The British Constitution

A constitution is a set of laws on how a country is governed. The British Constitution is unwritten, unlike the constitution in America or the proposed European Constitution, and as such, is referred to as an uncodified constitution in the sense that there is no single document that can be classed as Britain's constitution. The British Constitution can be found in a variety of documents. Supporters of our constitution believe that the current way allows for flexibility and change to occur without too many problems. Those who want a written constitution believe that it should be codified so that the public as a whole has access to it – as opposed to just constitutional experts who know where to look and how to interpret it.

Amendments to Britain’s unwritten constitution are made the same way – by a simply majority support in both Houses of Parliament to be followed by the Royal Assent.

The British Constitution comes from a variety of sources. The main ones are:

• Statutes such as the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Act of Settlement of 1701.

• Laws and Customs of Parliament; political conventions

• Case law; constitutional matters decided in a court of law

• Constitutional experts who have written on the subject such as Walter Bagehot and A.V Dicey.

There are two basic principles to the British Constitution:

• The Rule of Law

• The Supremacy of Parliament

from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/british_constitution1.htm