Great Britain differs from other countries because it does not have a single document called a Constitution. The absence of such a document impacts the state system and the rule of law in the country. Constitutional customs have become particularly important in Britain, as they have enshrined almost all the elements usually included in the texts of constitutions. Constitutional conventions made it possible to preserve in Great Britain the basic democratic ideas of legal acts adopted several centuries ago under different historical conditions.
Among the historical documents whose ideas have not been lost to this day, the Great Charter of Liberties of 1215 stands out. It is one of the first constitutional acts in the history of modern Europe. It is considered the starting point for developing current human rights and freedoms concepts of impartial and speedy justice. The appearance of the Charter as a historical event ensured the rule of law in relation to private and public officials and gave rise to the prohibition of arbitrary taxation. It serves as one of the foundations for the formation of Parliament. To this day, the English jurist may refer to the Magna Carta to justify the principle of the rule of law of equality before the courts.
In addition, when talking about the key historical events that influenced the formation of the Constitution of Great Britain, the adoption of the Bill of Rights of 1689 should be mentioned. This document legally established the supreme legislative power of Parliament. This document abolished the king’s right to suspend and make exceptions to laws. Therefore, it made it illegal for the monarch to change laws without Parliament’s consent. The extended evolutionary path has given rise to the characteristic continuity of the country’s highest representative body. Parliament’s position in the constitutional system is determined by two fundamental principles: parliamentary supremacy and parliamentary government. The procedures of the British legislative process have served as a model for parliaments throughout the world.
The content of the British Constitution was also subject to change due to party struggles within the state. In 1840 the right of Parliament to try its members for violating their privileges was confirmed by a court. Then, the court affirmed the complete freedom of Parliament to dispose of its internal affairs. The principle of parliamentary supremacy means that Parliament has the power to make and destroy all kinds of laws. There is no person or institution for whom English law recognizes the right to transgress or not to execute the legislative acts of Parliament. These events are the reason why, in today’s world, Parliament has become the guardian of sovereignty: its decisions can override certain constitutional customs.
The creation by the 1911 Parliament Act allowed laws to be passed without the consent of the Lords. It was interpreted in the preamble as a measure preparing the transformation of the upper house of the British Parliament into a body composed of members elected by the people. This meant the proclamation of a new, more extensive reform of the traditional structure of the supreme state power, which had existed in British society for nearly six centuries. The House of Lords had been the all-powerful and dominant body in the country’s political system for too long. Therefore, measures were required to entail the reform of the Constitution of Great Britain.
It also follows from the nature of the Constitution that the writings of legal scholars are a source of constitutional law. They contain the necessary generalizations and analyses of the written and unwritten norms of the Constitution. The interpretation of laws, precedents, and customs is not a primary but a derivative source of law. The named role of the writings of jurists is confirmed by judicial practice. Thus, in 1920 the House of Lords, in the case of Attorney-General v. De Keyser Royal Hotel Ltd., explicitly embraced the definition of royal prerogative proposed by A. W. Dicey. There used to be a rule that an author’s work could not be cited in court during his lifetime. It was a rule that seemed to have no logical basis and therefore ceased to be considered. The decision of the House of Lords thus circumscribed the fact that the writings of scholars could be a source of constitutional law.
England is a shining example of the evolutionary development of the foundations of government and governance, demonstrating the potential for an effective state system, corrected not by revolutionary intervention but by constructive reforms. It is the first monarchy in the world that was able to preserve the old government institutions while skillfully combining them with the newly created state organs. However, many scholars and politicians now recognize the archaic nature of the current British Constitution. In recent decades drafts of the Basic Law have begun to appear, based on the traditional principles of continental Europe. An essential factor stimulating this process has been the development of European integration and Britain’s accession to the European Union, which requires clear and unified legislation, including constitutional legislation.
Reference List
Castelow, E., ‘The Constitution of the United Kingdom,’ Historic UK, Web.
Craig, P., ‘Prorogation: Principle and Law, Fact and Causation,’ Counsel, Web.
Singh, R. K., ‘Comparative Analysis of Parliamentary Privileges in UK and India: An Overview,’ Indian Journal of Law and Human Behavior, vol. 4, no. 2., 2018, pp. 197-207.