UK Constitution

UK Constitution Meaning

A constitution is a vital collection of concepts and practises that serve as the foundation for how a state is governed. It establishes essential concepts that regulate the exercise of political power, the relationship between the government and its population, and the preservation of individuals' rights and freedoms. Many nations, unlike the United Kingdom, have written constitutions that codify these norms in a single text. Instead, constitutional concepts and regulations are dispersed over a variety of written sources, including Act of Parliament, common law, and custom, as well as informal, unwritten practises known as constitutional conventions. These sources, when combined, establish a complete framework for governance and lay the groundwork for the rule of law.

Does the uk have a constitution?

In order to understand why UK does not have a codified constitution, it is necessary to understand UK’s historical, legal, and political landscape, that despite having gradually evolved over centuries, has not actually experienced a sudden drastic change or break. For example, Malaysia has a codified constitution because it was given independence by the British in 1957 to become an independent state and The United States of America went through a revolution during the 18th century. Although there have been significant cataclysmic events in the British history such as the 17th century English civil war, these happened almost a century before the idea of a written constitution began to seriously take form in the late 18th century. By then, UK was well past the major changes and Parliament sovereignty was established so any new changes that occurred were easily dealt with Acts of Parliament.

Advantages of a unwritten constitution

One of the main advantages an uncodified constitution offers is flexibility. With an uncodified constitution, it is easy for the legislators to make and unmake laws of constitutional importance. In the UK there is no special procedure to repeal or amend statutes of constitutional importance other than getting a simple majority in Parliament. For example, in the UK, the landmark case of Somersett aided by a well organized abolitionist movement ended the practice of owning slaves in England and contributed to Parliament enacting the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. In the words of Hillaire Barnett, “In the UK, constitutional changes can be brought about with the minimum of constitutional fuss.” In contrast, countries with a written constitution have to jump through several hoops before amendments to the constitution can be made. Democracy dictates that the contending parties put out their wares for the public’s perusal and eventual choice during elections. If the majority agrees to a particular party’s election manifesto and the party forms the new executive then in the name of democracy, it must be allowed to carry out its election promises with minimal fuss. However, with a codified constitution, only a constitutional amendment may allow certain policies to be implemented and this is just a tedious process as mentioned above.

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