Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• What is a constitution?

•  “an assemblage of laws, institutions and customs which combine to create a system of government to which the community agrees.”

• What is the status of a constitution?

• Note Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• Six main sources combine to create the UK constitution

• (1) Legislation – note the lack of a specific ‘constitutional’ status or parliamentary procedure.

• How do you identify a ‘constitutional’ Act?

• Examples : Parliament Acts 1911-49, House of Lords Act 1999.

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• (2) The Common Law

• Note the importance of Judicial decisions as a source of constitutional law

• Examples : Entick v. Carrington (1765), C.C.S.U. v. Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374.

• Does this mean judges are making law?

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• (3) The Laws and Customs of Parliament

• The concept of parliamentary privilege – Article 9 Bill of Rights 1689

• The ‘Salisbury Doctrine’

• The Role of the Monarch in Parliament

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• 4. Academic Writings

• Note the work of Albert Venn Dicey : Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885)

• Also the work of Blackstone and Geoffrey Marshall.

• Note how influential these writers have been.

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• 5. Constitutional Conventions

• “rules of constitutional behaviour considered to be binding by and upon those who operate the constitution.”

• What are the characteristics of conventions?

• A/G v. Jonathan Cape Ltd. [1976] QB 752

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• 6. The European Union

• Note the limits of this as a source and its temporary nature

• Examples of EU law as constitutional law.

• Are the EU Treaties a written constitution for the UK?

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• Nature of the Constitution

• The UK Constitution has several important characteristics

• Is the UK Constitution ‘unwritten’ or merely uncodified?

• Does this matter?

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• The Constitution is FLEXIBLE

• Examples of this – Devolution, dilution of doctrine of ministerial responsibility.

• Consequences of flexibility?

• Is the Constitution ‘too flexible?’

Sources and Nature of the Constitution

• The Constitution is a Parliamentary Democracy.

• The UK is a Constitutional Monarchy

• Note The Monarch’s Role in Parliament

• IS the UK constitution ‘unitary’ or ‘federal’?