Constitution

Question 1

What constitution does the UK have?

Answer 1

Unwritten constitution

Question 2

What is a constitution?

Answer 2

It is a set of values, laws and customs that are shared and recognised by a nation’s citizens.
Upheld and enforced by parliament/court/civic bodies.
Written or Unwritten.

Question 3

What is an unwritten constitution?

Answer 3

It means that the UK does not have a codified framework of the rights, values and responsibilities that come with membership of a state.

Question 4

What are the key principles of the UK constitution?

Answer 4

1. Separation of Power - the executive, the legislature and the judiciary act as a check and balance on each other.
2. Parliamentary Sovereignty - refers to the fact that Parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK (above Crown and Monarch)
3. The Supreme Court - the final and highest UK court and the final say in all legal disputes

Question 5

What are the 5 components of the British constitution?

Answer 5

1. Statute - individual laws
2. Common Law
3. Conventions
4. Treatises - historical works of legal/constitutional authority.
5. Treaties - EU and other international agreements (not for much longer)

Question 6

What is the rule of law?

Answer 6

Anyone accused of a crime has a right to free and fair trial by their peers, no-one is above the law, including Sovereign/Monarch.

Question 7

What is the ECHR?

Answer 7

The 1950 European Convention on Human Rights - Britain one of the first to sign - written into UK law in the form of the Human Rights Act of 1999.