SUMMARY

1 The word constitution is used in two senses. In one sense it means the body of rules and informal practices which provide for, and control, the governance of the state. In another sense, it means a single document (or, perhaps, a small number of identifiable documents) which sets out at least the most important of those rules.

2 Day-to-day necessity requires that every state must have a constitution in the first sense. In practice, almost all states also have a constitution in the second sense. However, there is no single document, nor a small number of identifiable documents, containing the British constitution, which is, therefore, described variously as being unwritten, uncodified and informal.

3 Despite its informal nature, the British Constitution is underpinned (at least to a large extent) by the three doctrines of the legislative supremacy of Parliament, the rule of law and the separation of powers.

4 However, the separation of powers has always enjoyed only partial recognition, in addition to which the EU doctrine of the supremacy of EU law now provides that EU law prevails over inconsistent provisions of legislation enacted by Parliament.

5 By way of contrast, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) do not affect the legislative supremacy of Parliament. (The law of the ECHR and the operation of the HRA are discussed in Chapter 5.)