BRITISH CONSTITUTION AND SOME OF ITS PECULIARITIES

Salient characteristics or merits of the Constitution

An Unwritten Constitution

One of the most striking features of the British Constitution is that it is unwritten. It is, indeed, the only unwritten Constitution in the world today. In fact, this is the characteristic which made De Tocqueville to remark that “the English Constitution does not really exist." The Frenchmen, like the Americans, are accustomed to written Constitutions in their country. Finding no such written document, they conclude that England has no Constitution at all. But, as we know, every State has a Constitution which defines the organization and powers of its various organs and departments. In this sense, there is a Constitution in England as in every other country.

But it is not wholly unwritten. It comprises two parts. the written part which includes the three elements viz., the Constitutional Charters, the Statutes and the Judicial Decisions and the unwritten part which includes the Common Law and the Conventions and Customs. In fact, it is said that when a constitutional statute like the Parliament Act of 1949, is passed, the British Constitution becomes more written than before.

A Flexible Constitution 

It is a flexible and responsive Constitution, because of the unrestricted legal supremacy of the Parliament which has the power to amend it by the ordinary lawmaking process. As Walter Bagehot said many years ago, Parliament can abolish trial by jury, pass bills of attainder, confiscate private property without compensation, take the suffrage from all, but taxpayers, and even turn England into a Republic. Most of the other Constitutions are rigid because these can be amended only by a difficult and prolonged process. Its flexibility makes the British Constitution responsive to changes in public opinion. Yet it does not suffer from the danger of too many and too frequent changes, because (i) the national traditions of the English people are against such changes, and (ii) there is an unbroken continuity of the English Constitution. 

BRITISH CONSTITUTION AND SOME OF ITS PECULIARITIES

An Evolved Constitution

The English Constitution has grown and evolved from century to century, from generation to generation and from year to year. It has a long history of unbroken and undisturbed continuity and is an outcome of growth and development. It is not a product of some theory of some particular Constituent Assembly. It has not been made, but has grown up.

 “No precise date could be named as the day of its birth, no definite body of persons could claim to be its creators, no one could point to the documents which contained its clauses it is, in short, a thing by itself.” 

It has an unbroken continuity of development over a thousand years. Its past institutions are remodeled to serve modern purposes. “It is a somewhat rambling structure, and, is like a house which many successive owners have altered just so far as suited their immediate wants or the fashion of the time. It bears the mark of many hands." 

The gap between its theory and practice - its unreality

One of the most remarkable features is the gap or difference between its constitutional theory and governmental practice, which exists in no other Constitution. It is one thing in theory, but another in practice. Hence, it is said that in the British Constitution "nothing is what it seems or seems what it is.” The actual working of the Constitution does not correspond to the wording of the legal statutes or to the legal theory. For instance, in law “there is nothing which the King cannot do”, but in practice, he does nothing except what he is told to do by his Ministers. Even the King's Speech is written not by the King but by the Ministers. In theory, the King appoints the Ministers, but they are really chosen by the Prime Minister. Parliament is summoned or dissolved by the King, but it is the Prime Minister who advises him to do so. Sometimes the law gives powers to one official, but these are exercised by someone else. This is the reason why the Government of the United Kingdom in ultimate theory is an absolute monarchy, in form a limited constitutional monarchy and in actual character democratic republic.” It is also the reason why practice out runs theory in England.

Parliamentary Sovereignty

The British Constitution establishes the sovereignty of the Parliament. Legally Parliament can make or unmake any law, whether ordinary or constitutional and the validity of such a law cannot be questioned in any court of law in the country. “Parliament is at once, a legislative and a Constituent Assembly.” There is no other body in the British Constitution that can come into rivalry with the Parliament. 

Other Features

It is a unitary Constitution. It embodies the Rule of Law, which gives it legality and impartiality. It rests on the principle of hereditary monarchy.