Conventions

The three main sources of the British constitution are - Statutes; Caselaw and Conventions. The latter have been defined as “certain rules of constitutional behaviour which are considered to be binding by and upon those who operate the Constitution, but which are not enforced by the law courts (although the courts may recognise their existence), nor by the presiding officers in the Houses of Parliament.” [Marshall, G., and Moodie, G.C., Some Problems of the Constitution, 5th edn., London Hutchinson (1971), pp. 17–18.]

Examples include the convention that a Monarch will always sign a bill passed by both Houses of Parliament; and that Ministers will sit in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords.

A Joint Committee of Both Houses published a report on conventions of the UK Parliament. It is well worth reading - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200506/jtselect/jtconv/265/265.pdf. Of particular use to students will be the evidence given by the academics - Lord Norton of Louth, Professor of Government, Hull University, Professor Anthony Bradley, Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law, University of Edinburgh, and Dr Meg Russell, Senior Research Fellow, Constitution Unit, University College London. This is available on pages 119 onwards at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200506/jtselect/jtconv/265/265ii.pdf

An interesting academic article on the subject can be found at http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FCLJ%2FCLJ64_01%2FS0008197305006823a.pdf&code=3bfe8a864930e9690e528452fc6608c7