Essay about The Arguments For and Against a Codified...

The Arguments For and Against a Codified Constitution A constitution is a set of rules that seek to establish the duties, powers and functions of the various institutions of government, regulate the relationships between them, and define the relationship between the state and the individual. The most common way of classifying constitutions is to distinguish between codified and uncodified. The UK has an uncodified constitution. A written constitution is precisely a charter that has been codified, in that the rules and regulations that citizens / individuals must abide by are stated in a single document format. Although elements of the UK constitution are written e.g. the statute law, sections of†¦show more content†¦A codified constitution would describe and entrench the structure of government, the relationship between different parts of government and the relationship between government and citizens. So it would therefore prevent arbitrary government. An introduction of a codified constitution would protect the rights of the citizens. It is argued that citizen’s rights can only be protected if they are entrenched in a codified constitution. Without this, a government could remove rights too easily with an overall majority by simply introducing a Bill and relying on its parliamentary majority to pass it. For example, since the attack on the twin towers in the USA on 11 September 2001, the government has been able to persuade parliament to pass an anti-terrorist legislation which goes against certain rights despite the UK having a Human Rights Act (1998). As a result, for example, a number of asylum seeks have been detained without trial. Under a codified constitution they would be unable to introduce this legislation to restrict people’s rights and the only way to do this is to amend the constitution which would be difficult and a lengthy process. Parliamentary sovereignty is slowly diminishing in the UK and a codified constitution would not only decrease government sovereignty, but also increase sovereignty of theShow MoreRelatedDiscuss and Analyse the Arguments for and Against Adopting a Codified Constitution in the Uk.1662 Words   |  7 PagesDiscuss and analyse the arguments for and against adopting a codified constitution in the UK. A constitution is a set of rules that seek to establish the duties, powers and functions of the various institutions of government. They also regulate the relationship between and among the institutions and define the relationship between the state and the individual. There are many different types of constitutions. The constitution that is in place in the UK is an uncodified one. In other words, it isRead MoreShould the Uk Retain Its Uncodified Constitution Essay1369 Words   |  6 PagesShould the UKs constitution remain uncodified? 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