British constitution

From Wikinfo

The constitution of the United Kingdom is comprised of:

• Acts of Parliament;
• Conventions;
• Common Law;
• Royal Prerogative;
• EU law;
• Treaties;
• Works of authority;

Together, these are the written and unwritten parts of the constitution.

The UK is often said to have an unwritten constitution because there is no single constitutional document which defines the working of Britain's constitutional system, although many comentators prefer the term uncodified constitution, since much of the material is in fact in written form (see British constitutional law.)

Among the many key documents or conventions are:

• Magna Carta;
• Habeas Corpus Act 1679;
• Bill of Rights 1689;
• Act of Settlement 1701;
• Act of Union 1707, joining England & Scotland to form Great Britain;
• Act of Union 1800, joining Great Britain & Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland;
• Statute of Westminster 1931;
• Parliament Act 1911 (revised 1949);
• Peerage Act 1963;
• European Communities Act 1972;
• Conventions:
  • ... that, since the reign of Queen Anne, the monarch will not refuse to grant the Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament;
  • ... that the monarch will not dissolve Parliament without the advice of the Prime Minister;
  • ... that the monarch will ask the leader of the dominant party in the House of Commons to form a government;
  • ... that the monarch will ask a member of the House of Commons (rather than the House of Lords or someone outside parliament) to form a government;
  • ... that all ministers be drawn from the House of Commons or the Lords;
  • ... that the House of Lords will accept any legislation that was in the Government's manifesto (the 'Salisbury Convention')

Britain did have a written constitution from 1653 to 1660.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "British_constitution" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_constitution, used under the GNU Free Documentation License