Written and unwritten constitutions
Almost all countries have what are called written constitutions, in the sense that there is a single document containing at least the most important formal rules, which may be expressed in varying degrees of detail.
In the context of this meaning of the phrase written constitution, the British constitution is usually described as being unwritten. However, it is important to note that this is a technical usage of the word unwritten. More particularly, it does not mean that the rules are not written down anywhere, but simply that they are not written down in one place. In fact, almost all the formal rules of the British constitution are written down, either in the judgments of the courts or in Acts of Parliament, while the underlying doctrines and almost all the informal practices are described in sources ranging from textbooks on constitutional law and political science to the memoirs of politicians. From time to time, the doctrines and informal practices may also be recognised by the courts.The factual inaccuracy of the term unwritten constitution leads some people to reject the written/unwritten terminology altogether, preferring to use the terms codified and uncodified instead. Since codified means brought together in a single document (or at least in a small number of documents), while uncodified means not brought together in this way, there is much to be said for this usage. However, this does not exhaust the possible variations of terminology, since some people prefer to speak in terms of formal and informal constitutions. From your point of view, however, all that really matters is that you are able to understand whatever usage you may come across.
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- Index
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- Introduction
- Introduction
- SUMMARY
- Using notes