Is it time to adopt a written constitution?

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'For effective governance in the 21st century the United Kingdom requires a written constitution.'

Constitutions perform three main tasks: they provide for the creation of the institutions of the State; they regulate the relations between those institutions and one another; and they regulate the relations between those institutions and the citizens they govern.1 Many believe that the United Kingdom's constitution is now outdated with an inherent lack of overall agreement between its statutes, common laws and conventions. The constitution is meant to be the main backbone on which power, control, order and authority are built upon and maintained by.2 Considering this, is it now therefore the time for the United Kingdom to adopt a written constitution in order to provide for effective interaction between these formal institutions and those of civil society in the 21st century? In this essay I will first of all differentiate and explain what is meant by the terms 'written' and 'unwritten' with respect to a constitution. I will then go on to determine the principal characteristics on which the present constitution of the United Kingdom is based and moreover, explore the arguments both for and against the adoption of a written constitution within the