Outline the sources of the British constitution and explain the importance of each.


  • The Common Law: the binding rules formulated and applied by judges in deciding cases.
  • Acts of Parliament: constitutional statutes which condition the legal relationship between the citizen and state in some general manner.
  • European Union Law: rights given to people under EU law prevail over the express terms of UK law.
  • Constitutional Conventions: binding political rules many of which may be stated with the same precision as law, however there are no judicial remedies or penalties.

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