BRITISH CONSTITUTION

- uncodified i.e., the British Constitution does not exist as a single document but rather as a historical
formation with its provisions reflecting changing balance of power between social groups and interests

- unitary (NOT federal, unlike the US Constitution)

- flexible

- democracy rule of law – everyone is equal before the law

- based on parliamentary sovereignty – the main principle of the British Constitution:

o Parliament is the highest authority in the country

o the Constitution can only be changed by Parliament or general agreement
o No Parliament can bind a future parliament
o once an Act of Parliament is passed it cannot be disputed in law courts.
o the executive is entirely accountable to Parliament

What Parliament doth, no power on earth can undo – Sir William Blackstone “Commentaries on the
Laws of England” (1765-69)

Sources of British constitution

Statute law - Acts of Parliament and other legislation made under the authority of the original act. Statute law
regulates:

- the composition of the electorate - Representation of the People Acts 1832 - 1928.
- parliamentary sovereignty, the royal prerogative - Bill of Rights 1689.
- succession to the throne – Act of Settlement 1701.
- relationships between the Houses of Parliament - Parliament Act 1911, Peerage Act 1963.
- relationships between parts of the United Kingdom - Act of Union with Scotland 1707.
- relationships between the United Kingdom and the European Community - European Communities Act - 1972.
- the rights of the individual against the State - Habeas Corpus Act 1672 and Administration of Justice Act 1960.

Statute law is enforced by the State, takes precedence over any conflicting law, and is superior to conventions.

Common law - consists of case law, i.e. judge-made law and custom, subject to interpretation and
reinterpretation in law courts. Common law regulates:

- the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.

- the Royal Prerogative.
- judicial interpretations.

Conventions – the flesh that clothes the dry bones of the law - rules of constitutional behavior not enforced by
the law courts, customary practices carried out for centuries:

- the monarch must appoint as Prime Minister a person with the confidence of the House of Commons.
- the Prime Minister must be the leader of the majority party.
- the monarch must assent to all measures passed by both Houses of Parliament.
- the Prime Minister advises the Queen whether to dissolve Parliament or not.

The law of the European Union and international treaties and conventions (about 60% of Britain’s laws are
EU laws)

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Works of authority

Works cited as interpretations of aspects of the UK constitution. Most are works written by
nineteenth- or early-twentieth-century constitutionalists, in particular:

1844 - Thomas Erskine May (1815-1886) A Practical Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage
of Parliament (known as Parliamentary Practice or simply Erskine May)

1867 - Walter Bagehot (1826-77) The English Constitution

1885 - Albert Venn Dicey (1835-1922) An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution

SEPARATION OF POWERS or fusion of powers

LEGISLATIVE – Queen-in-Parliament (Queen, House of Commons, House of Lords); Scottish Parliament,

Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly

EXECUTIVE – the Government (Cabinet and other ministers); devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland; local authorities; public corporations

JUDICIARY – House of Lords and courts of law