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The Issue Of The Uk

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Introduction It is quite a complicated question whether the UK really has a constitution in its modern sense. Back in the 18th century it was not even a question; the British constitution was recognized and celebrated for its democratic spirit, particularly by French Enlighteners and some of the American Founding Fathers. But since the Americans have decided to write down their principles of government into a document and to call it “Constitution,” and a lot of other countries, such as the newly-freed Latin American colonies, followed their example, the term “constitution” is mostly associated with a document. As the UK does not have a single document of such a kind, it is sometimes claimed that the country does not have a constitution at…show more content…
Hence, the UK has a constitution, even though it is not codified, and the requirements to codify it has nothing to do with its validity as an acting constitution. The Definition of a Constitution The first step to find out whether the UK has a constitution is to determine what exactly constitution is. According to Oxford Dictionary of law, “constitution” is defined as “the rules and practices that determine the composition and functions of the organs of central and local government in a state and regulate the relationship between the individual and the state” (Martin, 2003, p. 108). The dictionary entry further mentions that the majority of the countries dispose of a written document as their constitution. One of the main properties of such a disposal is a possibility to alter a constitution through a special procedure, whereas no such procedures are needed to change the statutes, of which the UK constitution partly consist. However, it also consists of common law rules and constitutional conventions (Martin, 2003, p. 108), which are hard or impossible to amend. Constitution establishes principles that dictate who is allowed to make laws and how, what should be the relations between the main institutions of government, what are the rights and freedoms of citizens and how those are protected and guaranteed (Elliott & Quinn, 2007, p. 1). In general, the term “constitution” refers to the set of rules, according to which a government
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