3 ms·

You have the Magna Carta

• pmyteh 4y ago
  Kinda. Bits of it are still in force[0], despite us not having a definitive text, but much of it was written to deal with contemporary political problems and was repudiated fairly quickly. It's more important as the start of a (semi-mythical) tradition of political liberty then as an ongoing source of constitutional law. Even more excitingly, some of the documents we consider constitutional aren't even statutes. My favourite is a pseudonymous letter to The Times sent in 1950, which authoritatively established a constitutional convention for when the monarch can refuse his Prime Minister a dissolution of Parliament[1]. (The writer, 'Senex', was the King's private secretary Sir Alan Lascelles). [0]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9 [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
• ben_w 4y ago
  As a totemic icon sure, but it has mostly been repealed, and it was more of a peace treaty between the king and his barons. Also: > Neither side stood behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War.