"The UK's uncodified constitution should be codified" Discuss (25 Marks)

Yes, codify the constitutionA codified constitution creates a hierarchy of laws. This allows for the enshrining of the rights of citizens protected from the government of the day and acts as a check to executive power. For example, U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 7, clause 2 which allows Congress's power to override the President's veto. On 28^th September 2016 Congress overturned President Obama’s Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act - 348-77 in the House of Representatives and 97-1 in the Senate. Codified constitutions could lead to a limitation and end of executive dominance over legislation. Lord Hailsham’s “elected dictatorship” as when a UK government has a large majority it can make sweeping constitutional changes to the country, reflected in New Labour’s 1999 reform of the House of Lords, compare this constitutional difficulties President Obama faced in the passing of the Affordable Care Act 2012 due the constitutional necessity to consult and get approval from both houses of Congress.Furthermore, if the UK had a codified constitution it would bring the Uk in line with many other liberal democracies like America and Germany as citizens would have the opportunity to educate themselves and understand from one legalistic document what their rights were and what there relationship to the state was. This can be evidenced in American citizens’ understanding of their rights to Freedom of Speech, The Right to Bear Arms and to “Plead the 5^th”. This clarity is not as transparent in the UK, reflected in the quick curbing of civil liberties under government who have control over Parliament about to overturn precedent, not being bound by previous administrations in terms of statute law. (E.g. May’s Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – implications for privacy). No, keep the constitution uncodified  The rigidity of codified constitutions can enshrine and entrench outdated ideals. As of June, there have been 16 school shootings that have resulted in injury or death in 2018 alone, however, the political will to amend gun laws in the US is limited due to the 2^nd Amendment being so entrenched legally in the constitution, that this has permeated into the culture of America, especially rural states making law-makers’ jobs difficult to develop policy to make schools and communities more safe as they risk looking to be infringing upon the birth rights of their constituents. The speed and ease at which the UK’s uncodified constitution can be adapted enables the UK to adapt to the modern world. This sentiment can be reflected in the development of the UK into a quasi-federal state, constitutionally, from a unitary state through the ease at which successive governments have been able to decentralise powers from Westminster to devolved bodies into order to ensure the unity of the United Kingdom. This can be evidenced in the powers that Osborne and Cameron decided to give to Scotland after the 2014 Independence Referendum and in the Scotland Act 2016 over NHS spending and taxation. Conclusion Whilst a codified constitution ensures that citizens' rights are protected in a more explicit way in a single legal document, the practicalities, lack of political will and adaptability of the UK’s uncodified constitution makes the likelihood of codification in the near future very unlikely, but also undesirable.