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The difference between written and Unwritten constitution
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A Written Constitution
A written constitution is a formal document that defines the nature of
constitutional agreements; theses include rules that govern the
political system and the rights of citizens and governments in a
codified form.
The UK's constitution is unwritten as it hails from no single written
document, but derives from a number of sources that can be said to be
written and part unwritten, examples of this include conventions,
works of authority, Acts of Parliament, EU law and common law.
In many countries, for example, the USA, the legislature is limited by
the Constitution in the laws it can or cannot make. The U.S. Supreme
Court can declare laws passed by the legislature to be
unconstitutional and therefore invalid. The traditional view in the UK
is that Parliament is not subject to any legal limitation and that the
UK courts have no power to declare laws duly passed by Parliament
invalid. According to A.V. Dicey (Law of the Constitution, 1885), "In
theory Parliament has total power. It is sovereign. The concept of
parliamentary sovereignty means that Parliament is the supreme legal
authority in the UK. This contrasts to many European and Commonwealth
countries, which have a clearly defined constitutional settlement.
The closest thing the UK has to a bill of rights today is the Human
Rights Act 1998, which incorporates the European Convention of Human
Rights 1950 (ECHR) into domestic law. The key features within the
unwritten constitution would be described as being uncodified, not
ingrained therefore flexible and unitary (excluding recent devolution)
With that said, the UK, ...
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...ion. This would become a problem for a number of reasons:
Judges are unrepresentative of the public; as such they are unlikely
to represent minority groups or activists. Judges are unaccountable
and do not have to answer to Parliament or the public and since they
are not elected is would not be reasonable that they would be able to
overrule an elected Parliament. As such, the core controversy around
the notion of a written constitution has been its potential to act as
a brake on the democratic supremacy of Parliament. Some believe that
the notion of an unelected judicial branch questioning the sovereignty
of Parliament is fundamentally opposed to the notion of representative
democracy. This alone would suggest that the current system provides
strong and effective government with accountability and supreme
authority.
McKercher, William R., ed. The U.S. Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights
The English Bill of Rights is an Act of the Parliament of England that deals with constitutional matters and sets out certain basic civil rights. This constitution was passed on December 16, 1689.The Bill was passed to declare laws and liberties of the people. Also the people wanted separation of powers and limits the of power to the king and queen. It guarantees the rights of enhancing the democratic election and to get more freedom of speech. No armies should be raised in peacetime, no taxes can be levied, without the authority of parliament. Laws should not be dispensed with, or suspended, without the consent of parliament and no excessive fines should imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. King James the 2nd, had abused his
The Human Rights Act of 1998 was co-founded upon the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. Developed following the ending of the Second World War, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was constructed to further the idealistic principles and endeavours of equality among all human beings, as well as a devout declaration of preventing the reoccurrence of the holocaust and massacres which have occurred as a casus belli . ECHR comprises civil privileges and liberties fundamental to all human beings irrespective of race, gender, age, sexual orientation exclusive of discrimination. The UK government have promptly endorsed the ECHR, recognising the need of ...
The plan to divide the government into three branches was proposed by James Madison, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He modeled the division from who he referred to as ‘the Perfect Governor,’ as he read Isaiah 33:22; “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.” http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm
All members of the Society shall be subject to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Codes of Conduct. Failure to adhere to any College policies may be grounds for the termination of ones membership to the Society upon an affirmative vote of three-quarters of the Society’s active members.
Charter. No one, including the government, has the right to deprive any person of these rights which are given...
By the late eighteenth century, America found itself independent from England; which was a welcomed change, but also brought with it, its own set of challenges. The newly formed National Government was acting under the Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league of friendship” between the states, but did not give adequate power to run the country. To ensure the young nation could continue independently, Congress called for a Federal Convention to convene in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. While the Congress only authorized the convention to revise and amend the Articles the delegates quickly set out to develop a whole new Constitution for the country. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution called for a national Executive, which was strongly debated by the delegates. There were forces on both sides of the issue trying to shape the office to meet their ideology. The Federalists, who sought a strong central government, favored a strong National Executive which they believed would ensure the country’s safety from both internal and external threats. The Anti Federalists preferred to have more power in the hands of the states, and therefore tried to weaken the national Executive. Throughout the convention and even after, during the ratification debates, there was a fear, by some, that the newly created office of the president would be too powerful and lean too much toward monarchy.
Upon the opening words of the Constitution, "We the People do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America," one must ask, who are these people? While the American Constitution provided its citizens with individual rights, many members were excluded. Elite framers manipulated the idea of a constitution in order to protect their economic interests and the interests of their fellow white land and slave owning men' by restricting the voices of women, slaves, indentured servants and others. Therefore, the Constitution cannot truly be considered a "democratic document." However, because it is a live document, malleable and controllably changeable according to the interest of congress, it has enabled us to make reforms overtime. Such reforms that have greatly impacted America, making us the free, independent nation that we are today.
The document I chose to write about is the United States Constitution. When the thirteen British colonies in North America declared their independence in 1776, they laid down that “governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The “colonies” had to establish a government, which would be the framework for the United States. The purpose of a written constitution is to define and therefore more specifically limit government powers. After the Articles of Confederation failed to work in the 13 colonies, the U.S. Constitution was created in 1787.
In creating the Constitution, the states had several different reactions, including a rather defensive reaction, but also an understanding reaction. As a document that provided the laws of the land and the rights of its people. It directs its attention to the many problems in this country; it offered quite a challenge because the document lent itself to several views and interpretations, depending upon the individual reading it. It is clear that the founders’ perspectives as white, wealthy or elite class, American citizens would play a role in the creation and implementation of The Constitution.
- These rights are natural rights, petitions, bills of rights, declarations of the rights of man etc.
The American Bill of Rights gives people the right to a jury trial with representation by counsel. The English Bill of Rights forbids punishment with the due process of law. The English Bill of Rights provides the right to petition the king and the freedom of debates and election within parliament. Within the English Bill of Rights, the monarch does not have to pay taxes without word of parliament. The English Bill of Rights also includes that monarch will not interfere with parliament
These rights included life, liberty, and property, and if you were in the United States, the pursuit of happiness. What these universal rights meant was that no man could be deprived of his life, his property, or his liberty without due process of law. These were the founding principles of the UK as well as the USA and have been added into the constitutions of both nations. However, many of the countries of the world have gone back and looked at these universal rights and have extended this list to also include water, healthcare, and education. In 2016 there are first world countries who offer these additional universal rights like France, Germany, Canada, Sweden, and Japan.
Nepali state is operating in a constitutional limbo. The original mandate of the constituent assembly has constitutionally ended in April 2010. The two extensions of the assembly’s term have been constitutionally dubious, so will be the third extension now being sought. And there are no signs that the next extension will take us any closer to the constitution.
Kirby, M. 1997, ‘Bill of Rights for Australia – But do we need it?’, viewed 30 March 2014, < http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/app/&id=/A60DA51D4C6B0A51CA2571A7002069A0>