1000 words, Constitutional Law

1,000 words: The Bill of Rights

The British Government has announced its intention to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and replace it with a new Bill of Rights. What will this mean for human rights protection in the UK? Some things are not changing. The UK will remain part of the European Convention on Human Rights. This has nothing to … Continue reading 1,000 words: The Bill of Rights

Constitutional Law

On Lord Geidt’s resignation and its constitutional significance

Less than three years into his premiership, Boris Johnson will (presumably) soon be appointing his third Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests. Today, the most recent incumbent, Lord Geidt, resigned. In a resignation statement that was Delphic and succinct in equal measure, he said: ‘With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning … Continue reading On Lord Geidt’s resignation and its constitutional significance

Constitutional Law

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

Interviewed on LBC, Boris Johnson said that his Government was proposing to legislate in order to make ‘trivial’ changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. In this post, I will explain what the planned legislation will do; why the changes are not ‘trivial’; why it is, in fact, legally impossible for the UK to make unilateral … Continue reading The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

Studying & Teaching

Writing a Law essay? Remember to argue!

Providing advice in the abstract about how to write Law essays is difficult because so much depends on the nature of the question you are answering. It’s also important to take into account whatever are the expectations for your particular course, degree programme or university. Nevertheless, a useful rule of thumb, I think, is that … Continue reading Writing a Law essay? Remember to argue!

Constitutional Law

The common law and the European Convention on Human Rights: Do we need both?

This post was first published on the Constitutional Law Matters website and is reposted here with permission. It forms part of a series of posts that Professor Alison Young and I are writing against the background of the Independent Human Rights Act Review and the Government consultation arising from it. The Constitutional Law Matters project … Continue reading The common law and the European Convention on Human Rights: Do we need both?

Human Rights

Do we need a British Bill of Rights?

This post was first published on the Constitutional Law Matters website and is reposted here with permission. It forms part of a series of posts that Professor Alison Young and I are writing against the background of the Independent Human Rights Act Review and the Government consultation arising from it. The Constitutional Law Matters project … Continue reading Do we need a British Bill of Rights?

Other

Response to the Attorney-General’s Public Law Project keynote speech

On 19 October 2021, the Attorney-General gave a major speech to the Public Law Project's judicial review conference. In the speech, she argued that courts have been improperly interfering in political matters and considers what steps might be taken in order to remedy this. In this video, I argue that the Attorney-General's claims regarding improper … Continue reading Response to the Attorney-General’s Public Law Project keynote speech

Constitutional Law

Undermining the rule of law? A comment on the Justice Secretary’s Sunday Telegraph interview

Today's Sunday Telegraph features an extraordinary interview with the UK Government's Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab. The report raises three issues of significant constitutional concern: that the Government may be contemplating further changes to judicial review in the light of recent judgments to which it takes exception; that the Government is considering undermining through domestic law … Continue reading Undermining the rule of law? A comment on the Justice Secretary’s Sunday Telegraph interview

Constitutional Law

Devolution in the Supreme Court: Legislative supremacy, Parliament’s ‘unqualified’ power, and ‘modifying’ the Scotland Act

By Mark Elliott and Nicholas Kilford In the Continuity Bill Reference, the Supreme Court advanced a striking analysis of the implications for devolution of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty — or, more specifically, of the provision in the Scotland Act 1998 that had hitherto been understood merely to affirm that doctrine. The provision in question … Continue reading Devolution in the Supreme Court: Legislative supremacy, Parliament’s ‘unqualified’ power, and ‘modifying’ the Scotland Act

Constitutional Law

Legal exceptionalism in British political discourse: International law, parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law

It doesn’t seem (because it isn’t) very long since the UK Government planned to get Parliament to enact legislation that would have authorised Ministers to make regulations permitting parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol they don’t like to be breached. The Government sensibly dropped this idea in the end: the relevant provisions did not find … Continue reading Legal exceptionalism in British political discourse: International law, parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law