THE BRITISH POLITICAL TRADITION.doc

THE BRITISH POLITICAL TRADITION (SOURCES, SALIENT FEATURES AND CONVENTIONS OF THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION)

Submitted To:

Submitted By:

Dr. Sarabjeet Kaur U.I.L.S.

Adeshwar Singh Pannu 5th Semester (Major) Ro !umber "#$% U.I.L.S.

 

 ACNO!LED"E#ENT I woud i&e to e'ress m heart*+et gratitude to m tea,her- Dr Sarabjeet- who heed me in the ma&ing o+ this  roje,t and en,ouraged me to ,oe,t ra,ti,a and theoreti,a &nowedge regarding the toi, o+ m roje,t. I woud aso i&e to than& the restigious instituteUniersit Institute o+ Lega Studies +or giing me the oortunit to hone m writing s&is and he in ,oe,t data- ra,ti,a and theoreti,a- and in+ormation regarding the toi, o+ m roje,t. /ours Sin,ereAdeshwar Singh Pannu

INDE$  Sour,e o+ 0ritish 1onstitution 2eatures o+ 0ritish 1onstitution 1onentions o+ 0ritish 1onstitution

SOURCES OF THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION As the UK does not hae a ,odi+ied do,ument- we hae oo& +or the &e rues and ra,ti,es o+ the 0ritish sstem in a number o+ a,es3

%& St'tute L': 4his is aw ,rated b Pariament. A,ts o+ Pariament are aroed  b the 1ommons- Lords and the Monar,hs- gain the +or,e o+ awand are then imemented b the e'e,utie and en+or,ed b the ,ourts. An aw that inoes ,onstitutiona reationshis be,omes  art o+ the ,onstitution. 'ames o+ this in,ude the Pariament A,t o+ $6$$ (estabished the dominan,e o+ the 7ouse o+ 1ommons)- the uroean 1ommunities A,t o+ $68% (b whi,h the UK joined the 1) and the 7uman Rights A,t o+ $666 (whi,h enshrined &e rights into UK aw) Statute Law is the most imortant sour,e o+ the UK ,onstitution asunder the do,trine o+ Pariamentar Soereignt- the UK Pariament is the sureme aw*ma&ing bod.

& Commo* L': 4his is aw that has been deeoed and aied b UK ,ourts. 9here there is no ,ear statute aw- the ,ourts hae to interret and ,ari+ the aw. As no aw is so re,ise that it needs no

interretation- judges are ,onstant ,ontributing to the ,onstitution.

+& Roy' P-e-o.'ti/e: 4his re+ers to dis,retionar owers o+ the 1rown that are emoed  b :oernment Ministers in the name o+ the Monar,h. 4he 1rown retains a number o+ owers that date ba,& to be+ore 0ritain be,ame a ,onstitutiona monar,h in the 1$8th. 4hese in,ude the ower to de,are war- to dissoe ariament- to aoint goernment ministers and judges. 4oda these owers ie with the Prime Minister and :oernment Ministers- the Prime Minister wi in+orm the Monar,h o+ their de,ision but the Monar,h has not rea  ower to eto their ,hosen ,ourse.

0& Co*/e*tio*1: 4hese are habits- norms and rues that through ong usage hae ,ome to be ,onsidered binding on those who shoud abide b the ,onstitution. 4he are neither ,odi+ied nor en+or,ed b ,ourts o+ aw- and as su,h there is no unishment i+ there is brea,hed. 1onentions in,ude indiidua and ,oe,tie ministeria resonsibiit. 1onentions ma not hae the +or,e o+ aw- but  brea&ing them ,an hae oiti,a reer,ussions. 2or e'ame i+ a minister re+uses to resign in the ight o+ mista&es made in their deartment- then the minister;s osition is wea&ened- the are oen to ariamentar and media ,riti,ism- and this ,an een re+e,t on the authorit o+ the Prime Minister.

2& Aut3o-it'ti/e !o-415A6'demi6 O7i*io*: Some +amous ,ommentators hae- through oiti,a and ega te'ts be,ome su,h in+uentia obserers and ,ommentators on the UK ,onstitution that their wor&s hae be,ome a,,eted as wor&s o+

authorit on the UK ,onstitution. 4he most +amous e'ames (a 1$6th) are3 < 9ater 0agehot;s =4he ngish 1onstitution> < rs&ine Ma;s =4reatise on the Law- Priieges- Pro,eedings and Usage o+ Pariament> < A? Di,e;s =An introdu,tion to the Stud o+ the Law o+ the 1onstitution>

FEATURES OF THE BRITISH CONSTITUION 2oowing are some o+ the saient +eatures o+ the 0ritish 1onstitution3

%& #o1ty U*-itte* '*d No*8Codi9ied: @ne o+ the most imortant +eatures o+ the 0ritish 1onstitution is its unwritten ,hara,ter. 4here is no su,h thing as a written- re,ise and ,oma,t do,ument- whi,h ma be ,aed the 0ritish ,onstitution. 4his ase,t o+ the 0irtish 1onstituion resuted in De 4o,ueie remar&ing that the 0ritish ,onstitution did not a,tua e'ist. 4he main reason +or this is that the 0ritish ,onstitution is based on ,onentions- oiti,a traditions and ,ustoms reaent in ngand +or a ong time- whi,h hae not been aid out in an written do,ument. Su,h unwritten sour,es +orm the major art o+ the ,onstitution. 4here are man A,ts- 4reaties whi,h are in written +orm and the ma&e it art written and een then !on*,odi+ied. 4hese were aso gradua added and adoted. 4he +irst written ie,e being =Magna 1arta $%$5B- =0i o+ Rights $C6B- =Pariamentar A,ts o+ $6$$ E $6"6B and man others.

& E/outio*'-y Co*1titutio*: 0ritish 1onstitution is the resut o+ more than +i+teen ,enturies and it is sti growing. It is o+ an eoutionar growth. It woud be er

 re,ise to ,a it a ,hid o+ wisdom and ,han,e. It has grown gradua and no +i'ed time or a +i'ed number o+ eoe ,reated it. It was neer +ramed b an ,onstituent assemb. !o re,ise date o+ its birth ,an be gien and no bod o+ ersons ,an ,aim to be its authors be,ause it is the rodu,t o+ gradua growth and deeoment. It has an unbro&en ,ontinuit o+ deeoment oer a er ong eriod o+ time.

+& Feibe Co*1titutio*: In theor- the 0ritish 1onstitution is a +e'ibe ,onstitution. It ,an  be assed- amended and reeaed b a sime majorit o+ Pariament sin,e no distin,tion is made between ,onstitutiona aw and ordinar aw. 0oth are treated ai&e. 4he eement o+ +e'ibiit has aowed the ,onstitution to adat its se+ to the ,hanges in so,iet- sta reeant and grow with time. 7oweer- Regardess o+ its +e'ibiit- there hae been a er +ew ,hanges made ti date.

0& Rue o9 L': Another imortant +eature o+ the 0ritish ,onstitution is the Rue o+ Law. It imies the +oowing 3 $. A state a,tions must be authoriFed. Laws shoud not be arbitrar. %. Laws shoud be ,ear- ,ertain and redi,tabe. G. 4he Laws shoud be aied eua to a- no one is aboe the Law. ". Laws are ne,essar to roide a standard to measure the a,tion o+ the state. 5.  !o one shoud be unished without a tria. It must be a +air tria and hed be+ore an indeendent and imartia tribuna.

2&So/e-ei.*ty o9 P'-i'me*t: 0ritish Pariament is er ower+u and sureme. 2oowing are the major oints that des,ribe it and ,ari+ its ,hara,ter3

$. 4here is no Law whi,h 0ritish Pariament ,annot ma&e or undo. %. !o 1ourt ,an ,haenge the a,ts or aws assed b the  ariament. G. It rues the monar,h and ,an de,ide its +ortune and a,ts. ". It ,an rohibit the King to marr a woman o+ his ,hoi,e. 5. It ,an ,hange the hereditar rue o+ throne b just one sime a,t. C. It ,an aboish monar,h- aboish 7ouse o+ Lords and distribute Powers to its 1itiFens. 8. It ,an do anthing- e',et ma&e a man a woman and ,onerse

;& U*it'-y St'te: 4he 0ritish ,onstitution has unitar ,hara,ter as oosed to a +edera one as a owers o+ the goernment are ested in the 0ritish Pariament- whi,h is a soereign bod. 4he e'e,utie organs o+ state are subordinate to it and e'er,ise deegated owers and are answerabe to it. 4here is on one egisature. ngandS,otand- 9aes et,. are administratie units and not oiti,a autonomous units.

CONVENTIONS OF BRITISH CONSTITUTION 9hie the United Kingdom does not hae a written ,onstitution that is a singe do,ument- the ,oe,tion o+ ega instruments that hae deeoed into a bod o+ aw &nown as ,onstitutiona aw has e'isted +or hundreds o+ ears. 0ritish Poiti,s and the 0ritish 1onstitution hae man oiti,a ,onentions atta,hed to it whi,h hae deeoed and been a,,eted oer the ears. A ,onention is an a,,eted wa in whi,h things are done. 4he are not written down in aw but tend to be od- estabished ra,ti,es H the wa the hae awas been done. 4hough these ,onentions are not set in ega stone- their er e'isten,e oer the ears has inariab ed to the smooth oeration o+ goernment. It is er uni&e that there woud be a dearture o+ su,h ,onentions without good reason- een i+ an undering en+or,ing  rin,ie has been oerta&en b histor- as these ,onentions aso a,uire the +or,e o+ ,ustom.

4here hae been times when ,onentions hae been gien ega status. 2rom the time o+ the ngish 1ii 9ar when Pariament ,ashed with &ing oer +inan,e- it was a,,eted that mone  bis#a,ts ,ame +rom the 7ouse o+ 1ommons. 4his was gien ega status in $6$$ with the Pariament A,t that stated that

 ariamentar +inan,e bis#a,ts must originate +rom the 7ouse o+ 1ommons. Some e'ames o+ ,onentions are3 4he monar,h wi a,,et and a,t on the adi,e o+ their ministerswho are resonsibe to Pariament +or that adi,e the monar,h does not ignore that adi,e- e',et when e'er,ising Resere  owers. 4he Prime Minister o+ the United Kingdom is the eader o+ the  art (or ,oaition o+ arties) with an absoute majorit o+ seats in the 7ouse o+ 1ommons and there+ore most i&e to ,ommand the suort o+ the 7ouse o+ 1ommons. A mone bis must originate in the 7ouse o+ 1ommons. 4he te'ts o+ most internationa treaties are aid be+ore Pariament at east twent one das be+ore rati+i,ation (the JPonsonb RueJ o+ $6%"). 4he 9estminster Pariament wi on egisate on resered matters. It wi not egisate on non*resered matters (Jdeoed mattersJ) without +irst see&ing the ,onsent o+ the S,ottish Pariament (sin,e $666- the Sewe ,onention- ater renamed to Legisatie 1onsent Motions). 4he 7ouse o+ Lords sha not oose egisation +rom the 7ouse o+ 1ommons that was a art o+ the goernmentJs mani+esto (the Saisbur 1onention)

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