tHE bRITISH ConStitution: Sources

Question 1

Statute law

Answer 1

• Consists of Acts of parliament which define the relationship between the government and the people.
• e.g The human rights act 1998 or the parliament acts 1911 and 1949
• Statute law is the supreme source of thE UK constitution.

Question 2

Common law

Answer 2

• Refers to established customs and legal precedent developed through the actions of judges.
• Most are available to Uk citizens; Freedom of speech
• the royal prerogative is also rooted in common law

Question 3

Conventions

Answer 3

• Customs that have evolved over time and have become accepted rules of behavior…They have no real legal standing.
• Can be easily overturned
• the doctrine of cabinet collective responsibility is also rooted in convention.

Question 4

EU laws and treaties

Answer 4

• Under the European communities act 1972, the UK incorporated the treaty of rome (1957) into UK law.
• this gave european treaties and laws precedence over our own.
• But parliament still reserves the right to appeal to the 1972 act and thereby withdraw from the EU

Question 5

works of authority

Answer 5

• Scholarly texts which serve to codify practices not outlines on paper elsewhere- These works only have persuasive authority.
• Have been used as constitutional references for well over the last 100 years
• Key texts include: Walter Bagehot’s ‘the english constitution’

Question 6

The status of constitutional sources

Answer 6

• Historically, statute law was said to be the supreme source of the UK constitution.
• However, recently…an expansion in the range and depth of EU laws and regulations has seen the primacy of statute law questioned