Henry VIII powers: A follow-up post
I wrote earlier this week about Lord Judge’s recent lecture on Henry VIII powers — that is, powers conferred on the executive to amend or repeal provisions in Acts of […]
Lord Judge on Henry VIII Powers and Parliamentary Sovereignty
Earlier this week, Lord Judge, a former Lord Chief Justice, delivered a lecture at King’s College London entitled: “Ceding Power to the Executive; the Resurrection of Henry VIII”. The reference […]
Parliamentary sovereignty and European Union law: A short reading list
Now that the starting gun has been fired on the EU referendum campaign, the idea of parliamentary sovereignty—what it means, whether it is compatible with EU membership, and whether it can meaningfully […]
Factortame and the voluntary acceptance of limits on sovereignty: A response to Professor Mead
I recently wrote a 1,000 words post on parliamentary sovereignty and the supremacy of EU law. In response, Professor David Mead wrote a thought-provoking blogpost in which he expresses doubt […]
1,000 words / If EU law is supreme, can Parliament be sovereign?
Since writing this post, I have written a longer piece examining the the constitutional implications of the UK’s membership of, and departure from, the European Union, with particular reference to […]
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, […]
Would David Cameron’s tax-lock law be legally binding or just a political gimmick?
David Cameron has promised that if the Conservative Party wins the general election, it will introduce legislation to prevent any rises in rates of income tax, National Insurance and VAT […]
Of Black Spiders and Constitutional Bedrock: The Supreme Court’s Judgment in Evans
The legal saga concerning the “black-spider memos” that Prince Charles is in the habit of sending to Ministers, inflicting upon them his often-eccentric views, is a long one. It has […]
A “permanent” Scottish Parliament and the sovereignty of the UK Parliament: Four perspectives
The Report of the Smith Commission for Further Devolution of Powers to the Scottish Parliament has been published. It contains an array of significant proposals concerning the devolution of further […]
What a (for now failed) attempt to curb judicial review tells us about the UK’s constitution
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been teaching new Constitutional Law students in Cambridge about the fundamental, architectural aspects of the UK constitution, including the rule of law, the separation of powers and the sovereignty of Parliament. The House of Lords’ rejection earlier this week of parts of a Government Bill that aimed restrict the availability of judicial […]
1,000 words / Parliamentary sovereignty
The principle of parliamentary sovereignty lies at the core of the United Kingdom’s constitutional arrangements. But what exactly does it mean?
The constitutional role of the judiciary under a codified constitution: report of the Political & Constitutional Reform Committee
The House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has published its report on The Constitutional Role of the Judiciary if there were a Codified Constitution (HC 802, 2013-14) (on […]
Parliamentary sovereignty in a multidimensional constitution: some preliminary thoughts
I am starting work on a piece—a contribution to an edited collection—that will examine the contemporary relevance of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. The following represents a preliminary sketch of the arguments that the chapter will advance—an abstract of sorts. Any comments (via the comment function below or by email) would be welcome.
Cambridge Sixth Form Law Conference talk: The UK’s (unusual) constitution
This post is aimed mainly at those who attended my recent talk at the Cambridge Sixth Form Law Conference on “The UK’s (unusual) constitution”. The talk’s point of departure was Lord Neuberger’s recent (and surprising) suggestion that the UK has no constitution. I argued that this goes too far, but that the UK’s constitution is certainly unusual. Using the status […]
Reflections on the HS2 case: a hierarchy of domestic constitutional norms and the qualified primacy of EU law
The UK Supreme Court’s judgment in R (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport [2014] UKSC 3 raises some significant issues about the status of EU law in […]
Repealing the Human Rights Act: what might lie ahead?
As noted in an earlier post, repealing the Human Rights Act 1998—and perhaps withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights—is now firmly on the political agenda (at […]
