With reference to the source, describe 3 sources of the UK constitution.
PAPER 2 2010 JUNE
1. a: With reference to the source, describe 3 sources of the UK constitution.
Common Law:
It includes legal principles that have been developed and applied by UK courts, also it is legal precedent made by judges concerning, for example, the 1931 Donoghue v. Stevenson case had important consequences for the definition of the law of negligence.
Conventions:
Established norms of political behaviour rooted in past experience rather than the law. For example, the Salisbury Convention states that the House of Lords should not vote down or wreck bills that seek to enact a manifesto commitment of the governing party.
Acts of Parliament:
It is the most important source of the principles and rules making up the British constitution because parliament is the sovereign body, for example, the Human Rights Act (1988).
1. b: With reference to the source and your own knowledge explain the arguments in favour of a codified constitution for the UK. There are many arguments for adopting a codified constitution to the UK’s political system. First of all, a lot of people believe that by having a codified constitution, it would provide greater clarity on what is constitution, because all the rules and principles governing the state are collected in a single authoritative document, “The Constitution”, it is different to uncodified constitution, as there is no single authoritative document; the rules are found in a number of sources. The UK’s citizens would know more about the political system if there is one single authoritative document, eventually, they may be encouraged to vote. Secondly, some of the UK’s citizen thought that their current system is outdated, confusing and undemocratic. It must have a change, from uncodified constitution to codified constitution, and it is the logical conclusion of recent constitution reforms. Moreover, it would provide greater protection for the rights of citizens,
1. a: With reference to the source, describe 3 sources of the UK constitution.
Common Law:
It includes legal principles that have been developed and applied by UK courts, also it is legal precedent made by judges concerning, for example, the 1931 Donoghue v. Stevenson case had important consequences for the definition of the law of negligence.
Conventions:
Established norms of political behaviour rooted in past experience rather than the law. For example, the Salisbury Convention states that the House of Lords should not vote down or wreck bills that seek to enact a manifesto commitment of the governing party.
Acts of Parliament:
It is the most important source of the principles and rules making up the British constitution because parliament is the sovereign body, for example, the Human Rights Act (1988).
1. b: With reference to the source and your own knowledge explain the arguments in favour of a codified constitution for the UK. There are many arguments for adopting a codified constitution to the UK’s political system. First of all, a lot of people believe that by having a codified constitution, it would provide greater clarity on what is constitution, because all the rules and principles governing the state are collected in a single authoritative document, “The Constitution”, it is different to uncodified constitution, as there is no single authoritative document; the rules are found in a number of sources. The UK’s citizens would know more about the political system if there is one single authoritative document, eventually, they may be encouraged to vote. Secondly, some of the UK’s citizen thought that their current system is outdated, confusing and undemocratic. It must have a change, from uncodified constitution to codified constitution, and it is the logical conclusion of recent constitution reforms. Moreover, it would provide greater protection for the rights of citizens,