention rights
Candidates should recognise and apply the principal Convention rights, including:
Article 2: right to life
Article 3: prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Article 4: prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Article 5: right to liberty and security
Article 6: right to a fair trial
Article 7: no punishment without law
Article 8: private and family life, home and correspondence
Article 9: freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Article 10: freedom of expression
Article 11: freedom of assembly and association
Article 12: right to marry
Article 14: prohibition of discrimination in enjoyment of Convention rights
Article 1 of Protocol 1: peaceful enjoyment of possessions
Article 2 of Protocol 1: right to education
Article 3 of Protocol 1: free elections
Know the difference between:
Absolute rights
Limited rights
Qualified rights
For qualified rights, candidates should apply:
Is the right engaged?
Has there been interference?
Is the interference prescribed by law?
Does it pursue a legitimate aim?
Is it necessary and proportionate?
23. Proportionality
The proportionality analysis asks, in substance:
Is the objective sufficiently important?
Is the measure rationally connected to that objective?
Could a less intrusive measure have been used?
Has a fair balance been struck between individual rights and the community interest?
Proportionality is particularly important in Human Rights Act cases. It is more structured and potentially more intensive than ordinary Wednesbury irrationality review.
24. Public Order law
The SRA expressly includes:
Processions
Assemblies
Breach of the peace
Candidates should understand:
Police powers to impose conditions
When conditions may be imposed on processions and assemblies
Relevant risks of serious disorder, damage, disruption or intimidation
Distinction between imposing conditions and prohibiting an event
Powers relating to trespassory assemblies
Interaction with Articles 10 and 11
Arrest and preventive action for an anticipated breach of the peace
Requirement that the threatened breach be sufficiently imminent
Questions commonly require candidates to balance public-order powers against freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
25. EU law in the current UK constitution
Although the UK has left the EU, EU law remains examinable because it continues to affect the domestic legal system.
Candidates should understand:
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020
Retained EU law and the post-2023 concept of assimilated law
Supremacy rules applicable to pre-exit domestic legislation
Interpretation and modification of assimilated law
Status of retained or assimilated case law
When higher courts may depart from retained EU case law
Withdrawal Agreement
Citizens’ rights
The special constitutional arrangements affecting Northern Ireland
Preliminary references in contexts where EU law remains legally relevant
Candidates should not answer a modern question as though the UK were still an EU Member State.
26. Most important authorities to recognise
Candidates are not generally required to reproduce lengthy case citations, but the rules associated with these decisions are important:
Entick v Carrington: executive action requires lawful authority
Case of Proclamations: the Crown cannot alter the law by prerogative
Attorney General v De Keyser’s Royal Hotel: statute displaces overlapping prerogative power
CCSU v Minister for the Civil Service: reviewability of prerogative powers and grounds of review
Associated Provincial Picture Houses v Wednesbury Corporation: irrationality
Anisminic: errors of law and restrictive interpretation of ouster clauses
Ridge v Baldwin: procedural fairness
Porter v Magill: apparent bias
R v North and East Devon Health Authority, ex p Coughlan: substantive legitimate expectation
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p Doody: fairness and reasons
R (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: proportionality
GCHQ: illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety
Miller (No 1): prerogative could not remove statutory rights created through Parliament
Miller/Cherry (No 2): unlawful prorogation
UNISON: access to justice and unlawful tribunal fees
Privacy International: ouster clauses
Jackson v Attorney General: Parliament Acts and constitutional principle
The examination is more likely to test the principle from the case than ask for its name.
What should be memorised precisely?
Candidates should know accurately:
Functions of Parliament, executive and judiciary
Stages of primary legislation
Control of delegated legislation
Parliamentary sovereignty
Devolved versus reserved powers
Nature and limits of prerogative powers
Judicial-review standing and time limits
Permission requirement
Grounds of judicial review
Tests for apparent bias and legitimate expectation
Judicial-review remedies
Sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 HRA
Absolute, limited and qualified rights
Proportionality analysis
Public-order powers affecting processions and assemblies
Constitutional status of assimilated EU law
Best SQE problem-solving structure
For almost every CNAD scenario, work through these questions:
Who made the decision?
What is the source of their power?
Is the issue legal, political or conventional?
Did the decision-maker exceed or misuse the power?
Was the procedure fair?
Is a Convention right engaged?
Does the claimant have standing?
Is the claim within the relevant time limit?
Is there an adequate alternative remedy?
Which remedy is most appropriate?
Blueprint caution
Strictly, the official SRA blueprint combines:
Legal System of England and Wales
Sources of law
Constitutional Law
Administrative Law
EU law
into one 14–20% classification. Therefore, CNAD should not be treated as occupying the entire percentage by itself. The precise current examinable content appears in the official FLK1 specification.