WHAT IS MEANT BY CONSTITUTION?
Constitution, the body of doctrines and practices that form the principle of political state. In some cases, such as United States, the Constitution is a specific written document. In others, such as the United Kingdom, it is a collection of documents, statutes, and traditional practices that may or may not be considered to be of constitutional standing. Virtually every state claims to have a Constitution, but not every government conducts itself in a government conducts itself in consistently constitutional manner.
The general idea of a constitution and of a constitution and of Constitutionalism originated with the ancient Greeks and especially in the systematic, theoretical, normative, and descriptive writing of Aristotle. In his Politics, Nicomachean Ethics, Constitution of Athens, and other works, Aristotle used Greek word for Constitution {Politeia} in several different senses. The simplest and most natural of these was “the arrangement of the offices in the polis {That is., State}. In this purely descriptive sense of the word, every state has a constitution, no matter how badly or erratically governed it may be.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a constitution as “a body of fundamental principle or established precedents according to which a State or Organisation is governed.” This definition elaborates the contents of Constitution rather than its functions and purpose of Constitution in society.
The Collins Dictionary says a Constitution consists of “the fundamental principles on which a state is governed, especially when considered as embodying the rights of Subjects.”
Parliament of United Kingdom defines Constitution as a principles and rules by which a country is organised and it is usually contained in one document. In the UK a constitution has never been codified in this way; instead, the various statutes, conventions, judicial decisions and treaties which, taken together, govern how the UK is run are referred to collectively as the British Constitution.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
The UK`s Constitution is unwritten in the sense that is does not derive from a single constitutional text. An amalgamation of case law, statutes and international treaties make up the rule of law in the UK, together with conventions and practices which are unwritten. In addition, the Sovereign has special powers, or prerogatives, some of which are exercised by the Government, Parliament, judiciary and the legal profession all have a role to play in creating and influencing UK constitutional law.
The Principle characteristics of the UK Constitution and system of Government include:
The constitution is unwritten, evolutionary and highly flexible,
Conventions are of special importance,
The UK is a constitutional monarchy and a representative democracy,
The UK is a unitary state, with asymmetrical devolution of government in Scotland, Whales, and Northern Ireland established by Acts of Parliament,
UK has: a) parliamentary executive,
b) a bicameral legislature (The House of Lords and House of Commons),
c) an independent judiciary,
d) a permanent, politically impartial, professional Civil Service,
e) an established Church of England,
f) freedom of political activity.
WHAT IS THE NEED OF CONSTITUTION?
UK Constitution holds the paramount importance in maintaining the balance of power between various branches of government and ensuring the rule of law. It provides a framework for the governance and establishes the fundamental rights and freedoms for individuals. This legal structure is crucial for:
Protecting Civil Liberties: Constitutional law safeguards citizen`s rights against arbitrary actions by the government.
Governance Framework: It delineates how government is structured and how its powers are executed and limited.
Legal Certainty: Provides clarity in legal basis for the conduct of public officials, fostering trust in governance.
These aspects underline the necessity of understanding UK constitutional law and constitution of United Kingdom.
EVOLUTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW IN ENGLAND
The United Kingdom has never had a written constitution embodied in a single document. The foundational constitutional text for what is now the UK is the Magna Carta issued by King John of England in 1215. Since then, the UK`s constitution has evolved organically over time in response to political, economic, and social changes.
The present constitution encompasses landmark statutes, such as, Bill of Rights of 1689, as well as many conventions or unwritten rules of constitutional practice. For Example, the residual (prerogative) powers of the monarch and the relationship between the monarch and Parliament are still governed largely by these unwritten but nevertheless binding conventions.
Constitutional law in the UK has undergone significant changes during the past 25 years. Key developments include the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law via the Human Rights Act of 1998, the establishment devolved legislatures in 3 of the UK`s four constituent nations in 1999, a partial reform of the House of Lords in 2000 and the establishment of the Supreme Court (formerly known as Appellate Committee of the House of Lords) as a separate and independent institution in2009.
The Scottish independence referendum, held in September of 2014, and the Brexit referendum, held in June of 2016, have strengthened the case for further constitutional reform, with many observers arguing that only a more decentralized, if not a fully federal system of government can preserve the UK as unified political entity.
HISTORY OF CONSTITUTION IN ENGLAND
Contrary to popular believe, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does have a constitution. It just does not exist as a single document. Rather, the constitution is a collection of official laws, royal decrees, treaties, legal cases and statutes.
We will start with the oldest and most influential documents which govern the United Kingdom.
The Magna Carta (1215): King John the first or as many people know as King John Lackland (1199-1216) was one of the worst kings of English history. The English nobility hated him for he taxed them to pay for things like castles, and private armies, and many more privileges he enjoyed. The Pope hated him because he would reject Bishops appointed by Vatican and appoint his loyal supporters. The French hated him because he would constantly declare war on them. And the ordinary people hated him because he would imprison them without any trial.
Eventually the English nobles had enough and laid siege to King John`s castle, forcing him to sign a document putting limits on his power as monarch. 806 years later and this Charter is still in force. Most of the clauses concern medieval taxes and feudal disputes which have been repealed. Over the centuries, but three of the original 63 clauses remain.
Clause 1 guarantees independence for the Church of England to stop the Monarch stacking it with political priests.
Clause 9 guarantees legal independence to the City of London, which is still respected today.
But there is also clause 39, and this is stated as, “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.” A right of a fair trial was a revolutionary in this century.
This decision was impacted that even American revolutionaries also copied many of the Charter`s into their own bill of Rights. For Example, Clause 39 became American Constitution`s 5th Amendment and Clause 61 became 1St Amendment. The Magna Carta is not really a proto- constitution, despite some people saying so. It`s a peace treaty between the monarch and “free men” or Lords and gentry. The only place where Magna Carta never applied in British empire was Scotland. This was because England was independent country from Scotland. But, the Calvin`s case stated that even though the Charter was not applicable in Scotland, the Scot citizens have rights guaranteed by the Charter. The right to a fair trial was a milestone in British history.
The Bill of Rights\ Claim of Rights (1688): After four and half century, a revolution began. This revolution also began with religion. At this time, James II was a king of England and of Scotland too. But, he was Catholic king of Protestant countries, ever since Henry VIII split the Church and his marriages, papists were super unpopular. One of his first priorities as King was to flip these countries Catholic again, introducing a law to Parliament supporting greater freedom for Catholic religious’ leader. But, the parliament refused this act. In reaction, King disbanded parliament. He ruled by Decree, arbitrarily. He raised taxes, confiscated land and weapons from protestants, having his own personal military. He also forced Catholic worship in Churches of Protestants. This created a disagreement between nobility and monarch. Even though because of Civil War, Parliament had more powers than Crown, the monarch was ruling arbitrarily. The Protestant daughter of King James, Mary Stuart and her Protestant husband, William of Orange invaded the dispose of James II. James II fled to France, which is universally considered a sign of abdication.
New co-monarchs in place, Parliament wrote out the Bill of Rights, to ensure that any future monarchs could never again rule by decree and would always have to consult parliament first. It also guaranteed people freedoms so, that they could not abuse powers. Some of the rights included in this document that are still in force today include:
They cannot be any army during peacetime- every five years’ parliament have to pass an act to get around this.
All citizens have right to lobby the government to make changes.
Members of Parliament have absolute freedom of speech.
Nobody can be subject to excessive bail or cruel punishments.
Every man must be convicted by fair trial before the unbiased jury.
Parliament must meet often and be elected through elections.
These and many more liberties were granted to people of England Scotland and Whales.
The Act of Union 1707: The act merged the previously separated kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain. Driven by England`s desire to secure a protestant succession and Scotland`s need for economic recovery following the failed Darien Scheme, the acts dissolved the Scottish Parliament in favour of a unified legislature at Westminster. While Scotland retained its own legal and religious systems, it gained access to England`s vast trade networks and colonial markets in exchange for political independence.
CHALLENGES BEFORE CONSTITUTION IN MODERN WORLD
A constitution is a set of rules about how government and politics should operate in country. Most of the countries have written, and single document. However, United Kingdom is a little bit unusual. United Kingdom does not have a single document as constitution, rather it consists of statutes, treaties, precedents, and conventions.
British constitution is the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. And this simply means that the Westminster parliament can do pretty much whatever it wants.
It is the Parliament that enjoys the ultimate power. But, this power is not arbitrary. But, Parliament can change that too. Many people argue that written constitution would change the authority from Westminster to a single living document. But, the question rises that which acts would be included in written constitution? Who will have authority to amend laws? Which laws can be amended? So, if faced with an agonizing constitutional conundrum that people have different understandings of the Constitution, this can only be resolved by Politics.
Our Constitution is fundamentally political. But, we are not going to resolve this question any time in the immediate future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Websites:
brittannica.com,
concourt.org.za (constitutional court),
lexinexis.co.uk,
academic.oup.com,
studysmart.co.uk,
kcl.org.uk (King`s college London),
rse.org.uk (The Royal Society of Edinburgh),
Books:
Constitutional Fundamentals by H.W.R. Wade, 32nd series,
Review of UK Constitution by Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge.
You Tube Channels:
Brit Monkey,
The Darkeneer,
Proud of Us UK,
Cotterreau.
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