Should the UKs constitution remain uncodified?

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Should the UK’s constitution remain uncodified?

        A constitution is a set of rules that seek to establish duties, powers and function of the various institutions and also seek to regulate the relationship between the state and the citizen. There are many different types of constitution; Codified or uncodified, unitary or federal and can be seen as either rigid or flexible. The U.K is an example of an uncodified constitution, whereas the U.S.A is an example of a codified constitution. Although there is a very strong two-sided argument with considerable benefits, I believe that adopting a codified constitution would not be very practical, hard to implement and too rigid in terms of making amendments.

        A codified constitution is a constitution ‘in which key constitutional provisions are collected together within a single legal document.’ (Heywood) This is commonly referred to as a written constitution. A codified constitution has three key features. It is an authoritative document due to the fact it constitutes ‘higher law’ resulting in the constitution binding all political institutions. As a codified constitution sets out functions and power of government institution in terms of ‘higher law’, it is therefore judiciable. It is also seen as ‘entrenched’, making it very hard to amend and modify as it is protected. Uncodified constitutions are ‘a constitution that is made up of rules that are found from a variety of sources, in the absence of a single legal document.’ (Heywood) Unlike codified constitutions, an uncodified constitution is neither an authoritative source and also it is not entrenched.  They are also not judiciable, meaning a judge cannot make a decision whether there has been an action that is considered constitutional or unconstitutional.

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        There are many arguments in favour of the U.K adopting a codified constitution. Because a ‘written’ constitution only contains a single legal document, they are more clearly defined as rules and are much more clear than the numerous documents involved in an ‘unwritten’ constitution. Since most of the U.K’s current constitution is unwritten, it is unknowable and results in the citizen having to employ a great deal of trusteeship in both the judicial system and the government, to play by largely unwritten rules. It is therefore argued that a codified constitution would provide a far more democratic system if ...

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