Sources of the UK Constitution

Question 1

Statue Law

Answer 1

• Statue Law is all legislation created by parliament
• Not all laws are constitutional- only those that deal with the nature of politics and government r the rights of citizens
• Statue law is the most important source of the constitution due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. All other sources can be overrides by statue law

Question 2

Examples of statue Law

Answer 2

• 2005 Constitutional Reform Act created a separate Supreme Court
• The 1918 Representation of the People Act which allowed all men and some women to vote

Question 3

Common Law

Answer 3

• Common law is made up of customs and judicial precedent (when judicial decisions clarify the meaning of statue or make ruikijgs in the absence of statue)
• A lot of constitutional principles such as the Royal Perogstivr are a party of common law

Question 4

Conventions

Answer 4

• Custom practices that are accepted as the way of doing things
• An example is the convention that the PM is the leader of the largest party in parliament
• Conventions can be removed or made permanent by statue law
• 2011 Fixed Term Parliament Act put into statue law the convention that the Government should resign if it is defeated in a vote of no confidence

Question 5

Authoritative works

Answer 5

• Authoritative works such as Walter Bagehots ‘The English Constitution’ are books or written guides to the working of the UK constitution
• Although they are widely respected, they are not legally binding

Question 6

Treaties

Answer 6

• Treaties are agreements signed with other countries
• The most important treaties affecting the UK constitution are the treaty that entered Britain into the ECC in 1972 and the Maastricht Treaty (1992) which established the European Union.
• The UK government recently negotiated a new treaty that allowed the UK to leave the EU (BREXIT)