The British constitution has become increasingly codified, discuss.
A constitution is a set of rules that defines the manner a country is run. The British constitution is said to be an unwritten constitution, more accurately it is uncodified as much more of the British constitution is written down, however, they are not all written down in a single document like a codified constitution would require as how the US is, however draws from several different sources such as; statutes laws, common law, conventions, EU laws, authoritative documents etc. Statute law, is a written law passed down by parliament for example the human rights act of 1998 which brought the European convention on human rights into British law, conventions is another
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Article 6 (Fair Trial), all citizens are to be tried fairly and equally in a court of law, and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Article 12 (Marriage and Family), all men and women have the right to marry and start a family. Another example that could be used is Devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as much of it has the character of fundamental law, it has limited the powers of Westminster it contributes to the case that the British constitution has become more codified in the sense that it is more rigid and hard to change because it is derived through referendums, defying this means that the government is against the wish of the people.
Another statute that supports that indeed the British constitution is becoming more codified is the 2005 constitutional reform act which separate the judiciary form the executive and legislature by creating a supreme court court which more adopts the idea of separate powers mostly found n codified constitutions like the US for example , it also took over the judicial work of the house of lords, establishing the judicial appointments commission. The prospect of a coalition government in 2010 opens up the discussion even more as it led to the coalition agreement for stability and reform and called for constitutional clarification by the cabinet secretary, which demonstrates that indeed the constitution is becoming more codified as
Constitution ~ a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
One strength of the UK constitution is the flexibility that it has, for the reason that the constitution is uncodified or unwritten and is therefore not entrenched in law. Due to the fact that the UK’s constitution is uncodified or unwritten, it has an opportunity to modernise itself to the ever changing society or any other new circumstances that may arise. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s
A constitution is a written document that sets forth the fundamental rules by which a society is governed. Throughout the course of history the United States has lived under two Constitutions since the British-American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. First in line was the Articles of Confederation (1789-1789) followed by the Constitution of United States of America (1789-present). The Articles of Confederation was the first formal written Constitution of America that specified how the national government was to operate. Unfortunately, the Articles did not last long. Under the words of the Article’s power was limited; Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. Also the articles stated
The Differences Betweek the UK and US Constitutions The constitution of a state, at its most basic, can be described as the fundamental principles from which it is governed, usually defining how power is split up within it and thereby constructing a framework within which it operates (www.oed.com). In this essay, I will first provide a brief summary of the UK and US constitutions and then attempt to outline the key differences and similarities between the two and discuss whether the differences really do pale in comparison with the fundamental similarities. Queen Elizabeth the 2nd once said, “The British constitution has always puzzled me” (Hennessy, 1996) and this certainly becomes
Under the British constitution, parliament is sovereign. This means, amongst other things, that Parliament has a monopoly on making and amending laws. The British constitution, and the three functions of government which operate it often falls short of creating a definitive separation. Separation of powers refers to the idea that the major institutions of government should function independent of each other, in a utopian world there should aim to be a balance between the Crown and Parliament. In practice however, separation between the executive and legislature is near enough non-existent, an example being that government is made up almost entirely of MPs. Contrast this with the USA where no member of Obama’s government is equally a member of congress. However, the USA does have a codified constitution, a constitution written to delegate a clear separation of power. As we are well aware the UK doesn’t have such a constitution, the rules that
In the Bill of Rights, the fourth. Fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments are called the “rights of the accused.” These amendments are very successful in protecting the accused against the abuses of the federal government. The government in Great Britain at the time would convict people of crimes they didn't do and then try them in an unfair trial. The Framers of the Constitution did everything they could to keep this from happening. What they did three hundred years ago, is still working today.
The reason why that is British Constitution is unwritten in one single document, unlike the great majority of countries there is no single legal document which sets out in one place the fundamental laws outlining how the state works. The British Constitution can be found in a variety of documents. Just like it says in the book “some of it is made up of statute, or acts that Parliament has passed; the Parliament has the power, by a simple majority vote, to change any aspect of the British constitution.” (Shivery P.220). I never heard of such a development country like Britain has no written document that set up laws to be
Under an unwritten constitution, although it contains constitutional statues such as the Bill of Rights 1689, The Representation of People Act 1918 and the Human Rights Act 1998, they have not been entrenched as such and are vulnerable in the absence of a codified constitution as Ewing, Bradley and Knight state; “The ultimate protection of fundamental rights is a matter for Parliament, not the courts.” As it stands, the UK constitution is too easily changed and reformed by governing parties; as The Commons stated in the Political and Constitutional Reform report “Governing parties can too easily push measures onto the statute book to change the country's constitutional rules simply to benefit themselves. An entrenched written constitution would redress this problem, setting down a minimum set of procedures that govern major constitutional
In the United Kingdom’s constitution, the people are given rights such as the right to life, thought, religion, and expression. The citizens of the People’s Republic of China are allowed freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, precession, demonstration and religious belief.
Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, identify and explain two ways in which the British constitution regulates ‘the conduct of government’. (10 marks)
On the other hand a codified constitution would clarify the nature of the political system to its citizens. Currently in the UK the constitution is not easy to find which makes it difficult for the UKs citizens to learn the nature of the political system but also all the rights that as a citizen of the UK you should enjoy. For example in the USA the bill of rights is a part of their constitution and every citizen can gain access to these rights. In the USA the whole constitution is on one document and all citizens have access to it. This may make it easier for the UK as a whole to understand the British
It is necessary for the better understanding of the topic to discuss briefly codified and uncodified constitution and give definitions for both of them. According to Heywood (2013), a codified constitution is a single legal document that is popularly known as a ‘written constitution’ and that contains key constitutional provisions. However, the traditional approach is to distinct written or codified constitutions with unwritten or unсodified constitutions. Ryan and Foster (2014) notify that unсodified constitution is made up of rules from different sources. In other words, it is not a single document. Also, Finer, Bogdanor and Rudden (1995) describe an uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom as indeterminate and indistinct. According to Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson (2009), only three liberal democracies that are Israel, New
The Arguments For and Against a Codified Constitution A constitution is a set of rules that seek to establish the duties, powers and functions of the various institutions of government, regulate the relationships between them, and define the relationship between the state and the individual. The most common way of classifying constitutions is to distinguish between codified and uncodified. The UK has an uncodified constitution.
A constitution is a set of rules that establish duties and functions of the government and defines the basic principles to which society must conform. In this essay I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of an unwritten constitution and show that I agree with this statement.
Constitution is the basic principles and laws of a nation, state or social groups that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the citizen (Merriam-Webster online dictionary, n.d). In other words, it is a set of guidelines for a government to exercise the given power.