The UK Government has announced a review of judicial review — the Independent Review of Administrative Law — with notably broad terms of reference. This post is the first in a series that will consider some of the potential changes to judicial review that the Government appears to be contemplating. Subsequent posts, which will be … Continue reading The Judicial Review Review I: The Reform Agenda and its Potential Scope
Tag: constitutional reform
The Conservative Party — which, barring an electoral surprise that would make the election of Donald Trump look pedestrian, will form the next UK administration — has published its manifesto. What does it reveal about the constitutional aspects of the party's programme for government?
The Government has today published its response to several highly critical select committee reports concerning the Strathclyde Review. That Review, prompted by the House of Lords’ opposition to secondary legislation on tax credits, was published in December 2015. The Strathclyde Review’s central recommendation was that the House of Lords’ powers in respect of statutory instruments should be … Continue reading The House of Lords and secondary legislation: Government declines to implement Strathclyde Review (for now)
By Mark Elliott and Stephen Tierney
By Mark Elliott and Stephen Tierney The House of Lords Constitution Committee today publishes its report on the Wales Bill. The history of the Bill is a somewhat chequered one, a Draft Bill published in October 2015 having been subjected to excoriating criticism by (among others) the Assembly’s Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee. The centrepiece … Continue reading House of Lords Constitution Committee reports on Wales Bill
By Mark Elliott and Stephen Tierney The House of Lords Constitution Committee today publishes its report on The Union and Devolution. This post draws attention to some of its main findings. The Constitution Committee’s report on The Union and Devolution, published today, declares the Union to be “under threat”, and recommends that the United Kingdom … Continue reading The House of Lords Constitution Committee’s Report on The Union and Devolution
I wrote in December about the Strathclyde Review, which took place at great speed in the autumn against the backdrop of the House of Lords’ refusal to allow the enactment of secondary legislation on tax credits. The Review — set up by the Government — recommended stripping the Lords of its power to veto statutory … Continue reading Parliament, Government and Secondary Legislation: Lords Select Committees respond to the Strathclyde Review
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 the issues raised by his evidence, namely the notion that the UK Supreme Court might be made, by a British Bill of Rights, into what … Continue reading The UK Supreme Court as a constitutional ‘longstop’: Michael Gove’s evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee
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 were published earlier this year, drawing particular attention to Draft Clauses 1 and 2 concerning the 'permanence' of the Scottish Parliament and the recognition in … Continue reading The ‘permanence’ of the Scottish Parliament and the Sewel Convention: The House of Lords Constitution Committee’s Report on the Scotland Bill
I briefly wrote yesterday about John Finnis' recent lecture on judicial power. Although Finnis examines his topic through a lens that takes in far more than simply questions about human-rights protection, some of his fire is trained upon the European Convention on Human Rights and what it requires, or has been understood to require, courts … Continue reading Philippe Sands’ Elson Lecture: Britain, Europe and Human Rights
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