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British Constitution
- 1. Name: Afrah Roll no. 5051 Main Topic. British Constitution
- 2. What is constitution Why we need constitution Intro of British constitution History Salient features
- 3. a set of basic laws or principles for a country that describe the rights and duties of its citizens and the way in which it is governed The Constitution is important because it protects individual freedom, and its fundamental principles
- 4. There can be no state without constitution It consist those fundamental rules which determine and distribute power among the various organs of the Govt. As well as determine the relations of the governing authorities with the people The British were the first discover how to manage a large state
- 5. 1. Unwritten: most imp feature of British constitution is its unwritten character Because there is no such thing as written, precise and available in single book The French writer De Tocqueville once marked that: England has no constitution, British constitution is a mixture of character, statues, judicial decisions, common law, usages or traditions, customs, conventions, precedents etc.
- 6. 2. Continuity: The British constitution was not framed at a single time. It is still in the process of growth 3. Flexible constitution: Best example because it can be passed, amended and repealed by simple majority of parliament since no distinction is made b/w constitutional law and ordinary law British constitution is different from America and Pakistan, because in both countries there is consider to be a supreme document in which amended is very rare
- 7. 4. Evolutionary Growth The British constitution is a specimen of evolutionary development. Still going through the process of growth Never framed by any constituent assembly or king No precise date of its birth can be given No one claim to be its author because it comes from precedent to precedent and from past experiences of law and practices
- 8. 5. Unitary: It also has unitary character as apposed to a federal one. All power of the Govt. are vested in the British parliament, which is a sovereign body. The executive organs of state are subordinate to it and exercise delegated powers and are answerable to it. There is only one legislature 6. Bicameralism: British parliament consist two houses 1. House of common (lower house) 2. House Lords (upper house)
- 9. 7. Rule of law: Imp feature of British constitution rule of law. It implies equality. It has three implication 1. all persons are equal before the law irrespective of their position or rank 2. This doctrine emphasis the supremacy of the law and not of an individual. 3. No one can detained or imprisoned without a fair and proper trait by a competent court of law. Nor can a person he punished or deprived of his life, liberty or property except for a specific breach of law proved in an ordinary court of law by an ordinary procedure
- 10. 8.Independency of judiciary: The British constitution is based on the independency of judiciary. Judges are bound to obey and respect constitution. 9. Sovereignty of Parliament: Very imp feature of British constitution . The court cannot question the validity of the laws passed by British Parliament. It can make illegal what is legal and legalize what is illegal.
- 11. 10. Organic nature: • The nature of the British cons. Is organic. It is constantly growing. There is much that is still same and there is much also which changes according to the needs of time. There is continually development. 11. Role of conventions: Another very important feature is the existence of a large number of conventions in it. No one understand this constitution properly without studying these conventions carefully . They are a part of constitution but they are not laws, because as such conventions cannot be enforced by the courts. Examples: The queen cannot go against the advice of the cabinet The PM must sit in the House of Commons
- 12. 12. Mixed Constitution: The British cons. is a unique blend of monarch, aristocracy and democracy. The existence of queen and kind shows that there is Monarchy in England. The existence of House of lords gives an idea that England has an Aristocracy type of Govt. The house of common reflects actual working of a full-fledged democracy in this country. But all these diverse political elements have been welded together to produce the finale effect of perfect representative democracy
- 13. 13. Gap b/w Theory and Practice: • There is great gap between theory and practices. • As for instance, in theory, it is the King and Queen who is sovereign, but in practice it is the parliament, which is sovereign. • The Queen in theory is the fountainhead or patronage but in practice all honors and titles are conferred by the Prime Minister. • This also justifies the remarks of Lord Sankey that “Theory has no relation to realities in British constitution”