The Constitution And Human Rights

Constitution ~ a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.

One strength of the UK constitution is the flexibility that it has, for the reason that the constitution is uncodified or unwritten and is therefore not entrenched in law. Due to the fact that the UK’s constitution is uncodified or unwritten, it has an opportunity to modernise itself to the ever changing society or any other new circumstances that may arise. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s

A constitution is the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation is governed. Our founding fathers created the US Constitution to

The Differences Betweek the UK and US Constitutions The constitution of a state, at its most basic, can be described as the fundamental principles from which it is governed, usually defining how power is split up within it and thereby constructing a framework within which it operates (www.oed.com). In this essay, I will first provide a brief summary of the UK and US constitutions and then attempt to outline the key differences and similarities between the two and discuss whether the differences really do pale in comparison with the fundamental similarities. Queen Elizabeth the 2nd once said, “The British constitution has always puzzled me” (Hennessy, 1996) and this certainly becomes

In codified constitutions, laws are entrenched which makes it harder for them to evolve and adapt to modern requirements because it takes a long time for a response due to the required procedures, which might involve gaining two-thirds majority in the legislature or approval by referendum. As a result, one can argue that countries with codified constitutions struggle to find a resolution to their dogmatic laws. For example, the USA are still unable to introduce stricter gun laws because it opposes the constitutional right for citizens to bear arms, even though

A written constitution is considered the highest form of law and is respected because of this. There is no such principle in the British constitution because sovereignty lies with Parliament.

Parliamentary sovereignty has no set definition, but in Dicey’s view it meant that parliament is the supreme law making body, able to amend or repeal any legislation it wishes without its legal validity being questioned by any other body, including the executive or judicial bodies. It also cannot bind the preceding parliament or the future parliament.

The Constitution is a set of basic principles and laws that states the power and duties of the government, and is still used today. The Constitution limited the power of the national government and protected the rights of the people

The Constitution (LEQ) The Constitution is a document that basically frames out the entire government of the United States of America. It was created because the Articles of Confederation wasn’t powerful enough, and the forefathers believed that the country wouldn’t survive as long as the government was being ran how it was. In some ways the Constitution is a continuation of the Articles such as Enlightenment ideals. However, the Constitution was also a major departure from the Articles in regards to federalism, and diplomacy.

Our Constitution was written to be the backbone of our government but with the task it's given not everything can be written word for word but must be interpreted. Its there to establish our national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. With ideas such as amendments and the Elastic Clause our Constitution can cover all bases and be able to adapt to the situations at hand.

The UK’s unwritten constitution, formed of Acts of Parliament [AoP], Royal Prerogative [RP], Constitutional Convention [CC] and Case Law [CL], prompts much debate about the ease of which constitutional change can be introduced. A written constitution is, by definition and practice, hard to alter however it remains to be seen whether it is any easier to change an unwritten

However if a codified constitution will introduce judicial tyranny then it defeats the object of reducing concentrated power. In the UK currently the people have the ability the put pressure on the government to make changes to the constitution for example the powers of the House of Lords were reduced through both Parliament acts of 1911 and 1949 because of a growing belief that an unelected second chamber should no longer have the right to block the policies of an elected government. This was recently changed again so that after the hereditary line to the House of Lords stop after those currently there die. However in a codified constitution judges would be the people policing the constitution, meaning that pressure from the people wouldn’t mean anything because the judiciary are not accountable to the people.

Parliament can however override and replace the prerogative by statute e.g. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. The Courts are capable of judicial review of these powers as was held unanimously in the GCHQ case. Only prerogative acts, which don’t involve high policy best determined by the executives will be reviewed.

Some judges in their obiter dicta have declared their inclination to disregard the Parliament’s legislative objectives, and therefore limit parliamentary sovereignty if the rule of law is vulnerable or if the circumstances demand “a principle established on a different hypothesis of constitutionalism” . They have also suggested that, while the British Constitution is dominated by parliamentary sovereignty, “The rule of law enforced by the courts is the ultimate controlling factor on which our constitution is based” . This represents a possibility of stretching the dominance of the rule of law in constitutional law so that it becomes more powerful than parliamentary sovereignty in the British Constitution .

The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the longest living monarchies in Europe and has the longest Parliament. In legislative terms, the UK is a non-federal state that is composed of three countries (England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and one principality (Wales) (Slapper & Kelly, 2008). Surprisingly, UK is one of the few countries that do not have a written constitution: however, UK has a body of law that is of constitutional significance. Furthermore, UK law is also not codified, process