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Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by blibble on Wednesday May 24, 2023 @05:21PM (#36064011)
surely that Act is by definition unlawful?

I still don't really understand

in the UK: Parliament has unlimited power and people talk quite a bit about formal constitutions being a good model to be followed

it seems a bit sad the attempt to protect the population against government using a formal constitution doesn't seem to work in reality (even when the wording is as clear as day)

Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by dragontamer on Wednesday May 24, 2023 @05:26PM (#36064067)
> surely that Act is by definition unlawful?

Whose definition?

Answer: The Supreme Court decides the definition of things. Its only unconstitutional if the Supreme Court says so.

That's how the USA can get away with... I dunno... the Office of Censorship in 1941. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Censorship). Definitions change, not only due to different members on the Supreme Court, but also due to different circumstances (WW2 meant that the Supreme Court was willing to ignore the obvious incursion into the 1st Amendment, at least temporarily)

EDIT: I always forget that it was actually the Office of War Information that did the Hollywood Censorship thing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Office_of_War_In...), rather than the Office of Censorship.

Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by blibble on Wednesday May 24, 2023 @06:14PM (#36064521)
> Whose definition?

I guess that's the underlying problem

I'm not sure how you fix it really, though not having direct political appointment of judges might be a good start

(maybe put an LLM in charge of a supreme court? I kid, I kid)

Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by damiankennedy on Wednesday May 24, 2023 @07:12PM (#36065072)
You do have a King though. What would happen if the PM went to see him to form a government and they disagreed? The King is the one with armed guards, military rank and a fortress.
Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by samus on Wednesday May 24, 2023 @08:53PM (#36065908)
As part of his coronation, the King has sworn an oath to uphold the Law and to respect the primacy of Parliament. Not appointing the PM and his government has serious consequences as the PM is the leader of Parliament, which is the institution that has actually restored monarchy after the Glorious Revolution and which actually bankrolls the armed forces, and which was ultimately elected according to the Law by the citizens.
Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by Randomizer42 on Wednesday May 24, 2023 @11:26PM (#36066765)
The king is the de facto ruler, to say otherwise is being pedantic.
Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by afthonos on Thursday May 25, 2023 @01:03AM (#36067197)
No, this is pedantic::

De facto means in fact. Given that the king does no governing no, he is not, in fact, the ruler. You may be looking for de jure, though I question even that.

Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by samus on Thursday May 25, 2023 @05:49AM (#36068741)
The king of the UK still has to respect the Law. Being king does not mean that one can do as one pleased, or that there are no checks and balances. The last English king who tried to become an absolute ruler caused the English Civil War and was put on the chopping block by Parliament, as a matter of fact.
Re:PyPI Was Subpoenaed by habinero on Friday May 26, 2023 @02:06AM (#36080601)
No, he's the ceremonial head of state. There's a polite fiction that all power comes from him, but he can't actually make anyone do anything.

If he tried, people would say no. If he insisted, he'd get tossed out on his ear.