constitutional law

Question 1

what is constitutional law?

Answer 1

the law regarding how a country is run

Question 2

what is a constitution?

Answer 2

set or rules regarding how a country is run

• how and when new laws can be made
• what the government of a country is allowed to do
• what powers the courts of that country have
• what rights citizens of that country have

Question 3

what are the two types of constitution?

Answer 3

codified (written) and uncodified (unwritten) - unwritten does not mean they are not written down somewhere it means they are not in one single document

Question 4

what is a codified/written constitution?

Answer 4

a country will have a written constitution if it has one single document containing all of their constitutional rules

Question 5

what is an uncodified constitution?

Answer 5

a country will have an uncodified constitution if it does not have one single document in which its constitutional rules can be found
all of a their constitutional rules are made up of a combination of different sources

Question 6

what are the strengths and weaknesses of codified constitutions?

Answer 6

• they can be stronger than normal laws and more difficult to change
• can allow courts to strike down new laws that are unconstitutional
• clearer and more easy to understand
• can lead to archaic rules being difficult to change
• can result in the courts becoming too heavily involved in political matters

Question 7

strengths and weaknesses of uncodified constitutions?

Answer 7

• can be more flexible, easily changeable. can evolve and adapt with changing times
• can be too easy to change
  can be too weak to prevent citizens of a country from dangerous governmental behaviours
• do not give enough strength to the judiciary

Question 8

what constitution does the UK have?

Answer 8

uncodified