Having studied this chapter, you should be able to explain the following matters:

Constitutions provide legal structures for the governance of states.

The constitutions of almost all states are set out in either a single document or a small number of documents.

The British constitution is an exception. Almost all its formal provisions are contained in judgments of the courts and Acts of Parliament. These provisions, together with some matters of established political practice (which are usually called constitutional conventions) are dealt with in scholarly writings of both lawyers and political scientists and in other sources (including the memoirs of politicians).

The British constitution is based on three principles (or doctrines), namely the legislative supremacy of Parliament, the rule of law and the separation of powers (although the last of these is recognised only partially).

Membership of the European Union (EU) involves a voluntary limitation on the legislative supremacy of Parliament (to the extent that English courts will refuse to apply a statutory provision which is contrary to EU law); but the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act 1998 do not give English courts the same power in relation to statutory provisions which contravene Convention rights.