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A constitution is a set of rules regulating the activities of the government and the governed of a country.

Great Britain has an unwritten constitution. That is to say, the rules are not laid out in one document, as is the case in the United States of America. It does not mean, however, that there are not any rules at all. The British constitution is based on a number of different laws, statutes and treaties, and has two basic principles.

1. The rule of law.
2. The supremacy of Parliament.

William of Normandy invaded England in 1066 and became William 1 of England. He introduced laws to centralise the administration of the English Shires (administrative areas ruled by the nobility), and reduced the power of the Earls who owned them.
He also conducted the first national census called the Domesday Book to take stock of what assets he had available to him, and to collect more taxes.

Perhaps the most important document setting out the law was the Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215 AD. It regulated the feudal customs to stop exploitation by the King and some nobles, and set out a justice system. It was not however accepted as law until a third version was introduced in 1297 after King John's death.
Only three of its clauses are still valid in law, the most important of which is the following:-
" No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled . nor will we proceed with force against him . except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."
(A translation from the Magna Carta by the British Library)
Our present day right to trial by jury is based on that clause.

Four hundred years later, three acts of Parliament were introduced into the British constitution to establish the rights of citizens in relation to the constitutional monarch.
1. The Bill of Rights 1688
2. The Act of Settlement 1700
3. The Act of Union 1706
One of the main rights is that the monarch is not allowed to interfere with the law. The Bill of rights also barred Roman Catholics from the throne and required the monarch to maintain the Protestant religion. This law is till in force today, although, since 2002 there have been a number of attempts to repeal these Acts.
The Scottish parliament debated the issue and found in favour of repeal but it has no legislative power in this area, and the fight continues.

The power of the Sovereign, known as the Royal Prerogative,

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