"I Know My Rights!" - The Spaghetti Junction of a Mess That is the British Constitution

A constitution (in the political sense) is a set of rules in which a government is to uphold and work for the people, both the citizens of the land and all others that are in it. The UK’s constitution hasn’t been drafted into one single document, but has instead evolved from a mixture of older English legal codes and more modern solidified Acts from other parts of Britain. Such base guidelines include:

* Magna Carta (The Great Charter); 1215
* Statute of Westminster; 1275
* English Bill of Rights; 1689
* Act of Settlement; 1701
* Act of Union; 1707
* Northern Ireland Act; 1998
* Scotland Act; 1998
* Government of Wales Act; 1998
* European Communities Act; 1972
* Human Rights Act; 1998


Also within Britain’s uncodified Constitution are many traditional rituals which are viewed on the whole to be imbedded into the nation of the land (e.g. always holding the General Election on Thursdays). As BritsAtTheirBest explains; “Just as you know your family's traditions without writing them down, you understand and value your traditions of freedom, which men and women before you defended with their lives”. The site also states that “Giving any foreign body authority over the British people is unconstitutional.” The Lisbon Treaty is an example of such foreign body ruling over the European Community; British people and all. AYTD hopes to go into more detail about this at a later date.