Magna Carta: The Rule of Law's foundation

Director of London Metropolitan Archives Geoff Pick poses with a Magna Carta dating back to 1297 and carrying the seal of King Edward I during a photocall at the City of London Heritage Gallery at the Guildhall Hall in London, on September 10, 2014. - AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL

THE United Kingdom, unlike Malaysia, does not have a written constitution. What this means is that there is not a single document, like our own Federal Constitution, which is the highest law of the country. That is not to say that the United Kingdom has no constitution; the constitution of the United Kingdom can be found in several different sources.

The United Kingdom does not have a codified bill of rights, unlike for example, Part II of our Federal Constitution. But again, that does not mean people of the United Kingdom have no rights or their rights are not protected. The protection of individual rights can be traced back 700 years to a single document known of the Magna Carta.