Government and politics assignment - Distinguish between a codified and uncodified constitution?

What are the main sources of the uk constitution?

The first source of the UK constitution is the statute law which are acts of parliament. Some of these statutes play a significant role in outlining the extent and distribution of government powers; the parliament acts of 1911 and 1949,for example, limit the power of the House of Lords. Other statutes outline our rights within a democracy; in the various representations of the people acts, for example, rules the governing elections and the franchise are set out. Statute law is generally regarded as taking precedence over all other constitutional sources and this is linked to the idea of parliamentary sovereignty. Some argue that our membership of the European union limits the importance of statute law and parliamentary sovereignty but others maintain that this is untrue, as long as parliament retains the power to withdraw from the European union by repealing the 1972 European communities act.

The treaties of the European union law

The increasing globalisation of politics and united kingdom involvement in supra national organisations have led some to question the extent to which statute law is still the overriding source of our constitution. Our membership of the European union is particularly significant to passing the 1972 European communities act, European law and regulations were given precedence over our own national laws. Thus, it is argued, statute law no longer conquers all and parliament is no longer sovereign. Some argue that the power has only been delegated to the European union and that the parliament still has the power to repeal the 1972 act, thereby removing us from the union. In the sense, parliament is still theoretically sovereign and statute law is still theoretically pr-eminent. Such a withdrawal would, however be extremely difficult to execute.

Conventions

Conventions are traditions or customs that have evolved over time and have through deference to precedent, became accepted rules of behaviour. Unlike. Common law. However, conventions will not stand up in a court of law. Important conventions include the doctrines of individual and collective ministerial responsibility, as well as the rule, requiring the royal assent before a bill passed by both houses of parliament can pass into law.

Common law

Common law consists of established customs and precedent developed through the actions of judges. This “precedent” is often referred to as “case law” or “judge made law”. When a case is heard, the court will generally look for previous examples of similar cases and look to follow precedent when arriving at a decision. When no precedent exists the decision will itself set precedent; though in areas such as this, it is common for the case to be passed around through the appeals process before a final judgement is made. A lot of the original law concerning civil liberties and a good deal of consumer protection rests upon common law. The royal prerogative including the power to declare war and agree treaties is also based in common law. When john major signed the Maastricht treaty, he was doing so under the prerogative powers exercised by the prime minister in the name of the monarch. He could, therefore have argued that there was no need for parliament to approve this treaty.

Works of authority

Works of authority as quoted by Philip Norton is when politicians want to ascertain correct procedure, they may call into play certain specialist works dealing with the constitution. Over time therefore some of these books have themselves become part of the constitutional framework because they codify practices not outlined on paper elsewhere.