Assess the strengths of the UK constitution (25 marks)
There are various strengths of the UK constitution; these include the fact that the constitution is flexible, it protects the rights of citizens and finally it gives power to the executive. The UK and its constitution, in my opinion, is a very strong unit, this being shown through the points listed above and consequently explained below.
One strength of the UK constitution is the flexibility that it has, for the reason that the constitution is uncodified or unwritten and is therefore not entrenched in law. Due to the fact that the UK’s constitution is uncodified or unwritten, it has an opportunity to modernise itself to the ever changing society or any other new circumstances that may arise. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s constitution is the recent implementation of the Same Sex Marriages Act (2013). This was brought in due to the number of LGBT people that wanted to get married, but, because of the current laws that were in place, could not. This shows one of the ways in which the constitution does modernise itself in terms of society. However, the flexibility that is expressed by the fact that it is unwritten may in fact be manipulated if the ability to change the constitution were to “fall into the wrong hands”. For example, if somebody completely left wing or completely right were to come into power, they could effectively manipulate the system and change the constitution to suit them and their supporters. While this argument is an effective argument, it is doubtful that the government of today will allow a person, hypothetically with close-minded views such as these, to be put in any place of power. Overall, today’s government, in terms of flexibility does not stand a high risk of being manipulated, as there are appropriate measures in place to stop this from happening.
A second strength of the UK constitution is the way in which it protects the citizens of the UK, and the rights of these individuals. The UK has a duty to protect the rights of
One strength of the UK constitution is the flexibility that it has, for the reason that the constitution is uncodified or unwritten and is therefore not entrenched in law. Due to the fact that the UK’s constitution is uncodified or unwritten, it has an opportunity to modernise itself to the ever changing society or any other new circumstances that may arise. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s constitution is the recent implementation of the Same Sex Marriages Act (2013). This was brought in due to the number of LGBT people that wanted to get married, but, because of the current laws that were in place, could not. This shows one of the ways in which the constitution does modernise itself in terms of society. However, the flexibility that is expressed by the fact that it is unwritten may in fact be manipulated if the ability to change the constitution were to “fall into the wrong hands”. For example, if somebody completely left wing or completely right were to come into power, they could effectively manipulate the system and change the constitution to suit them and their supporters. While this argument is an effective argument, it is doubtful that the government of today will allow a person, hypothetically with close-minded views such as these, to be put in any place of power. Overall, today’s government, in terms of flexibility does not stand a high risk of being manipulated, as there are appropriate measures in place to stop this from happening.
A second strength of the UK constitution is the way in which it protects the citizens of the UK, and the rights of these individuals. The UK has a duty to protect the rights of