The Nature of the UK Constitution and Devolution GapFill

The UK's constitution is extremely unusual internationally because it is uncodified and unentrenched. This means that instead of being written down in a single source with specific provisions on how it can be reformed, such as in the USA, the UK constitution is drawn from a number of different sources and based on convention and law. The UK practices  legislative priorityparliamentary sovereigntylegislative supremacyparliamentary authority, meaning there is no higher authority in the country than Parliament. This principle and the rule of law are regarded as the  double pillarstwin pillarsdouble standardstwin laws of the UK constitution.

There are five main sources of the UK constitution. The first is  devolutionauthoritative workscommon lawstatue law, meaning legislation that is passed by Parliament. The second is  common lawtreatiesconventionsauthoritative works, meaning laws that are derived from customs and precedents set within the judicial system. The third is  statue lawcommon lawconventionstreaties, meaning international agreements that have been reached with other nation states. The final two sources are  conventionstreatiesdevolutionauthoritative works, which are unwritten rules regarding how governments must conduct themselves, and  conventionstreatiesstatue lawauthoritative works, such as Erskine May, which is the guide to parliamentary procedure.

The process of   devolutionauthoritative worksconventionstreaties since 1997 has given administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as directly elected mayors around England, greater powers and jurisdiction, though Parliament reserves the ultimate right to take these powers back.

The UK is a  commonwealthprincipalityabsolute monarchyconstitutional monarchy, meaning the King remains the head of state, but his powers are limited by the constitution. In practice, the King has relatively little power compared to Parliament and his government, to which many of the monarchy's former powers have been transferred. The UK's constitution has been reformed in an  logicalevolutionarysubstantialrevolutionary way over many centuries, rather than there being any single dramatic change as with the constitutional processes in France or America..