Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Submitted by
British history that has led to a new beginning: the last time that happened was in 1066, when the
adoption of constitutions was not part of the political discourse. The nearest Britain came to such
an event after that was in the civil war in the mid 17th century. A document, called the
Instrument of Government, was drawn up in 1653, and would have provided the basis for the
future government of the country without a monarchy but with matters firmly under the control
of Parliament. However, this was abandoned following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.
Professor King is his Hamlyn Lecture offered the following definition: “A constitution is the
set of the most important rules that regulate the relations among the different parts of a given
country and also the relations between the different parts of the government and the people of the
country.”
Thomas Paine said, “A constitution is not the act of government, but of a people constituting a
government, and a government without a constitution is power without right…..A constitution is
a thing antecedent to a government, and a government is only the creature of a constitution.”
Characteristics of UK Constitution
The history of the UK explains why there is no written constitution for the system of
government. Since 1066, there has been no break in its constitutional history, apart from the
constitutional upheavals of the late 17th century. Instead of the constitution preceding and
making the government, the arrangements for government came into being and subsequently
developed. In other words, the British constitution was not made, it has grown – Sir Ivor
Jennings.
We can now identify the sources of the British constitution, both legal and non-legal, as follows:
constitutional land marks, European Union law, Acts of parliament, common law, scholarly
writing, constitutional convention, prerogative power. The people who play crucial role for
constitution are the crown, the prime minister, minister, members of the commons and lords and
the judges.
This is one of the most controversial issues regarding the constitution of UK.
Although the British constitution is traditionally characterized as ‘unwritten’ there are in fact
numerous written sources which can clearly be identified as constitutional. Accordingly, it is
strictly speaking more accurate to describe the constitution as not codified. By this is meant that
not all the rules, written or unwritten, have ever been consolidated into a single document which
we can refer to as ‘the constitution’.
Written constitution:
A written constitution is a codified constitution in which key constitutional provisions are
collected within a single document, it is commonly known as written constitution. In a codified
constitution the document itself is authoritative in the sense that it constitutes higher law. The
constitution binds all political institutions, including those who make ordinary law. The
provisions of the constitution are all said to be entranced. This means that they are difficult to
amend and abolish.
1. Acts of Parliament
2. European Union law
3. Common Law
4. Scholarly Writings
Acts of parliament
Acts of parliament is the highest form of law within the United Kingdom. Over the centuries
there have been many Acts of Parliament which have been of fundamental constitution
importance. This includes-
Magna Carta 1215: This Act was enacted to protect citizens from arbitrary power and
guarantee the right to a fair and trail by the jury.
Acts of Union 1706 and 1707: This act united England and Scotland under a single
Parliament.
Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949: The House of Commons is more supreme than the
House of Lords.
European Communities Act 1972: Community law was enforceable in United
Kingdom.
Human Rights Act 1998: This Act incorporates most of the rights and freedoms
guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law.
House of Lords Act 1999: This Act removes the right of most hereditary peers to sit and
vote and a second stage of reform is planned, although its final form remains unknown at
the time of writing.
National security and Terrorism Acts: This includes Police Acts, Public Order Acts
and other Acts which regulate state power and define the scope of civil liberties.
Constitutional and Reform Act 2005: Under this Act the Supreme Court was
established; separate from the Parliament.
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011: Under this Act it introduced fixed-term elections for
the first time to the Westminister Parliament. Under the provisions of the Act,
parliamentary elections must be held every five years, beginning in 2015.
Petition of Rights 1628: It’s a major Constitutional document that sets out specific
liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.
Common Law:
Common law may be defined as those rules which are product of slow process of long
historical growth being based upon customs and traditions. These principles are not set
down in any statute or ordinance. The Courts recognize these principles. The prerogatives
of the crown, the right of trial by jury the right of freedom of speech rest almost entirely
on common law.
Historically important court judgments include those in the Case of Proclamations, the
Ship money case and Entick v. Carrington, all of which imposed limits on the power of
the executive. A constitutional precedent applicable to British colonies is Campbell v.
Hall, which effectively extended those same constitutional limitations to any territory
which has been granted a representative assembly. A/G v. Jonathan Cape Ltd. This is
an example though of where the convention has failed to apply in modern government. M
v Home Office [1993] This established the law that the Home Secretary cannot ignore
rule of law.
Scholarly Writings:
Unwritten constitution:
Unwritten constitution refers to an uncodified set of laws established through traditional practice.
They are means of many laws passed over time to decide how things are run in the government.
The UK constitution is based on unwritten constitution.
1. Conventions
2. Royal prerogative
Convention:
According to Prof. Dicey Convention are those customs or understanding as to the mode in
which various members of sovereign legislative body should exercise their discretionary
authority. The substantial portion of U .H K. Constitution is based on convention. These are not
codified in any book of law. The Courts do not enforce conventions but however, these rules are
recognized by the constitution. Rules of the constitutional behavior which is considered to be
binding by and upon those who operate the constitution but which are not enforced by the law
Courts…nor by the presiding officers in the House of Parliament.
Royal Prerogative:
The monarchy has a significant constitutional presence in these and other areas, but very limited
power, because the prerogative is nowadays in the hands of the prime minister and other
ministers or other government officials. Certain powers pre-dating the establishment of the
present parliamentary system are still formally retained by the Queen. In practice almost all of
these powers are exercised only on the decision of Ministers of the Crown (the Cabinet). These
powers, known as the royal prerogative, include the following:
Reference:
Books
Journal Articles
Case laws
Class Lectures
Wikipedia