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The British Constitution
British Constitution that exists is a set of rules and regulations constituted by jurisprudence and laws (English and Scottish law), and by various treaties and international agreements to which the United Kingdom has signed up. This uncodified constitution has largely developed out of historic English law, since many of its founding principles and essential laws go back to charters and bills that were drawn up by the English parliament long before the creation of the United Kingdom.
Although England's parliament, often called "the mother of parliaments" has existed for over seven centuries, the founding document of England's "constitution" is generally considered to be the Magna Carta, or Great Charter of the Liberties of England, which the barons drew up and forced King John to sign in the year 1215. The spirit of this document has guided the evolution of English law over the centuries, as well as inspiring numerous constitutional documents drawn up by other countries, including notably the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Among other landmark bills that have established major new principles in the British Constitution are the English Bill of Rights, passed after the Glorious Revolution of 1689, and the Acts of Union, of 1707, establishing the linking of England and Scotland within a United Kingdom.
Parliament and the constitution
Parliament and Brexit.
The absence of a written constitution caused a major constitutional argument about what a government can do without the consent of Parliament.
Constitutional experts tended to agree that Parliament had to be consulted, and vote, before the Prime Minister could activate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, to take the UK out of the European Union.
However Theresa May and her government thought differently. The Prime Minister did not want a debate, or a vote, in Parliament before Britain left the European Union at the end of the long process of negotiation.
In July 2016, a group of citizens appealed to the High Court to stop the government activating Article 50 without Parliament's consent. On 3rd November, the High Court delivered its verdict. This verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 24th January. Parliament must vote before Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty could be triggered. It did so.
Nevertheless, Parliament was not bound by the result of the Brexit referedum, which was consultative, not legislative. Before the referendum, three quarters of elected MPs were against Brexit, and until the 2019 General Election, it remained possible that Brexit would not actually take place; Parliament had the power to veto it. In the end, Parliament held up the Brexit process, but could not stop it. While some Conservative MPs rebelled against their party and tried to block it, enough remained loyal to their party to ensure a situation of stalemate (impasse) in Parliament, where MPs could not agree on a way forward. Eventually there was a new General Election in the autumn of 2019, and Boris Johnson secured a majority of 80 , promising to "get Brexit done". With a big Conservative majority, Parliament approved Brexit, and the UK left the European Union on January 31st 2020.
Vetoing Brexit, however, would have been a dangerous step. If Parliament had vetoed a process that was approved (however marginally and on the basis of however many lies) by a popular referendum, it would have sparked a massive constitutional crisis and possibly serious trouble on the streets.
The debates and arguments did not stop when Britain technically left the EU on Jan. 31st 2020. Later in 2020, Johnson proposed a law that would allow the UK to renege on parts of the international agreement signed with the EU concerning Britain's terms of exit from the Union (the Withdrawal Agreement) .
Johnson's action was severly criticized by all of Britain's living former Prime Ministers (3 Conservatives, 2 Labour), and by another former leader of the Conservative Party. It is likely that the House of Lords will, at least on the first reading, refuse to ratify Johnson's bill to override some parts of an international agreement that Johnson himself signed earlier in the year.
See Brexit timeline
Parliament is supreme. It is Parliament, as the representative of the "estates" of the nation - monarchy, aristocracy, church and people - which makes laws. Parliament cannot act illegally, nor anti-constitutionally, as Parliament determines what is the law of the land, and a bill that is passed by Parliament, and signed by the monarch, is by definition constitutional. In the past, the Monarch could refuse to sign bills; but today he or she has to sign any bill passed by the two chambers of Parliament.
In past centuries, the Parliament was inspired, and laws were dictated, by the Monarch and the Upper Chamber, known as the House of Lords. Since the 19th century, parliamentary power has been held by the elected members of the Lower House, known as the House of Commons. It is here that the Government of the day introduces and debates most new legislation, and for any new bill to become law, it must be "passed" (accepted) by the House of Commons, as well as by the House of Lords, and finally signed into law by the Monarch.
Legislative programmes are determined by the Government in power, known as "Her (his) Majesty's Government". In theory, the government is appointed by the Monarch; in practice, the monarch no longer has any choice in the matter. He or She appoints as Prime Minister the leader of the political party with a majority in the House of Commons; or, if no party has a majority, the leader of a coalition that has been agreed between party leaders. The Prime Minister then appoints the Ministers of "Her Majesty's government ". As well as piloting its legislative programme through Parliament, the government can also manage the day-to-day affairs of the nation by using "statutory instruments" to make administrative changes or minor modifications to existing legislation; these are not submitted to Parliament for approval .
The body of legislation passed by the British Parliament accounts for the major part of the nation's uncodified constitution.
Since the British Parliament is supreme, the United Kingdom is a unitary state. It is neither federal nor confederal. While Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own parliaments or assemblies, with delegated powers, these regional governments are subsidiary to the British Government in London. The British Parliament can, if it chooses to do so, take back any powers delegated to regional assemblies. This does not usually happen, but it can, and it did in 1972, when the London Parliament provisionally suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly (Stormont), on account of its inability to properly manage the affairs of Northern Ireland during the time of the "troubles".
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