ABSTRACT
According to Professor Sir Ivor Jennings, whose book on constitutional law is regarded as a classic, ‘the British Constitution has not been made but has grown’.4 This gradualist theory is consonant with the evolutionary nature of the English common law. But whilst much of that law has now been written into cases and statutes, the British constitution is unwritten. This might be regarded as a paradox, in so far as the foundational text is unavailable. The effect is to combine pragmatism and form. Something which is unwritten may nevertheless be known, understood and observed. Although some politicians believe that the constitution is ‘something we make up as we go along’,5 this is not the view of the professoriate. On the contrary, despite its lack of a key text, the constitution is said to exist, to evolve, to contain principles and rules against which the conduct of government can be judged.6
