Britain is often said to have an unwritten constitution because there is no single constitutional document which defines the working of Britain's constitutional system. A collection of:
- Acts of parliament
- decrees
- conventions
- traditions
- royal prerogatives
Among the many key documents or conventions are the
- Magna Carta;
- Habeas Corpus Act, 1679;
- Bill of Rights, 1689;
- Act of Settlement, 1701;
- Act of Union, 1707 (joining England & Scotland to form Great Britain);
- Act of Union 1800, joining Great Britain & Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Statute of Westminster, 1931;
- Parliament Act, 1911 (revised 1949);
- Peerage Act, 1963;
- European Communities Act, 1972;
- Convention since the reign of Queen Anne that the monarch will not refuse to grant the Royal Assent to Bills passed by parliament;
- Convention that the monarch will not dissolve Parliament without the advice of the Prime Minister;
- Convention that the monarch will ask the leader of the dominant party in the House of Commons to form a government;
- Convention that the monarch will ask a member of the House of Commons (rather than the House of Lords or someone outside parliament) to form a government;
- Convention that all ministers be drawn from the House of Commons or the Lords;
- Convention that the House of Lords will accept any legislation that was in the government's manifesto (the 'Salisbury Convention')
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