# UK Constitution and Government/Constitution


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\_\_NOTOC\_\_ `<big>`{=html}`<big>`{=html}The
Constitution`</big>`{=html}`</big>`{=html}

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Kingdom does not possess a document expressing itself to be the
nation\'s fundamental or highest law. Instead, the British constitution
is found in a number of sources. Because of this, the British
constitution is often said to be an *unwritten constitution*; however,
many parts of the constitution are indeed in written form, so it would
be more accurate to refer to the body of the British constitution as an
*uncodified constitution*.

The British constitution is spread across a number of sources:\
1. Statute law\
2. Royal prerogative (executive powers usually exercised by Ministers
of the Crown)\
3. Constitutional conventions (accepted norms of political
behaviour)\
4. Common law (decisions by senior courts that are binding on lower
courts)\
5. EU Treaties\
6. Statements made in books considered to have particular
authority\
Note that not all of these sources form part of the law of the land, and
so the British constitution encompasses a wider variety of rules, etc.
than that of (say) the United States.

## 1. Statute law

Many important elements of the British constitution are to be found in
Acts of Parliament. In contrast with many other countries, legislation
affecting the constitution is not subject to any special procedure, and
is passed using the same procedures as for ordinary legislation.

The most important statute law still in force and affecting the
constitution includes the following:

-   The *Habeas Corpus Act 1679*
-   The *Bill of Rights* (1689)
-   The *Claim of Right* (1689)
-   The *Act of Settlement* (1701)
-   The *Acts of Union* (1707)
-   The *Septennial Act 1715*
-   The *Acts of Union* (1800)
-   The *Parliament Acts* (1911 and 1949)
-   The *Regency Act 1953*
-   The *Life Peerages Act 1958*
-   The *Peerage Act 1963*
-   The *European Communities Act 1972*
-   The *British Nationality Act 1981*
-   The *Representation of the People Act 1983*
-   The *Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986*
-   The *Human Rights Act 1998*
-   The *Scotland Act 1998*
-   The *Northern Ireland Act 1998*
-   The *House of Lords Act 1999*
-   The *Civil Contingencies Act 2004*
-   The *Constitutional Reform Act 2005*
-   The *Government of Wales Act 2006*

## 2. Royal prerogative

Certain powers pre-dating the establishment of the present parliamentary
system are still formally retained by the Queen. In practice almost all
of these powers are exercised only on the decision of Ministers of the
Crown (the Cabinet). These powers, known as the *royal prerogative*,
include the following:

-   The appointment and dismissal of government ministers
-   The summoning, opening, prorogation, and dissolution of Parliament
-   The assenting to legislation
-   The power to declare war, and to deploy the armed forces
-   The power to conduct relations with foreign states, including the
    recognition of states or governments, and the making of treaties
-   The issuing of passports

## 3. Constitutional conventions

Conventions are customs that operate as rules considered to bind the
actions of the Queen or the Government. Conventions are not part of the
law, but nevertheless are often considered to be just as fundamental to
the structure and working of the constitution as the contents of any
statute. Indeed, statute law affecting the constitution is often written
in such a way that the existence of certain conventions is taken for
granted, and some conventions are so fundamental that many people are
unaware that they are in fact \"unwritten\" rules.

Examples of the more important constitutional conventions include:

-   The Queen does not direct government policy, and leaves all
    decision-making to her Cabinet
-   Cabinet members are bound by the principle of *collective
    responsibility*; ministers who feel themselves unable to publicly
    support or defend the policy of the Government are expected to
    resign
-   The Government is headed by a Prime Minister, appointed by the Queen
    from the House of Commons
-   The Prime Minister is usually expected to be the leader of the
    political party with the most MPs (members of the House of Commons)
-   When a Prime Minister\'s political party loses a general election
    (i.e. obtains less seats in the House of Commons than a rival
    party), he or she is expected to resign
-   Government ministers are usually expected to be drawn entirely from
    the two Houses of Parliament, and most important office-holders are
    expected to be MPs
-   A government that is unable to obtain the passage through Parliament
    of important legislation, including the annual Appropriation and
    Finance Acts, is expected to resign
-   The (unelected) House of Lords does not obstruct the passage of
    legislation stated in the government party\'s election manifesto to
    be fundamental policy
-   The Speaker of the House of Commons is expected to be impartial,
    even though originally elected as the representative of a political
    party

## 4. Common law

The common law is that part of the law which does not rest on statute.
Instead, it is the accumulation of specific judicial decisions set by
senior courts as precedents binding on lesser courts.

Certain parts of the common law are also what is known as *trite law*:
examples of this include the fact that the United Kingdom is a monarchy,
and the fact that brothers used to take precedence over sisters in the
succession to the throne; this was repealed by the Succession to the
Crown Act 2013.

## 5. EU Treaties

As a member state of the European Union, the United Kingdom is bound by
EU law. However, the majority of votes cast favoured the referendum to
exit the EU. The UK invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union
on 29 March 2017, which started what is often referred to as the
\"Brexit\". The United Kingdom left the European Union on 30 January
2020.

## 6. Authoritative statements

Certain published works are usually considered to have particular
authority. In the first half of the twentieth century this was the case
with A V Dicey\'s *Law of the Constitution*, being cited with approval
in judicial decisions. A particularly important work is *Erskine May*,
which sets out the procedures and customs of the House of Commons. Other
important sources include certain ministerial statements.

However, none of these works have **legal** authority; at best, they are
merely *persuasive*.

