THE CONSTITUTION

OF

UK

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SUBMITTED BY

MRS. ALKA SHARMA

ASST.PROF IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

HANS RAJ MAHILA MAHA VIDYALAYA

• Since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the concept of parliamentary sovereignty has been the bedrock of the British legislative constitution, that is, the statutes passed by Parliament are the supreme and final source of law in the UK . The United Kingdom does not have one specific constitutional document named as such. "unwritten" or un codified constitution

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 A. V. Dicey in his 1885 work,

 Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, which is recognized as a work of authority on the constitution by the British Parliament.

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Sources of British Constitution

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• Historic Documents
• Statutes and Acts of Parliament
• Judicial Decisions
• Commentaries of Eminent Jurists
• Common Law
• Conventions

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Historical constitutional documents�

• The evolution of UK constitutional legislation from the establishment of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland to the current day is the subject of the history of the UK constitution. The history of the United Kingdom constitution dates back to a time before the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland were fully created, despite the fact that it was formally established in 1800. Great charters and treaties, which define and limit the Crown’s power and citizens’ rights, are the earliest source of the British Constitution. Some of the historical constitutional documents are mentioned hereunder.

Magna Carta (1215)�

• The Magna Carta, or “Great Charter,” was undoubtedly the most influential historical document among other influences, on the long historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the UK today.
• After King John of England broke a number of old rules and practises that had controlled England, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which enumerates what would later be known as human rights. The right of the church to be free from government intervention, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and be protected from exorbitant taxes, and the right of widows who held property not to remarry were among them. It also included rules prohibiting bribery and official corruption.

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• Magna Carta’s role as a source of liberty has long been recognised. One of the fundamental stipulations of the 1215 Charter was that no one should be imprisoned without first going through the legal system. This also introduced the concept of a jury trial. ‘No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, exiled, or in any manner ruined… except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the realm,’ according to Clause 39 of the 1215 Charter. This successfully established the rule of law notion, which protects people from arbitrary punishment.

Petition of Right (1628)�

• The Petition of Right, which was passed on June 7, 1628, is an English constitutional instrument that establishes explicit individual safeguards against the state and is said to be on par with the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights of 1689. It was part of a larger dispute between Parliament and the Stuart monarchy that culminated in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which lasted from 1638 to 1651 and were finally settled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. King Charles-I surrendered to the Petition of Right (1628), which featured protests against taxes without Parliament’s authorisation, unjust detention, and military grievances.

Bill of Rights (1689)�

• It is an original Act of the English Parliament that has remained in Parliament’s possession since its inception. The Bill established the ideals of frequent parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament, which is now known as Parliamentary Privilege.
• All of the Bill of Rights’ main principles are still in effect today, and the Bill of Rights is frequently mentioned in judicial proceedings in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries. It occupies a central position in a larger national historical narrative of papers that established Parliament’s rights and established universal civil liberties, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215.

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Act of Settlement (1701)�

• The Act of Settlement of 1701 was enacted to ensure the Protestant succession to the crown and to enhance the guarantees that a parliamentary system of government would be maintained.

Acts of the UK Parliament�

Parliamentary Acts

• An Act of the UK Parliament is an action or a step taken by the Parliament that enact new legislation or modifies existing legislation. An Act is a Bill that has received Royal Assent from the Monarch after being approved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Acts of Parliament, when taken collectively, make up what is known in the United Kingdom as Statute Law. The UK constitution is based on a number of articles of fundamental law. 

Parliamentary Acts

• Devolution agreements; the right to vote and elections; the protection of human rights; the prohibition of discrimination; the existence of the Supreme Court; and much more are all covered by these laws. Despite their constitutional significance, there is no obvious formal distinction between these statutes and regular laws. 
• These acts of influential value which have a constitutional significance, include the Act of Habeas Corpus (1679), the Act of Settlement (1701), the Reform Acts of 1832, 1867, 1884, 1918, and 1928, the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, and the West Minister’s Statute of 1931, among others. 

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Parliamentary Acts

• The Habeas Corpus Act safeguards an essential right against detention. A person who is imprisoned without legal basis can be released under the Habeas Corpus Act. Previously the Act of Settlement dealt with the succession of the authority, according to which, The King must be a Protestant. The right to vote (franchise) and Parliamentary representation are determined by the different Reform Acts. the Reforms Act is the main basis for election and parliamentary representation issues till date. The House of Lords’ powers is governed by the Parliament Act of 1911, as revised in 1949. The Statute of Westminster establishes the Dominion status and their connection with the home country, the United Kingdom.

Parliamentary Acts

• The most essential source of the British Constitution is the statute law as the Parliament is a sovereign body and it makes legislations. As a result, any law passed by Parliament (a Statute Law) supersedes all other constitutional sources. In the United Kingdom, the Constitution is generally modified through Statute Law. The Human Rights Act of 1998 and the Devolution Acts of 1998 are two notable instances. As a result of Parliamentary Sovereignty, there is no way to overturn Statute Law other than for Parliament to repeal it. In Common Law, Statute Law is utilised to resolve inconsistencies or areas of ambiguity.

Common Law�

• The third branch of law is common law. Common law, often known as case law or precedent, is a body of law created by judges, courts, and other tribunals. It is one of the many sources of the unwritten constitution of the United Kingdom. It will be mentioned in rulings that decide particular cases, but it may also have precedential implications for future cases.

Common Law�

• The majority of the rights that the British people have today are the result of legal battles. In England, judicial decisions have established the right to personal liberty, the right to public assembly, the right to freedom of speech, and so on. It is distinguished from and is on an equal footing with statutes, which are enacted through the legislative process, and regulations, which are enacted by the executive branch.

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TREATIES

• They do not, on ratification, automatically become incorporated into UK law. Important treaties have been incorporated into domestic law by means of Acts of Parliament. The European Convention on Human Rights, for example, was given "further effect" into domestic law through the preamble of the Human Rights Act 1998.

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• Also, the Treaty of Union of 1707 was important in creating the unitary state which exists today. The treaty was between the governments of England and Scotland and was put into effect by two Acts of Union which were passed by the Parliaments of both nations. The Treaty, along with the subsequent Acts, brought into existence the Kingdom of Great Britain, uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland.

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• 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.
• Works of authority is the formal name for works that are sometimes cited as interpretations of aspects of the UK constitution.

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