History of the uk consituition

• Anglo-Saxon institutions


  Foundations of English constitutional law and the British political system
• Witan


  Council of nobles who advised the king, had no legislative power but the king rarely acted against their counsel
• Anglo-Saxon law


  • Distinctive system of jurisprudence with unique principles and mechanisms
  • Period for the birth of English common law
  • Duties and privileges of the Anglo-Saxon freeman held significant political implications and contributed to the development of local governance structures
• Shire and the hundred


  Played crucial role in maintaining public order
• Anglo-Saxon court system

  Driven more by communal verdicts
• Church


  • Profound social and cultural institution significantly influencing governance
  • Role: educating the elites, maintaining records, and shaping medieval legislation
• Trial by jury


  Accused through an ordeal to determine guilt
• Habeas corpus


  Prisoner had the right to appeal to courts against unfair or illegal imprisonment
• Feudal system

  King effectively owned all land and everyone had to swear an oath of loyalty, the king would give land to nobles who would use knights to manage it for the king and supply an army when needed
• Chief ministers

  Established the royal powers after being nominated by the king, they will appoint judges who will hear cases on behalf of the crown
• Magna Carta


  Great charter that guaranteed the freedom of the Church from royal interference and curbed the powers of the king
• Key provisions of Magna Carta

  • The king could not raise a tax without the consent of the people
  • The right to due process in the law was guaranteed
  • The right to trial by jury was guaranteed
  • Justice had to be free and fair
  • The nobles could select a committee of 25 to scrutinise the actions of the king
• Magna Carta was the first time since 1066 that the powers of the monarch had been limited and it was an acknowledgement that the rights of the lords had to be respected
• Magna Carta consolidated Anglo-Saxon principles into a formal legal document, creating the first part of the UK's constitution and establishing the first formal limits to the power of the monarchy
• House of Lords


  The nobles had a committee that consulted the king, effectively the creation of the House of Lords
• House of Commons

  The king demanded each shire and each town to elect two representatives from among the knights and burgesses, and they consulted the monarch regularly, effectively the creation of the House of Commons
• Parliament

  Both the Lords and Commons met with the monarch at Westminster Hall, therefore became the place where the Lords and Commons met to discuss their grievances with the monarch
• Parliamentary sovereignty


  The king was answerable to parliament and could be removed by parliament
• Henry VIII's repeated statements that parliament — as the representatives of the people — had the power to approve the actions of the king established the idea of parliamentary sovereignty
• Bill of Rights


  Modified in 1689 and placed on the statute book, heavily influenced by John Locke's belief that people were entitled to freedom from the government and this should be protected by the law
• Key provisions of the Bill of Rights

  • Removed royal interference in elections
  • Placed limits on the use of the royal prerogative
  • Established the legal position of the army
  • Established key principles of rights or freedoms from the government
  • Formally established the principle of parliamentary sovereignty
• The Bill of Rights had problems as the rights were vague, the definition of 'free elections' was unclear, it held no higher legal authority, and there was no formal procedure for removal of the monarch
• Key effects of the Bill of Rights

  • Only parliament could pass or remove laws
  • Only parliament could raise money for government expenditure
  • People could complain to the monarchy through parliament
  • Only parliament could raise and maintain an army during peacetime
  • The principle of free elections away from government influence was established
  • The parliamentary privilege of being able to say things in the House of Commons without fear of prosecution was established
• Act of Settlement 1701


  Granted parliament the power to choose the monarch, established principles such as judges could not be removed without parliament's consent, royal pardons were irrelevant in cases of impeachment, the monarch could not take England into a war to defend their home country without parliament's consent, and the monarch had to be a member of the Church of England and could not be Catholic or married to a Catholic
• The Act of Settlement established the principle that the monarch could only choose ministers who could command a majority of support across both Houses of Parliament
• Union with Ireland Act 1800


  Created the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
• Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921


  Formally created the Irish Free State, with the six counties of Northern Ireland opting to remain part of the United Kingdom
• European Communities Act 1972


  Allowed the UK to join the European Economic Community, European Coal and Steel Community, and European Atomic Energy Community, and allowed EEC/EU law to become part of domestic law in the UK
• The European Communities Act stated that no UK law could conflict with European law, and parliament had chosen to pass sovereignty to the EEC/EU
• In 2016, the people voted in a referendum to leave the EU and end any sense that power or sovereignty over the UK was wielded by the EU, with the UK leaving in January 2020
• Parliament Act 1911


  Gave the House of Commons exclusive powers over money bills, allowed the Lords to delay a bill for 2 years only, and reduced the duration of a parliament from 7 to 5 years
• Parliament Act 1949


  Reduced the time by which the Lords could delay legislation from 2 years to 1 year or two parliamentary sessions, in response to the Lords blocking the Labour government's nationalisation programmes