Laws of the Constitution occupy a central place in any system of democracy because they are enforceable in courts of law. Most modern states — such as the United States, India, Germany and Pakistan — have written constitutions that demarcates the functions, rights and duties of the organs of the federation, the federating units and the citizens. For instance, Article 4 of the Constitution of Pakistan commands that all acts of state functionaries must be in accordance with law, providing real strength to the principle of due process. Even during martial law regimes, when fundamental rights were suspended, superior courts, by exercising their power of judicial review, struck down many executive orders declaring them violative of law.

Fact of the matter remains that constitutional law alone does not portray the full political landscape. Conventions of the Constitution — though not enforceable in courts — give real flesh to the skeleton of democracy. If democracy is a body, law is its frame, convention its spirit. Without sound conventions, constitutional words remain spiritless.

Conventions are political traditions, evolved over the years, are embedded in the psyche of people and sanctified by public will. No leader in a mature democracy can afford to violate them.

In the United Kingdom, where the Constitution is largely unwritten, conventions are the pivot of the political system. The Monarch must give Royal Assent to legislation, though legally refusal is possible. The Prime Minister must sit in the House of Commons and enjoy majority confidence. Cabinet members must........

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