Essay
UK Constitution
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This is an essay arguing on how UK has a written constitution but not a codified one
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Public Law Notes & Essay Outlines (First Class)
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Potential Exam QuestionThe UK not only has a constitution, it has a written constitution.
Discuss.
“The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will
be” as stated by her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, presents rather
a perplexing perspective of the British constitution. According to a recent
article by Professor Robert Blackburn (professor of constitutional law),
Britain has an uncodified constitution comprised of Acts of Parliament,
common law and conventions; together these laws govern the country
and stipulates the power among citizens and the government.
In contrast to other countries, United Kingdom (UK), Israel and
New Zealand are the only countries to not have a written constitution.
However, one could argue despite the lack of a written constitution
which might sound peculiar to many, UK seems to have its laws intact
with written documents of the unwritten constitution. As ironic as it may
appear, the unwritten constitution of UK comprises written documents
since historic times; foremost the Magna Carta 1215, Bill of Rights 1689,
Act of settlement 1701, etc.
Many countries possess a constitution which is rigid in its nature of
amendments and is a contradictory feature of the UK constitution. For
instance the Australian constitution, since 1900, has been exposed to 44
proposals for amendments but only 8 were successful (the last one
being in 1977). However the UK constitution is extremely flexible,
enabling fundamental changes to be achieved easily via an Act of
Parliament; for example, the Brexit (Withdrawal Act 2018) and the
establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009 through the Constitutional
Reform Act 2005. Such flexibility seems to favour the UK government
during a controversial crisis which contrariwise, other countries with
written constitutions are unable to decipher. The American constitution
for example is still silent on decisive matters such as women’s
constitutional rights for abortion and controversy of the
unconstitutionality of same sex marriages. Conversely, UK’s unwritten
constitution is often referred to as a “living constitution” which can evolve
and adapt with social stances (Marriage (same- sex couples) Act 2013).
F.F Ridley argued the lack of a constitution in Britain taking into
consideration three essential characteristics that needed to be sufficed
in order to affirm a constitution of a country. Firstly, he elucidated the
necessity for constitutional law to be superior than ordinary law and
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