The New British Constitution

We have, since 1997, been undergoing a process unique in the democratic world of transforming an uncodified constitution into a codified one, piecemeal, there being neither the political will nor the consensus to do more. The main elements of the new constitution are the Human Rights Act and devolution to the non-English parts of the United Kingdom. The Human Rights Act and the devolution legislation, moreover, have the character of fundamental law. In practice if not in form, they limit the legal powers of Westminster, a formerly sovereign parliament, and establish a constitution which is quasi-federal in nature. However, they do little to secure more popular involvement in politics. The next phase of constitutional reform, therefore, is likely to involve the creation of new forms of democratic engagement, so that our constitutional forms come to be more congruent with the social and political forces of the age. The end-point of this piecemeal process might well be a fully codified or written constitution which declares that power stems not from the Queen-in Parliament, but, instead, as so many constitutions do, from 'We, the People'.