Is that the same as codified and uncodified constitution?
Those are legal terms but ‘written’ means it’s a document where you can clearly see and read the provisions of the constitution, but in England what they have are different forms of legal pronouncements by the courts and there’s no actual one document that has been agreed on. With an unwritten constitution, it is more difficult to pin down the key points of the constitution. It has a lot to do with convention and tradition and what the courts say. Also, in England, Parliament is supreme while here we have a written constitution that is supreme so neither Parliament nor the Judiciary nor the Executive are supreme. Those are the two key differences. Why is it that there are written and unwritten constitution? Historical reasons, and I think with a written constitution for Malaysia, it’s to make sure that there’s certain inbuilt safeguards and some guarantees for the people in 1957 when we wanted independence from the British. Our constitution is based on British one isn’t it? When we dra
