• British constitution is oldest, unwritten, evolved

and dynamic in nature . In this context, Prof.

Munro writes, “The British constitution is complex
amalgam of institutions, principles and practices. It is
composed of charters and statutes, of judicial decisions
of common law, of precedents, usages and traditions.
It is not one document but hundreds them. It is not
derived from one source but from several. It is not a
complete thing but a process of growth. It is a child of
wisdom and of chance whose course had been
sometimes guided by accident and sometimes by high
design.”
• 1. GREAT CHARTERS AND PETITIONS- (i)Magna
Carta(1215) signed by King John.(ii) Petition of Rights (1628)
signed King Charles.
• 2. ACTS OF PARLIAMENT- In the 19TH and 20th century
various reform Acts were passed by the British Parliament.
For Example- Reform Act 1832,1867,1884,1918,1928 etc.
• 3. JUDICIAL DECISIONS- British Courts have given
decisions from time to time regarding the principle of the
supremacy of Parliament, Judicial control over government
employees, deforming the frame-work of the liberties and for
curtailing the prerogatives of the king. Some leading cases are-
Bainbridge V/S Postmaster General, Beally v/s Gillbank,
Wise V/S Dunning , Osborne v/s Amalgamed Society.
Liversidge v/s Anderson etc.
• 4. COMMON LAWS-These laws are based on usages
which the people have been accepting for centuries.
• 5. CONVENTIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION-
Conventions are not the product of a particular time,
rather they grow automatically with the time and these
are obeyed because of their utility.
• 6.VIEWS OF CONSTITUTIONAL EXPORTS-In
England , the following books and commentaries of the
constitutional experts are respected:
• (i) English Constitution by Begehot, (ii) Parliamentary
Treaties by May, (iii) Laws of constitution by Dicey, (iv)
Parliamentary government in England by Laski , (v)
Constitutional Law by Wade and Philips.
• Oldest constitution
• Unwritten Constitution
• Evolved Constitution
• Flexible constitution
• Parliamentry form of government
• Limited and Hereditary Monarchy
• Supremacy of Parliament
• Bi-cameral Legislature
• Unitary Government
• Rule of law
• Provision of an Independent Supreme Court
• Bi-party system
 Mixed government
 Gap between Theory and practice
 Convention based constitution
 Child of Accident and Design
 Separate Parliament for Scotland and an
Assembly for Wales.
• Unlike the citizens of India and America, the
citizens of England do not enjoy any written
rights.However, even then they enjoy the rights
like the citizens of India and America. These are-
• Right to personal freedom
• Right to freedom of speech and Expression
• Right to take out Processions and Public Meetings
• Right to Press
• Right to Religious freedom
 Right to form Political Associations
 Right to vote and Contest Elections
 Right to hold Public Office
 Right to private property
 Right to work
 Right to social security
 In British Constitution, some new trends have
emerged which are described briefly as below-
 1. It is Cabinet,not Parliament which is dynamo
of the Political Machine
 2. Multiplicity Of Political Parties
 3.Increasing influence of Bureacracy
 4. Increasing use of Delegated Legislation
 5. Interference in the Administration of local
Government.
 6.Establishment of separate Parliament for
Scotland and Assembly for Wales
 7.Provision of an elected Speaker for the House
of Lords.
 8. Provision of an independent Supreme Court
in England.
 In conclusion, we can say that in spite of
having unwritten, most of its parts based on
conventions, the constitution of England is
working successfully . The citizens of England
enjoy all kinds of rights and liberties. Being
dynamic in nature, it has capacity to cope with
all kinds of situations.
 Dr. S.R. Mahashwari,“Comparative study of Governments and Politics” Lakshmi Narain
Agrawal, 2004
 J.S. Badyal, “Comparative Political systems and International Politics” ,Raj Publishers,
2013.
 Dr. Gulshan Rai, S.N. Verma and V.P. Verma, “Comparative Political systems and
International Politics” Joyoti Book Depot Pvt. Ltd. 2008.
 K.R. Bombwal, “ Comparative Constitutions”, Modern Publishers, 1978.
 J.C. Johari “Modern Political system”, Sterling Publishers, 1972.