Should the UK have a written Constitution

If we were to answer this question bearing in mind Ridley's analysis, tin- answer would be 'yes' since only then the UK would have a Constitution deserving of the name. Besides this, British Constitutional arrangements have caused a number of individuals and organizations to make the case for a written constitution.

Though the issue of written constitution has yet to be adopted by either of the two main political parties (Labour and Conservative); Charter 88, an independent campaign by the Liberal Democrats has argued that a written Constitution should lie at the heart of a program of Constitutional reform for the UK. Indeed it might be argued that the present government's program of constitutional reform would have provided a good opportunity to set about drawing up a documentary constitution for the UK.

It has to be acknowledged that the desire for a written constitution is not universal. As the British constitutional arrangements have served it well for several hundred years, so change is unnecessary. This may be characterized as 'if it isn't broken, don't fix it.'

Just for the sake of argument, if we accept that there is a need for a written constitution; problems would arise as to the content and drafting of the new Constitution. If it were necessary to do so, it is likely that the task of drafting would be performed by a specially constituted constitutional convention of experts and politicians. To some extent, this has already happened. In 1991, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published 'The Constitution of the United Kingdom' consisting of 129 articles and six Schedules. This was drafted with the desire that an example would advance the public argument more effectively than further general discussion of the problem which it raises and attempts to resolve. But till today, the British people did not feel the necessity to start the procedure of adopting a Written Constitution for the UK.

Further Reading

Phillips, O Hood: Constitutional and Administrative Law Hillary Barnet: Constitutional Law

E.C.S Wade and G.G. Phillips: English Constitutional Law Neil Parpworth: Constitutional administrative Law.