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Our unwritten constitution: under pressure & under scrutiny

03 October 2019 / David Greene
Issue: 7858 / Categories: Opinion , Brexit , Constitutional law
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Codifying the UK’s constitution to fill in the gaps is up for debate but seems politically unlikely, says David Greene

The opening of the legal year attracts lawyers from all over the world to London. There is much talk among them on the rule of law. At the service in Westminster Abbey this week, even the sermon talked about the rule of law in the context of Brexit.

Britain is hardly alone in experiencing rule of law issues. Even in the most secure constitutions, there are dynamics between the pillars of the constitution, government and Parliament, and government and the courts: such is the stuff of a living constitution.

Our constitution is marked with the common law in that it is largely unwritten; it is uncodified but is reflected in historic constitutional documents such as Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights and more modern constitutional legislation like the European Communities Act 1972 or the Human Rights Act 1998. In addition, the common law and the constitution

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