The Fundamentality of Rights at Common Law
I recently completed a paper, to be published in a forthcoming edited collection, on ‘The Fundamentality of Rights at Common Law’. The concern of the paper is with the senses […]
House of Lords Constitution Committee reports on Parliamentary Scrutiny of Treaties
By Mark Elliott and Stephen Tierney The topic of parliamentary scrutiny of the making of treaties could hardly be more topical, given the role that Parliament is currently playing in […]
Letter to the Times: Response to Professor Brazier’s letter on Royal Assent
A number of colleagues and I wrote to The Times earlier this week on the subject of Royal Assent to legislation. The Times subsequently published a further letter on this […]
House of Lords Constitution Committee takes evidence on ‘Great Repeal Bill’
On 1 February, the House of Lords Constitution Committee took evidence from Professors John Bell, Paul Craig and Alison Young on the likely constitutional implications of the ‘Great Repeal Bill’. […]
1,000 words / The Supreme Court’s Judgment in Miller
In this 1,000 words post I analyse and reflect upon the Supreme Court’s judgment in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5, in which it was held that the Government could not rely on prerogative power for the purpose of triggering the Brexit process.
The Government’s case in the Article 50 litigation: A critique
Thanks to a court order, the Government’s case — its “detailed grounds of resistance” — in the Article 50 litigation currently pending before the High Court has been published. I […]
A constitutional court for the UK? My letter to The Times
In a leading article published on 3 February 2016, The Times offered its support to the notion of establishing a constitutional court for the UK—an idea floated, if only obliquely, by the […]
Youssef: Another Supreme Court decision, another set of obiter dicta on substantive judicial review
Supreme Court judgments addressing—but not resolving—the future direction of substantive judicial review have been coming thick and fast in the last year or two. Notable examples include Kennedy v The […]
Clauses 1 and 2 of the Scotland Bill: Government Response to House of Lords Constitution Committee
I have written in previous posts about the Scotland Bill and, in particular, the possible constitutional implications—including for the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty—of clauses 1 and 2 of the Bill, […]
The House of Lords and secondary legislation: Some initial thoughts on the Strathclyde Review
The Strathclyde Review, which was prompted by the House of Lords’ opposition to secondary legislation on tax credits, has been published. Its recommendation is straightforward: that the House of Lords’ powers in […]
Declarations, quashing orders and declaratory judgments: The Hawke case and section 84 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015
Under Chris Grayling’s stewardship of the Ministry of Justice, the view took hold—ample evidence to the contrary notwithstanding—that too many claims for judicial review were being initiated, and that judicial review was being used abusively for ‘political’ purposes. One of the ill-conceived ideas that grew out of this unfounded notion was that courts should be required to withhold relief in judicial-review […]
Ekins and Forsyth on Evans: A Brief Response
As part of Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project, Richard Ekins and Christopher Forsyth have published a trenchant critique of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Evans, concerning the lawfulness of the […]
The UK Supreme Court as a constitutional ‘longstop’: Michael Gove’s evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee
The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Michael Gove, gave evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee earlier today. In this brief post, I pick up on just one of […]
Public Law Conference 2016: Call for Abstracts
The second Cambridge Public Law Conference—which I am convening with John Bell, Jason Varuhas and Shona Wilson Stark—is to be held in September 2016. The theme of the conference is to […]
The ‘permanence’ of the Scottish Parliament and the Sewel Convention: The House of Lords Constitution Committee’s Report on the Scotland Bill
The House of Lords Constitution Committee has issued its report on the Scotland Bill. I have written before on this blog about the Draft Clauses of the Scotland Bill that […]
Q: How many Supreme Court Justices does it take to perform the Wednesbury doctrine’s burial rites? A: More than five
Twelve years ago, the Court of Appeal said—in R (Association of British Civilian Internees (Far East Region)) v Secretary of State for Defence [2003] EWCA Civ 473—that, given its perceived […]
