A constitution, or supreme law, is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly det
Constitution of the Year XII (First French Empire)
Constitution of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1848
Detail from Hammurabi's stele shows him receiving the laws of Babylon from the seated sun deity.
A painting depicting George Washington at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution
The constitution of the United Kingdom comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most coun
Constitution
…said to embody a written constitution; if they are encompassed in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution. The constitution of the United Kingdom is a notable example of an uncodified constitution; it is instead written in numerous fundamental acts of a legislature, court cases, and treaties…
Parliament is central to the United Kingdom's democratic constitution. In the Palace of Westminster the House of Commons represents the public in 650 UK constituencies and chooses the prime minister at will. The House of Lords remains unelected but can be overruled.
(London, Houses of Parliament. The Sun Shining through the Fog by Claude Monet, 1904). Parliament (from French, parler, "to talk") is the UK's highest law-making body.
The UK has committed to international law as a "sovereign" member, to augment its power through cooperation, in the United Nations since 1945. The first UN General Assembly was held at Methodist Central Hall, opened by Prime Minister Clement Attlee.
From 1973 to 2020, the UK was a member state of the European Union (and its predecessor organisation the European Communities), which is committed to "human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights".