CONSTITUTIONAL

LAW-UK
SOURCES OF UK CONSTITUTION
Introduction
England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, which is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of
government.
The written and unwritten procedures that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland as a political body are referred to as the British constitution.
The United Kingdom’s constitution is made up of character and statute, as well as judicial
decisions, common law, precedents, customs, and traditions.
There are thousands of documents, not just one.
The British Constitution can be found in a variety of places. The UK constitution’s sources
include both law and other less formal documents that have no legal force.
Acts of Parliament, court cases, and conventions in the way the government, Parliament, and
the monarch act are the key sources of constitutional law.
Sources of UK Constitution
The constitution of UK is a product of evolution which was gradual but unbroken, spread over a
period of 1000 years.
 It is a “Child of Wisdom & Chance” by Thomas Munro.
The constitution of UK is derived from several sources.
It is not an enacted but essentially an unwritten constitution
Sources of UK Constitution
In order to understand the United Kingdom's constitution, which is largely
unwritten, it is necessary to consider a number of legal and non-legal
sources.
Legal Sources: The legal sources include Acts of Parliament and judicial
decisions which regulate the relationship between the state and its citizens.
Legal sources also include the Royal Prerogative, European Union law, and
litigation within the European Court on Human Rights.
Non Legal Sources: The principle non-legal source of the constitution are
constitutional conventions which are binding on government Ministers and
those in public office.
HISTORIC DOCUMENTS
These are historic documents forming part of the UK constitution.
These are agreements between the King & Parliament as result of constitutional struggle. 
Some examples for these are given below-
1. Magna Carta Charter of 1215,
2. Petition of Rights of 1628,
3. Bill of Rights of1689,
4. Act of Settlement 1701,
5. Act of Union with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland etc.
STATUTES
Statutes passed by the British Parliament from time to time dealing with various matters as
demanded by the exigencies of time, also constitute another important source of the English
constitution.
Some such examples are given below
Act of 1949: which reduced the delaying power of the House of Lords from 2 years to 1year in
matters of passing ordinary legislation.
Act of 1969: through which the voting age was lowered to 18 years. All laws passed by the
parliament constitute the integral part of the British constitution.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Judges decide cases, they interprets, define & develop the provisions of the statutes & Charters.
They also create precedents which has to be given due respect in the courts of law while
deciding cases.
For example, the judgment in Bradlaugh v/s Gossett in 1884 established the supremacy of the
parliament over the courts in all matters concerning the internal affairs of the parliament.
Prof. Dicey called English constitution as a judge made constitution.
In the case of Bushell (1670) the court upheld the independence of the Juries.
Slavery was completely abolished on the English soil by the case of Somerset.
The case of Howell (1678) guaranteed the immunity of judges.
 COMMON LAWS
Common law is a legal system based on:
1. Judicial precedents (court decisions)
2. 2. Custom and Tradition
These are not the laws passed by the parliament but are grown on the basis of usages, later on recognized by
the courts.
Matters of major constitutional importance are covered by these laws.
Examples are as given below –
1. King derives his prerogatives
2. Parliaments supremacy is recognized
3. Civil liberties of the people are ensured
4. The rights like the freedom of speech, press & the rights of trial by jury are common law rights.
CONVENTIONS
Customs are unwritten rules of conduct or political morality. They have not been formed in one
day or a particular moment of history. They are the result of long historical growth and are
rooted in the practices and habits of English people who have followed them for a long time and
recognized them as part of English law
These are the unwritten maxims of the constitution or rules of political behaviour which have
developed in the due course of time.
These are not laws passed by the parliament nor can be enforceable in the courts of law.
These conventions forms the lions share of the English constitution, without these English
political system cannot work smoothly.
Kinds of Conventions
The important conventions which have grown up in England may be classified in three
categories
Conventions relating to cabinet: The first group of conventions relates to the cabinet system.
In fact the whole of the cabinet system is a product of conventions. Among the important
conventions relating to the cabinet system are following:
The Prime Minister must be the leader of the majority in the house of commons and the other
Ministers must be appointed on his advice. The Prime Minister will also distribute the portfolios
among the Ministers.
The Prime Minster alone can request the Queen to dissolve the House of Commons.
The Ministers are collectively responsible to the house of Commons
 Kinds of Conventions
The King will always act on the advice of the Cabinet.
Conventions Relating to Parliament:
The second group contains the conventions relating to the Parliament with special reference to the relation
between the two houses. These are the following:
The Parliament consist of two houses The House of Commons and the House of Lords
The money bill will be initiated in the House of Commons
Every bill must have three readings before finally voted upon.
A speech from the government benches in the parliament is to be followed by a speech from the opposition.
A speaker must resign from the membership of the party to which he belonged on his election as speaker and
should become a non party man.
The government will not initiate legislation of a controversial nature without specific mandate from the
electorate. This is known as mandate convention.
Kinds of Conventions
Conventions relating to dominions: The third group consist of the conventions which govern the
relations of Britain with other dominions: These are as follows
Every dominion, more or less is to be regarded as an independent country both in internal as
well as external affairs, though a nominal allegiance to the queen is to be paid.
Any alteration in law touching the succession to the throne must require the assent of
Parliament of the dominions.
The statute of Westminster, 1931 has embodied in a legal form most of the conventions
relating to dominions.
CONVENTIONS
Some examples are-
1. No tax can be levied without the sanctions of the Parliament.
2. Parliament is convened at least once a year.
3. The King does not attend the meetings of the cabinet.
4. Speaker maintains political neutrality.
5. King does not veto a Bill passed by the Parliament.
6. Ministers are individually & collectively responsible to the House of Commons.
7. King accept the advice of the cabinet.
8. Parliament shall be Bicameral.
ROYAL PREROGATIVES
This being an aspect of constitutional practice serves as the source of the English constitution.
The Royal Prerogatives includes the functions like
power to declare war,
to make treaties,
to pardon criminals
& to dissolve parliament
EUROPEAN UNION LAWS
European Union law:
The UK was a member of the European Union (EU) until 2020, and during this time,
EU law had a significant impact on the UK Constitution. EU law took precedence
over UK law, and the UK Parliament was required to give effect to EU laws.
European Communities Act 1972
Section 2(1) incorporated EU law into UK law
Section 2(4) ensured EU law supremacy over conflicting UK legislation.
Factortame (1990) is a landmark UK court case that recognized the supremacy of European Union (EU)
law over British law.
TREATIES
Treaties:
International treaties that the UK has ratified can have a constitutional
significance, as they may impact on the powers and rights of the UK
government and citizens.
Examples include the the European Convention on Human Rights, The
convention on Rights of Child, CEDAW etc.
Disadvantage of Unwritten
Constitution
The disadvantage of this lack of clarity can be highlighted by the legal
protection of civil liberties and human rights prior to the Human Rights Act
1998 where no comprehensive enforceable Code or Bill of Rights. At that
time all that existed was the text of the European Convention on Human
Rights 1950, which was not enforceable directly in the UK courts and
common law. It was not clear to the individual citizen what their rights were
and to seek a remedy against a breach of a Convention right, they had to
apply to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Human Rights Act 1998 corrected this problem by conferring domestic
jurisdiction over Convention rights to rule and protect individuals. However,
at present the threatened repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 risks the
lack of clarity on such fundamental rights arising again in the future.