The Unwritten nature of the British Constitution

If the layman knows anything about the British constitution, it is that the Constitution is unwritten. If 'unwritten' means the British constitution does not exist in documentary form, then the statement is correct. If, however, it means that all the rules of the UK Constitution are unwritten, then the statement is erroneous.

Only three countries today have Constitutions which are not entirely written -- Britain, Israel and New Zealand. Britain's largely unwritten Constitution on is the Product of history and the result of evolution. The evolution of the British Constitution is discussed in the next Chapter. Most countries have experienced an event which marked a clear break with history and provided the- opportunity to codify their Constitutional arrangements. Britain is exceptional in this respect. The British constitution has grown with the growth of the English nation, changed with its wants and adapted itself to the needs of various times. Jennings has aptly remarked, "If the Constitution consists of institutions and not of the paper that describes them, the British Constitution has not been made but has grown"⁴. So, it is clear that the Englishmen never drew out their political system in the shape of a formal document and consequently, there is no single place in which 'the Constitution' as a whole is clearly and definitely written down. Many books may be found which describe the British constitution, but no one of them can be said to contain it. There are Acts of parliament which make the British constitution but these enactments do not bear the same date. They arc scattered as they were made as and when they were needed and the circumstances demanded.

The concluding words can be, British Constitution is a body of basic rules indicating the structure and functions of the political institutions and principles governing their operation. It is just the same in nature as the Constitution of any other country; the only difference is that the British Constitution has never been devised, codified or put in an orderly form into one book or in one place. So, the British constitution is mostly uncodified or partly written Constitution.