Over the next month, with those who have upcoming exams in Public Law in mind, I will be tweeting advice, key developments and links to recent cases, articles and blog posts. I will also (probably every few days) add those tweets and associated links to this page. I’ll be using the hashtag #PublicLawExam. You can find me on Twitter as @ProfMarkElliott.
The nature of the constitution
1/2 The UK has a "constitution", large parts of which are textual in form — but it doesn't have a "written Constitution" #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 22, 2015
2/2 That UK has "flat" not "hierarchical" constn more important than its being unwritten http://t.co/jnYBU7EIEJ (pp 11-13) #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 22, 2015
Parliamentary sovereignty and judicial strike-down
1/3 Having a "Supreme Ct" doesn't imply it can strike down legislation; but not everyone thinks “sovereignty” means it can’t #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
2/3 Eg Ld Hodge in Moohan: ct might overrule profoundly undemocratic legis'n https://t.co/538ZKOO6Dk #PublicLawExam pic.twitter.com/Scht6QXSZk
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
3/3 Compare Dawn Oliver on the dangers of courts asserting a strike-down power http://t.co/lXxL8uktwd #PublicLawExam pic.twitter.com/zfCiWSZAKl
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
Steven Vaughan’s Prezis
1/4 @lawvaughan has produced some amazing Prezis that provide invaluable guidance for Law students #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
2/4 How to prepare for Law exams https://t.co/QYjfk1EFol #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
3/4 How to write better Law essays https://t.co/646rdLhoO4 #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
4/4 How to answer law Law problem questions https://t.co/jHwZG0oQXo #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 23, 2015
Don’t confuse EU law and the ECHR
1/6 Don't confuse domestic courts' powers in relation to primary legislation that is incompatible with EU law and with ECHR #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
2/6 UK courts can disapply legislation that is incompatible with directly effective EU law (Factortame) #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
3/6 Courts can also normally strike down legislation other than Acts of the UK Parliament if incompatible with ECHR #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
4/6 But UK courts can’t strike down — only declare incompatibility of — Westminster Acts under HRA (HRA ss 3, 4) #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
5/6 EU and ECHR are distinct (even though EU wants to accede to ECHR); don’t mix them up — makes bad impression on examiner #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
6/6 ECHR enforced by ECtHR (Strasbourg), EU law by CJEU (Luxembourg). Diff't cts, diff't systems http://t.co/uzaKwTr8oP #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
Avoiding procrastination
Great advice from @martingeorge for Law students revising for exams: how to avoid procrastination #PublicLawExam https://t.co/SIyGNhEkTg
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 24, 2015
My 2014 end-of-year recent-developments round-up
Here's last year's end-of-year round-up for students. A 2015 version will follow later this weekhttp://t.co/u4HGv1KvMd #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 27, 2015
Jack Williams’ study and exam advice
Some good exam-related advice from @Jack_R_Williams towards the end of this post http://t.co/H9xnLaYNxF #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 28, 2015
1,000 words posts
Revising parliamentary sovereignty? Here's my 1,000 words post on that topic http://t.co/qBxLjW7pg6 #PublicLawExam pic.twitter.com/yCbDkqqWG1
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 28, 2015
Revising devolution? Here's my 1,000 words post on that topic http://t.co/kxstkjPV3W #PublicLawExam pic.twitter.com/KjqMymx8qt
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 28, 2015
EU Law and parliamentary sovereignty
1/3 Even tho' primary legislation was "disapplied", Factorame doesn't unambiguously establish Parliament isn't sovereign … #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 29, 2015
2/3 … and EU Act 2011 s 18 (so-called "sovereignty clause") doesn't unambiguously establish Parliament is sovereign #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 29, 2015
3/3 HS2 case supports view that EU law primacy attributable to and limited by domestic law #PublicLawExam http://t.co/P24dx9THav
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) April 29, 2015
Constitutional conventions
AG v Jonathan Cape doesn't show conventions are straightforwardly legally binding – just that they're not legally irrelevant #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 1, 2015
While conventions aren't enforceable legally, they can inform application of law as in Evans http://t.co/0vBghgAsTZ #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 1, 2015
Conventions can finesse aspects of legal constitution to render them compatible with contemporary constitutional values … #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 1, 2015
Eg monarch's legal power to veto legislation is neutralised by democracy-institutionalising royal-assent convention #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 1, 2015
For further discussion of conventions and royal assent, see this blog post by Nick Barber http://t.co/NgGtScIHky #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 1, 2015
Separation of powers
UK has incomplete separation of powers, but it's simplistic to assume no SP; question of degree, not binary issue #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 5, 2015
What sep of pwrs requires is contestable. Compare majority & minority judgments in Fire Brigades case http://t.co/GgRSHwAHPl #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 5, 2015
Compare also Sumption & Kerr in Carlile: sharply distinct visions of judicial role under sepn of pwrs http://t.co/M6WncuQOnq #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 5, 2015
Human rights
Rights-based judicial review far from unknown pre-HRA. Eg Leech (http://t.co/Kc4lY9e1eb); Witham (http://t.co/eE2GwzXhvR ) #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
Key common-law rights cases include Osborn (http://t.co/pTeplJYugO) and Kennedy (http://t.co/O6wg0qNJqQ) #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
But pre-HRA, degree of protection offered to rights was sometimes limited: e.g. Smith v MoD http://t.co/7MBZQ2fu4q #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
HRA extended range of rights offered legal protection and deeped degree of judicial scrutiny of alleged infringements #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
UK courts don't invariably follow ECtHR jurisprudence, notwithstanding the "Ullah principle" http://t.co/vmcv96c7Gj #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
Decls of incompatibility under HRA more potent than they sound: generally implicate UK's obligations in international law #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
Human rights in UK not confined to the ECHR/HRA: Supreme Court placing increasing emphasis on common-law rights … #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
But common-law rights not a panacea: more limited in some respects than HRA/ECHR as Moohan shows http://t.co/P3YrSh02e9 #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
At common law no equivalent of HRA s 4 declaration of incompatibility or HRA s 3 interpretive obligation … #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
But cts can wield v strong interpretive powers at common law, eg Lds Neuberger, Reed, Kerr in Evans https://t.co/zynixp9yIe #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
Naive to assume that repealing HRA/withdrawing from ECHR would excise human rights from UK law … #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
But common-law rights not complete substitute for ECHR/HRA: relnship btwn the two regimes is complex http://t.co/F4Y6XPerZ3 #PublicLawExam
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 7, 2015
Year in review post
Revising for your 2015 Public Law exam? Here are some key developments and blog highlights http://t.co/PEUZ5vAIId pic.twitter.com/RlkpXNGmsd
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) May 5, 2015
Public Law for Everyone 