The nature and sources of the UK Constitution | Edexcel A-Level Politics
Updated: 5 days ago
For Specification 9PL0
Edexcel A-Level Politics | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time:Â 55 minutes
The nature and sources of the UK Constitution A-Level Politics revision covers the distinctive characteristics of the UK's constitutional arrangements and where its rules come from. You need to understand why the Constitution is described as unentrenched, uncodified and unitary, explain the twin pillars of parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law, and distinguish five constitutional sources. These ideas build directly on historical constitutional development and provide the foundation for studying later constitutional reform.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define the UK Constitution as unentrenched, uncodified and unitary.
Explain the meaning and significance of parliamentary sovereignty.
Explain the rule of law and distinguish it from parliamentary sovereignty.
Distinguish statute law, common law, conventions, authoritative works and treaties.
Analyse the relationships between the nature and sources of the UK Constitution.
Apply constitutional terminology accurately to political information in examination questions.
Revision Notes đź“š
The nature and sources of the UK Constitution A-Level Politics revision
Edexcel defines a constitution as a set of rules determining where sovereignty lies in a political system and establishing the relationship between government and the governed.
For Specification 9PL0, you need to understand two connected areas:
The nature of the Constitution
unentrenched
uncodified
unitary
parliamentary sovereignty
rule of law
The five main sources of the Constitution
statute law
common law
conventions
authoritative works
treaties
These characteristics developed gradually through the documents studied in the previous lesson.
The three characteristics of the UK Constitution
The UK Constitution is described by Edexcel as unentrenched, uncodified and unitary.
These terms describe different things, so they should not be used interchangeably.
Characteristic | Edexcel meaning | What the term tells us |
Unentrenched | There is no special procedure for constitutional amendment. | How constitutional rules can be changed. |
Uncodified | The Constitution is not contained in a single written document. | Where constitutional rules are found. |
Unitary | All legal sovereignty is contained in a single place. | Where ultimate legal sovereignty is located. |
A strong examination response should therefore avoid treating "uncodified" and "unentrenched" as synonyms. They refer to two separate characteristics.
An unentrenched constitution
An unentrenched constitution is one with no special procedure for amendment.
This means the UK does not have a separate constitutional amendment procedure of the type associated with an entrenched constitution.
The concept is closely connected to parliamentary sovereignty. If Parliament can make, amend or unmake any law, constitutional rules can also be changed through Parliament.
A useful analytical chain is:
unentrenched Constitution → no special constitutional amendment procedure → Parliament can change constitutional law → parliamentary sovereignty remains central
Past Edexcel source material has directly linked the absence of entrenchment to the ability of a government with a parliamentary majority to make major constitutional changes.
The potential advantages and disadvantages of changing this arrangement belong particularly to the later reform debate.
Unentrenched does not mean unchangeable
This is an easy misconception.
An entrenched constitution makes constitutional rules harder to alter by requiring a special procedure.
An unentrenched constitution does the opposite. Constitutional change does not require a special amendment mechanism.
This helps explain why Edexcel next requires you to study extensive post-1997 constitutional change.
An uncodified constitution
An uncodified constitution is a constitution not contained in a single written document.
This is one of the most important definitions in this topic.
⚠️ Uncodified does not mean completely unwritten.
The UK has a large amount of written constitutional material. Statute law is written, treaties are formal agreements, and authoritative works are written sources.
The key point is that these constitutional rules have not been brought together into one single codified constitutional document.
Edexcel assessment material has explicitly recognised that significant amounts of the UK constitutional order are written into law even though the Constitution as a whole remains uncodified.
This reflects what you learned about the gradual emergence of constitutional arrangements in the historical development of the Constitution.
Why the five sources matter to an uncodified constitution
The five sources help explain what "uncodified" means in practice.
Instead of consulting one single constitutional document, constitutional rules may come from:
Acts of Parliament
rules created by judges
political traditions
works written by constitutional experts
formal agreements with other countries
The 2025 Edexcel source question itself referred to the large amount of common law, Acts of Parliament, works of authority and unwritten conventions forming part of the UK's constitutional arrangements.
Therefore:
uncodified does not mean no constitution
and
uncodified does not mean no written constitutional rules
It means that the constitutional system is drawn from several different sources rather than one codified document.
A unitary constitution
Edexcel defines a unitary political system as one in which all legal sovereignty is contained in a single place.
In the UK constitutional system, this connects directly to parliamentary sovereignty.
Parliament is the legally sovereign institution because Parliament can make, amend or unmake law.
This distinction becomes especially important once you study territorial government.
Edexcel defines devolution as:
the dispersal of power, but not sovereignty, within a political system.
Therefore, the existence of devolved government does not automatically mean that sovereignty itself has been dispersed.
The important distinction is:
Concept | What is dispersed? |
Devolution | Power |
Sovereignty | Ultimate legal authority |
This is why students need to distinguish the exercise of political power from the location of legal sovereignty.
Unitary and federal systems
Edexcel presents unitary and federal as contrasting constitutional concepts.
For this lesson, the essential requirement is to understand why the UK is characterised as unitary:
legal sovereignty remains located in one place, even where political powers are devolved elsewhere.
The wider question of where sovereignty may appear to lie in practice is examined later through competing forms of sovereignty.
The twin pillars of the UK Constitution
Alongside its unentrenched, uncodified and unitary characteristics, Edexcel identifies two principles as the "twin pillars"Â of the UK Constitution:
parliamentary sovereignty
the rule of law
These concepts describe different but fundamental aspects of the constitutional system.
Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliamentary sovereignty is the principle that Parliament can:
make any law
amend any law
unmake any law
not bind its successors
not be bound by its predecessors
This makes parliamentary sovereignty central to understanding the UK Constitution.
Parliament can make law
Parliament possesses the constitutional authority to create law.
This connects directly to Parliament's legislative role.
Parliament can amend law
Existing law can be changed through subsequent legislation.
This helps explain why the Constitution is unentrenched.
Parliament can unmake law
Parliament can repeal existing law.
Again, this demonstrates that constitutional law does not possess automatic entrenchment simply because it concerns important constitutional issues.
Parliament cannot bind future Parliaments
A present Parliament cannot prevent a future Parliament from changing its legislation.
Parliament is not bound by previous Parliaments
A current Parliament is not permanently prevented from altering legislation passed by an earlier Parliament.
Together, these points explain why Edexcel's definition focuses not simply on Parliament's law-making role, but on its position as the legally sovereign institution.
Parliamentary sovereignty and the unentrenched Constitution
These ideas reinforce one another:
Parliamentary sovereignty
↓
Parliament can make, amend and unmake law
↓
No Parliament can permanently bind its successors
↓
Constitutional laws are not automatically protected from later amendment
↓
The Constitution remains unentrenched
Past Edexcel material has described the principle of parliamentary sovereignty as meaning that there is no higher constitutional law capable of permanently preventing Parliament from legislating.
The arguments over whether this arrangement should change are developed in the codification debate.
Parliamentary sovereignty and the unitary Constitution
Parliamentary sovereignty is also closely connected to the Constitution's unitary character.
A unitary system contains legal sovereignty in one place, while parliamentary sovereignty identifies Parliament as possessing the ability to make, amend and unmake law.
This does not mean that Parliament or the UK Government exercises every political power directly.
Devolution demonstrates the difference:
political power can be dispersed without legal sovereignty necessarily being dispersed.
This distinction becomes central in later questions concerning where sovereignty now lies.
Parliament is not the same as government
This distinction is crucial.
Parliamentary sovereignty refers to Parliament, not simply to the Prime Minister or government.
The government normally seeks to pass its political programme through Parliament, but the institutions are not identical.
The 2025 examiner report identified confusion between government and Parliament as one of the problems affecting constitutional answers.
⚠️ In an examination, write "Parliament is legally sovereign", not "the government is sovereign".
The rule of law
The second twin pillar is the rule of law.
Edexcel defines the rule of law as:
the principle that all people and bodies, including government, must follow the law and can be held to account if they do not.
There are two particularly important elements in this definition:
The law applies to people and political bodies.
Government itself must follow the law.
This means the rule of law is fundamentally concerned with government operating within the law rather than being able to act arbitrarily outside it.
The principle will become increasingly important when studying the judiciary's constitutional role.
Parliamentary sovereignty versus the rule of law
Do not confuse these twin pillars.
Parliamentary sovereignty | Rule of law |
Concerns the location of ultimate legal law-making authority. | Concerns the requirement that everyone, including government, follows the law. |
Parliament can make, amend and unmake law. | Political actors and institutions must operate according to law. |
Helps explain why the Constitution is unentrenched and unitary. | Helps explain why government is subject to legal rules and accountability. |
A useful way to remember the distinction is:
Parliamentary sovereignty asks: Who has ultimate legal law-making authority?
The rule of law asks: Must those exercising power act according to law?
The answer to the second question is yes, including government itself.
Why are they called the twin pillars?
Edexcel places both principles at the centre of the same constitutional system.
Parliamentary sovereignty establishes Parliament's central legal authority, while the rule of law establishes that political authority is exercised within a legal framework.
Do not write as if one definition automatically cancels out the other.
For examination purposes, the strongest answers are able to:
define each principle precisely
distinguish them
explain how each contributes to the UK's constitutional arrangements
apply the concepts correctly to political information
The five sources of the UK Constitution
Because the UK Constitution is uncodified, its constitutional rules come from several different sources.
Edexcel specifies five main sources:
statute law
common law
conventions
authoritative works
treaties
Overview of the five sources
Source | Edexcel definition | Legal status from the specification definition | Key distinction |
Statute law | Laws passed by Parliament. | Law | Created through Parliament. |
Common law | Laws made by judges where the law does not cover an issue or is unclear. | Law | Developed by judges rather than directly through an Act of Parliament. |
Conventions | Traditions not contained in law but influential in the operation of a political system. | Not law | Political practices rather than legally enforceable rules. |
Authoritative works | Works written by experts describing how a political system is run. They are not legally binding but are taken as significant guides. | Not legally binding | Expert guidance about constitutional operation. |
Treaties | Formal agreements with other countries, usually ratified by Parliament. | Formal international agreements | Arise from agreements with other countries. |
Statute law
Statute law means laws passed by Parliament.
Because Parliament is sovereign, statute law is closely connected to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.
A statute can establish or change important constitutional arrangements.
The specification itself identifies several pieces of constitutional legislation elsewhere in the unit, including:
the Human Rights Act 1998
the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011
legislation connected with devolution
These demonstrate how significant constitutional change may occur through statute law.
You will examine this process more closely through modern constitutional legislation.
Why statute law matters
Statute law demonstrates something important about the phrase "uncodified constitution".
Much of the Constitution can be written into Acts of Parliament while the overall Constitution remains uncodified because all constitutional rules have not been combined into a single constitutional document.
Common law
Common law means laws made by judges where the law does not cover the issue or is unclear.
The key distinction from statute law is therefore who develops the rule:
statute law comes from Parliament
common law is developed by judges
Both are legal sources.
This means it would be incorrect to place common law in the same category as conventions or authoritative works, which are not themselves legally binding constitutional rules.
The specification does not identify a named common-law case that students must learn specifically for this subsection, so a precise understanding of the definition and distinction is more important than inventing an unsupported example.
Conventions
Conventions are traditions not contained in law but influential in the operation of a political system.
This definition contains two elements that must both appear in a strong explanation:
conventions are not law
conventions nevertheless influence political behaviour and constitutional operation
They therefore demonstrate particularly clearly why an uncodified constitution consists of more than formal legal rules.
The wider Edexcel course includes conventions such as:
the Salisbury Convention, studied when examining Parliament
individual and collective ministerial responsibility, studied when examining the Executive
Understanding conventions now will therefore support later study of government responsibility.
Why conventions matter
A convention does not become irrelevant simply because it is not contained in law.
The definition specifically states that conventions remain influential in the operation of the political system.
A common mistake is therefore to write:
"Conventions do not matter because they are not laws."
That is incorrect.
The correct distinction is:
Conventions are not legal rules, but they can still have major constitutional and political significance.
Past Edexcel source material has specifically used the existence of important constitutional conventions as part of debates about the nature of the Constitution.
Authoritative works
Authoritative works are works written by experts describing how a political system is run. They are not legally binding, but they are taken as significant guides.
This makes them different from both law and convention.
They are:
written
produced by experts
descriptive of how the constitutional system operates
not legally binding
nevertheless treated as important guidance
Authoritative works versus conventions
These are sometimes confused because neither is legally binding.
Convention | Authoritative work |
A political tradition or established practice. | A work written by an expert. |
Influences how political actors behave. | Describes how the political system operates. |
Not contained in law. | Not legally binding. |
Exists as a political practice. | Exists as an expert written guide. |
This distinction is much more useful than simply memorising that both are non-legal sources.
Treaties
Treaties are formal agreements with other countries, usually ratified by Parliament.
The important features are therefore:
they are formal agreements
they involve other countries
they are usually ratified by Parliament
Treaties should not be confused with statute law. Statute law consists of laws passed by Parliament, whereas a treaty is defined by Edexcel as a formal agreement with another country.
Important specification update
Issue 3 of the Edexcel specification removed European Union law from the list of constitutional sources. The five sources students are currently required to study are statute law, common law, conventions, authoritative works and treaties.
Comparing all five constitutional sources
A useful way to organise the sources is to ask three questions:
1. Is it law?
Yes:
statute law
common law
No, or not legally binding as a constitutional source:
conventions
authoritative works
Different category:
treaties are formal agreements with other countries, usually ratified by Parliament.
2. Where does it come from?
Statute law:Â Parliament
Common law:Â judges
Conventions:Â political traditions
Authoritative works:Â constitutional experts
Treaties:Â agreements with other countries
3. Why does it matter?
Together, these sources demonstrate the uncodified character of the Constitution.
Constitutional rules do not originate from one document or even from one type of source.
Connecting the nature and sources of the Constitution
The different parts of this topic are closely related.
Uncodified + five sources
The Constitution is uncodified because its rules are not contained in one single constitutional document.
Instead, they come from statute law, common law, conventions, authoritative works and treaties.
Unentrenched + parliamentary sovereignty
The Constitution is unentrenched, meaning there is no special amendment procedure.
This connects to parliamentary sovereignty because Parliament can make, amend and unmake law.
Unitary + parliamentary sovereignty
The Constitution is unitary, meaning legal sovereignty is contained in one place.
Parliamentary sovereignty identifies Parliament as the institution capable of making, amending and unmaking any law.
Rule of law + constitutional government
The rule of law requires everyone, including government, to act within the law and allows them to be held accountable when they do not.
Together, these relationships produce the distinctive constitutional arrangements examined throughout UK Government.
A complete constitutional chain
For revision, try to understand this rather than memorising isolated definitions:
The UK has an uncodified Constitution
↓
constitutional rules come from five different sources
↓
the Constitution is also unentrenched
↓
there is no special constitutional amendment procedure
↓
this connects to parliamentary sovereignty
↓
Parliament can make, amend and unmake law
↓
the system is unitary, with legal sovereignty located in one place
↓
but the rule of law requires government and other bodies to operate according to law
This conceptual chain is extremely useful when you move on to questions about constitutional reform.
Hints from the Examiner Reports đź’ˇ
Examiner hint:Â Answer the exact constitutional question that has been set. In 2025, weaker responses to a question about whether the Constitution was working effectively often turned it into a pre-prepared essay about whether the Constitution should be codified. Stronger answers first identified what the question required and built their argument around that specific debate.
Knowing several advantages and disadvantages of an uncodified constitution is not enough. You must apply them to the exact wording of the question.
Examiner hint:Â Pair naturally competing arguments in source questions. The 2025 report found that stronger responses selected opposing arguments from the source and compared them directly, allowing analysis to lead into substantiated judgements.
For example, if a source argues that an uncodified constitution creates uncertainty but also claims it creates flexibility, compare those two arguments directly rather than discussing them in unrelated parts of the essay.
Examiner hint:Â Use constitutional terminology accurately. The examiner report identified confusion between Parliament and government as a weakness in constitutional answers.
Write parliamentary sovereignty when discussing Parliament's legal authority. Do not replace it with vague statements such as "the government has sovereignty".
Examiner hint:Â Make judgements rather than simply stating them. The 2025 report noted that some candidates had a clear line of argument but their judgements were asserted rather than properly substantiated.
After comparing arguments, explain why one is stronger in relation to the wording of the question.
Examiner hint:Â Keep introductions short and purposeful. The 2025 report praised shorter introductions that established the debate and clear line of argument, while conclusions were often weaker because they simply summarised the essay.
A strong conclusion should answer the question directly and explain the basis of the judgement.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Saying the UK has an unwritten constitution
Why this is incorrect: Edexcel defines the Constitution as uncodified, meaning it is not contained in one single written document. Many constitutional rules are written, including statute law and authoritative works.
How to improve: Write:
"The UK Constitution is uncodified because it is not contained in one single written constitutional document."
Mistake: Treating uncodified and unentrenched as the same thing
Why this is incorrect:
They describe different characteristics.
Uncodified concerns where constitutional rules are found.
Unentrenched concerns how constitutional rules can be amended.
How to improve: Learn each definition separately and always state what dimension of the Constitution it describes.
Mistake: Saying devolution means the UK is no longer unitary
Why this is incorrect: Edexcel defines a unitary system in terms of legal sovereignty, while devolution is the dispersal of power, but not sovereignty.
How to improve: Distinguish between political power and legal sovereignty.
Mistake: Confusing Parliament and government
Why this is incorrect: Parliamentary sovereignty refers to Parliament's legal authority. Government and Parliament are related but distinct institutions.
This confusion was specifically identified in the 2025 examiner report.
How to improve: Ask yourself which institution you actually mean before using the words Parliament, government or Executive.
Mistake: Saying conventions are laws
Why this is incorrect: Edexcel defines conventions as traditions not contained in law, although they remain influential in the political system.
How to improve: Remember:
Convention = politically influential, but not law.
Mistake: Confusing common law with conventions
Why this is incorrect: Common law is law developed by judges where existing law does not cover an issue or is unclear.
A convention is a political tradition that is not contained in law.
How to improve: Use the question:
Is this legally a law?
For common law, yes. For a convention, no.
Mistake: Listing European Union law as a current sixth source
Why this is incorrect: Issue 3 removed European Union law from this part of the specification.
How to improve: Learn the current five:
statute law, common law, conventions, authoritative works, treaties.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Question 1
Define an uncodified constitution. (1 mark)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
One mark for:
An uncodified constitution is a constitution not contained in one single written document.
Question 2
Explain one difference between an uncodified constitution and an unentrenched constitution. (4 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Up to four marks for a developed distinction:
Uncodified refers to where constitutional rules are located. The UK Constitution is not contained in one single written document.
Unentrenched refers to amendment. There is no special procedure for changing constitutional rules.
Credit explanation that one characteristic concerns form/location, while the other concerns change/amendment.
Question 3
Explain why the existence of devolution does not necessarily contradict the description of the UK Constitution as unitary. (6 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative content:
Edexcel defines a unitary system as one in which legal sovereignty is contained in a single place.
Devolution is defined as the dispersal of power, but not sovereignty.
Political powers can therefore be exercised by devolved institutions without legal sovereignty necessarily being transferred.
This distinction allows the UK to retain a unitary constitutional character while possessing devolved government.
Higher marks require a clear link between unitary, sovereignty and devolution.
Question 4
For each description below, identify the constitutional source being described. (5 marks)
Description | Source |
A law passed by Parliament. | ? |
A law developed by judges where existing law does not cover an issue or is unclear. | ? |
A political tradition that influences how the system operates but is not contained in law. | ? |
An expert work describing how the political system operates and used as a significant guide. | ? |
A formal agreement with another country, usually ratified by Parliament. | ? |
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Award one mark for each correct answer:
Statute law
Common law
Convention
Authoritative work
Treaty
Maximum: 5 marks.
Question 5
Explain why parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law are described as the twin pillars of the UK Constitution. (8 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative content:
Parliamentary sovereignty:
Parliament can make, amend and unmake any law.
Parliament cannot bind its successors.
Parliament is not bound by previous Parliaments.
It identifies the central location of legal law-making authority.
Rule of law:
everyone and all bodies must follow the law
this includes government
government can be held accountable if it fails to follow the law
A strong explanation should distinguish the principles before connecting them:
Parliamentary sovereignty concerns who possesses ultimate law-making authority, while the rule of law concerns the requirement that political power is exercised according to law.
Question 6
Read the following source.
Some argue that the UK's constitutional arrangements are difficult to understand because constitutional rules come from several different sources, including legislation, judge-made law and political traditions. As the Constitution is unentrenched, major constitutional rules can also be changed without a special constitutional amendment process. This may allow those with political power to alter important constitutional arrangements too easily.Others argue that these characteristics are strengths. An uncodified constitution can evolve as circumstances change, while parliamentary sovereignty allows elected representatives in Parliament to make, amend and repeal legislation. Constitutional rules do not have to be frozen into one document for the rule of law to require government to act according to law.
Using the source, evaluate the view that the uncodified and unentrenched nature of the UK Constitution creates more weaknesses than strengths. (30 marks)
In your response you must:
compare and contrast different opinions in the source
examine and debate these views in a balanced way
analyse and evaluate the political information presented in the source
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
This question assesses knowledge and understanding, comparative analysis and evaluation.
A strong response could pair the source arguments as follows.
Accessibility versus flexibility
For the view:
constitutional rules are dispersed across several sources
an uncodified constitution may therefore be less clear or accessible
Against the view:
different sources allow constitutional arrangements to evolve
a single codified document is not necessary for constitutional rules to operate
Ease of change versus parliamentary sovereignty
For the view:
an unentrenched constitution has no special amendment procedure
important constitutional arrangements may therefore be altered relatively easily
Against the view:
flexibility follows from parliamentary sovereignty
Parliament's ability to make, amend and unmake law allows constitutional responses to changing circumstances
Legal protection
For the view:
lack of entrenchment may be presented as providing weaker protection against constitutional change
Against the view:
the rule of law still requires everyone, including government, to follow the law
uncodified does not mean that constitutional rules do not exist
For high-level AO2 and AO3:
pair the competing claims directly
explain the consequence of each argument
assess their relative strength
maintain a clear line of argument
reach a conclusion that explains why the chosen judgement follows
Do not turn the response into a general prepared essay on codification if that prevents you from answering whether the current characteristics produce more weaknesses than strengths.
Question 7
Evaluate the view that parliamentary sovereignty is the most important characteristic of the UK Constitution. (30 marks)
In your answer, consider parliamentary sovereignty alongside other relevant characteristics and principles of the UK Constitution.
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
A strong response should assess parliamentary sovereignty against the other characteristics rather than discussing each one descriptively.
Arguments supporting the view could include:
parliamentary sovereignty determines Parliament's ability to make, amend and unmake law
it helps explain why the Constitution is unentrenched
it connects to the unitary location of legal sovereignty
Parliament cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors
Alternative arguments could emphasise:
the rule of law, because all political institutions, including government, must operate according to law
the uncodified character, because it explains why constitutional rules originate from several different sources
the unentrenched nature of the Constitution, because it determines how constitutional arrangements can change
the unitary nature of the political system, because it identifies the concentration of legal sovereignty
A high-level judgement should establish a criterion for importance.
For example, an answer might argue that parliamentary sovereignty is the most fundamental characteristic because it helps explain both the Constitution's unentrenched nature and the location of legal sovereignty. Alternatively, it could argue that no single characteristic can fully explain the constitutional system because parliamentary sovereignty operates alongside the rule of law and multiple constitutional sources.
The strongest response will compare these claims throughout rather than saving all evaluation for the conclusion.
Answers and mark scheme
Question 1
One mark for:
An uncodified constitution is a constitution not contained in one single written document.
Question 2
Up to four marks for a developed distinction:
Uncodified refers to where constitutional rules are located. The UK Constitution is not contained in one single written document.
Unentrenched refers to amendment. There is no special procedure for changing constitutional rules.
Credit explanation that one characteristic concerns form/location, while the other concerns change/amendment.
Question 3
Indicative content:
Edexcel defines a unitary system as one in which legal sovereignty is contained in a single place.
Devolution is defined as the dispersal of power, but not sovereignty.
Political powers can therefore be exercised by devolved institutions without legal sovereignty necessarily being transferred.
This distinction allows the UK to retain a unitary constitutional character while possessing devolved government.
Higher marks require a clear link between unitary, sovereignty and devolution.
Question 4
Award one mark for each correct answer:
Statute law
Common law
Convention
Authoritative work
Treaty
Maximum: 5 marks.
Question 5
Indicative content:
Parliamentary sovereignty:
Parliament can make, amend and unmake any law.
Parliament cannot bind its successors.
Parliament is not bound by previous Parliaments.
It identifies the central location of legal law-making authority.
Rule of law:
everyone and all bodies must follow the law
this includes government
government can be held accountable if it fails to follow the law
A strong explanation should distinguish the principles before connecting them:
Parliamentary sovereignty concerns who possesses ultimate law-making authority, while the rule of law concerns the requirement that political power is exercised according to law.
Question 6
This question assesses knowledge and understanding, comparative analysis and evaluation.
A strong response could pair the source arguments as follows.
Accessibility versus flexibility
For the view:
constitutional rules are dispersed across several sources
an uncodified constitution may therefore be less clear or accessible
Against the view:
different sources allow constitutional arrangements to evolve
a single codified document is not necessary for constitutional rules to operate
Ease of change versus parliamentary sovereignty
For the view:
an unentrenched constitution has no special amendment procedure
important constitutional arrangements may therefore be altered relatively easily
Against the view:
flexibility follows from parliamentary sovereignty
Parliament's ability to make, amend and unmake law allows constitutional responses to changing circumstances
Legal protection
For the view:
lack of entrenchment may be presented as providing weaker protection against constitutional change
Against the view:
the rule of law still requires everyone, including government, to follow the law
uncodified does not mean that constitutional rules do not exist
For high-level AO2 and AO3:
pair the competing claims directly
explain the consequence of each argument
assess their relative strength
maintain a clear line of argument
reach a conclusion that explains why the chosen judgement follows
Do not turn the response into a general prepared essay on codification if that prevents you from answering whether the current characteristics produce more weaknesses than strengths.
Question 7
A strong response should assess parliamentary sovereignty against the other characteristics rather than discussing each one descriptively.
Arguments supporting the view could include:
parliamentary sovereignty determines Parliament's ability to make, amend and unmake law
it helps explain why the Constitution is unentrenched
it connects to the unitary location of legal sovereignty
Parliament cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors
Alternative arguments could emphasise:
the rule of law, because all political institutions, including government, must operate according to law
the uncodified character, because it explains why constitutional rules originate from several different sources
the unentrenched nature of the Constitution, because it determines how constitutional arrangements can change
the unitary nature of the political system, because it identifies the concentration of legal sovereignty
A high-level judgement should establish a criterion for importance.
For example, an answer might argue that parliamentary sovereignty is the most fundamental characteristic because it helps explain both the Constitution's unentrenched nature and the location of legal sovereignty. Alternatively, it could argue that no single characteristic can fully explain the constitutional system because parliamentary sovereignty operates alongside the rule of law and multiple constitutional sources.
The strongest response will compare these claims throughout rather than saving all evaluation for the conclusion.
Comments