A discussion on whether the United Kingdom still has a constitution.
This paper inherently implies that the United Kingdom once had a constitution and that it is questionable whether it continues to do so. It begins with an explanation of what a constitution is and debates its current part in U.K politics today. Evidence is considered from a breadth of sources including the law courts, the European Union, the Blair reforms of devolution and increased use of referenda and theoretical argument from inter alia Dicey, Montesquieu and Madison.
“When people talk of a constitution they often misleading refer to the single, codified document that entrenches the “laws, customs and conventions which define the composition and powers of the State and regulate the relationship of various state organs to one and other and the private citizen” . This is misleading, because a constitution need not be codified, nor for that matter written down. The greatest example of the single document mantra is the USA, but arguments that the UK lacks a constitution simply because it lacks a vellum document authoritatively stamped with a seal are rarely taken seriously. “Many of the laws and rules that describe and regulate Britain’s political system are in fact written down.”