Category: constitutional law

Peers criticise growing use of ‘Henry VIII’ powers by successive governments – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 21st, 2018 in constitutional law, legislation, news, parliament, select committees by tracey

‘Peers have hit out at the Government’s escalating use of so-called “Henry VIII powers”, describing the practice as “constitutionally objectional”. In a report the House of Lords Constitution Committee criticised the seeking of broad delegated powers that permit the determination as well as the implementation of policy, and in particular the use of such powers to create criminal offences and establish public bodies.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th November 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Peers question government’s approach to Civil Liability Bill – Legal Futures

Posted November 20th, 2018 in bills, constitutional law, news, personal injuries, regulations, select committees by sally

‘The government should only reject peers’ advice about the use of secondary legislation to enact key parts of legislation like the Civil Liability Bill if there are “clear and compelling reasons”, the House of Lords constitution committee said today.’

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Legal Futures, 20th November 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Stephen Tierney: Governing Northern Ireland without an Executive: Quick Fix or Constitutional Minefield? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 31st, 2018 in bills, civil servants, constitutional law, news, Northern Ireland, public interest by sally

‘The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill, which arrives in the House of Lords today, is set to be enacted by way of fast-track legislative procedure this week. The Bill intends to facilitate the formation of an Executive in Northern Ireland while providing for the exercise of executive functions by civil servants in the interim. In effect, the Bill suspends the statutory duty on the Secretary of State to call a Northern Ireland Assembly election. This is little more than a continuation of the present situation in which the UK Government has kept administration in Northern Ireland ticking over since March 2017. Much more controversially, the Bill gives civil servants within Northern Ireland departments general powers for the administration of Northern Ireland, introducing a public interest test for the exercise of these powers.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th October 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Jack Simson Caird: Taking Back Control: Brexit, Parliament and the Rule of Law – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 11th, 2018 in brexit, constitutional law, news, parliament, rule of law by sally

‘Over the next six months of the Brexit process, the UK Parliament will make a number of decisions that will have a profound impact on the UK’s constitution and its legal systems. In a Bingham Centre for the Rule Law Report published this week, The Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration: A Preliminary Rule of Law Analysis, we argue that the next six months represents a major test for the Rule of Law in the UK.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 10th October 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Colin Murray: Brexit and the “Constitutional Integrity” of the United Kingdom – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted September 25th, 2018 in constitutional law, news, Northern Ireland, treaties by sally

‘The Foreign Office records regarding the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 must be amongst the most regularly requested papers held at the National Archives. One file, FO 608/65, is part of the herculean effort to redraw the map of Europe after the First World War. It recounts the efforts of officials and ministers to work out how to provide Poland with meaningful access to the Baltic. The focus of this attention was the port city of Danzig. The two options before the Council of Ten were to include the city as part of Poland, but place limits on how Poland exercised its national sovereignty over this part of its territory, or to create a “free city”, administered by a League of Nations High Commissioner, which was tied into a customs union with Poland. In late March 1919 Lloyd George expressed the UK’s support for the former option in the Council. Behind the scenes, however, the Foreign Office was preparing the alternate plans for a free city, which Lloyd George backed to decisive effect in April 1919. Concerns that this reversal might destabilise the fledgling Polish state were summarily dismissed.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th September 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Tanzil Chowdhury: Statutorising UK Military Deployments and Assessing Anxieties of Their Justiciability – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted September 20th, 2018 in bills, constitutional law, international law, news, parliament, war by tracey

‘The paramount anxieties that emerge from attempts to statutorising Parliament’s role in making decisions on whether to commit military action abroad has not just been to do with deferring power from the executive to the Commons, but also with the potential justiciability of such decisions. While frequent attempts to table such bills are often accompanied with assurances that these fears are misplaced, this post argues that putting Parliament’s role in deployment decisions, considered a matter of high policy, on a statutory footing could pierce the seemingly impermeable veil of non-justiciability that attend them and subject these decisions to common law review – a development that ought to be welcome.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th September 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Speech by The Right Hon. The Lord Burnett of Maldon: Becoming Stronger Together – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted September 10th, 2018 in constitutional law, judiciary, rule of law, speeches by tracey

‘Speech by The Right Hon. The Lord Burnett of Maldon: Becoming Stronger Together.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 10th September 2018

Source: www.judiciary.uk

Trinidad judge loses bid to halt legal inquiry into his private life – The Guardian

Posted August 17th, 2018 in bias, constitutional law, inquiries, judges, judicial review, news, Privy Council, Trinidad & Tobago by sally

‘Judges in London have dismissed an attempt by the chief justice of Trinidad and Tobago to halt a legal investigation into his private life and alleged business dealings.’

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The Guardian, 16th August 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

British expats in EU launch Brexit legal challenge – The Guardian

Posted August 15th, 2018 in constitutional law, elections, expenses, judicial review, ministers' powers and duties, news, referendums by sally

‘British expatriates have launched a fresh legal challenge against the 2016 referendum, arguing that the result has been invalidated by the Electoral Commission’s ruling on leave campaign spending.’

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The Guardian, 14th August 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Byron Karemba: Brexit, the Reference Jurisdiction of the UKSC and the New Separation of Powers – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted July 31st, 2018 in constitutional law, constitutional reform, devolution, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘When the UKSC was created, there was great emphasis by the architects of the Court that it would largely assume the same constitutional position and functions as the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th July 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

James Segan: The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018: Ten Key Implications for UK Law and Lawyers – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted July 30th, 2018 in constitutional law, EC law, news, statutory interpretation by sally

‘On 26 June 2018, after nearly a year of deliberation by Parliament, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the “Act”) received royal assent. It is a statute of profound importance to the legal systems of the UK. This post seeks briefly to summarise the purpose and architecture of the Act and to outline ten key implications for UK law and lawyers.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th July 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Stephen Tierney: The Legislative Supremacy of Government – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted July 4th, 2018 in bills, brexit, constitutional law, EC law, news, parliament, prerogative powers by sally

‘At the same time as Parliament prepares to ‘take back control’ from Brussels, the executive is in fact accruing to itself further control over the legislative process. In this post I address a number of trends – only some of which are a direct consequence of the unique circumstances of Brexit – which suggest a deeper realignment of institutional power within the constitution and a consequent diminution of Parliament’s legislative power.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 3rd July 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Tom Hickey: The Republican Core of the Case for Judicial Review – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted June 25th, 2018 in constitutional law, judicial review, news by sally

‘Richard Bellamy is right about many things. One of them is that judicial review cannot be defended on the basis of what he calls its “epistemic properties:” on its supposed capacity to bring about better outcomes in disputes about rights. This is because of the fact of reasonable disagreement about rights combined with the fact that the reasons for that disagreement are no less applicable to judges than they are to ordinary citizens. Thus the premise of epistemic cases for judicial review, like those of Rawls and Dworkin, offends democratic principles.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th June 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Francis Young: Parliament and Taking Back Control: A Precedent from the Maastricht Debates – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted June 18th, 2018 in bills, constitutional law, EC law, news, parliament, referendums, treaties by sally

‘This post considers whether it is a convention of the British constitution that Parliament cannot direct the executive in the making of treaties. The context, of course, is the current tussle over whether the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill should be amended to allow the House of Commons a “meaningful vote” on the outcome of the current negotiations with the EU.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 15th June 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Veronika Fikfak and Hayley J. Hooper: Whither the War Powers Convention? What Next for Parliamentary Control of Armed Conflict after Syria? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted April 23rd, 2018 in armed forces, constitutional law, news, parliament, use of force by states, war, weapons by tracey

‘On Friday 13 April 2018 the Royal Air Force participated in air strikes (together with the United States and France) to degrade the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capability and to deter further chemical attacks. This intervention in Syria was not authorised by the UN Security Council, nor was the involvement of British troops approved by the House of Commons. Instead, the decision to send British forces to Syria was made by The Prime Minister Theresa in conjunction with the Cabinet. Readers can view her public statement from 14 April 2018 here. Events unfolded this way despite governmental acknowledgement of a War Powers Convention in the 2011 Cabinet Manual.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th April 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Leah Trueblood: The Merits and Meaning of a ‘Second’ Referendum – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted February 5th, 2018 in constitutional law, constitutional reform, news, referendums, treaties by sally

‘Even before the vote on 23 June 2016, questions were raised about the possibility of a ‘second’ referendum. I place the term ‘second’ in inverted commas because the idea that another vote means another referendum reflects a misunderstanding both about (i) what a referendum is and (ii) the role of referendums in the United Kingdom’s constitutional arrangements. On the ‘second’ referendum view, a referendum is synonymous with a vote. This is not the case. I will argue in this post that a referendum is a multi-stage process of referring a question to voters. This does include one vote, but may well include multiple votes. I will also argue that the conflation of referendums with votes underlies many of the flaws of the Brexit referendum in particular and the use of referendums in the United Kingdom in general. This is not a political argument for or against Brexit. It is a constitutional argument about what the role can and should be for voting in the process of constitutional reform through referendums in the United Kingdom.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 5th February 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Put constitutional right of access to justice at heart of LASPO review, MPs say – Legal Futures

Posted December 21st, 2017 in civil justice, constitutional law, employment tribunals, fees, legal aid, news, select committees by tracey

‘The government review of its legal aid reforms should reflect this summer’s Supreme Court ruling on access to justice as a constitutional right, the justice select committee said.’

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Legal Futures, 21st December 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Robert Craig: The Fall-out from Evans: Positioning Roszkowski and Privacy International in a Post-Evans Constitutional Landscape (Part 2) – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted December 11th, 2017 in appeals, constitutional law, detention, exclusion clauses, immigration, jurisdiction, news, rule of law, statutory interpretation, tribunals by sally

‘This post is in two parts. The first post (available here) addressed the detail of McCombe LJ’s judgment in Roszkowski v Secretary State for the Home Department (‘Roszkowski’) and in particular the impact of the differing judgments in R (Evans) v Attorney General (‘Evans’). This second post puts forward an alternative argument not canvassed in Evans or Roszkowski. A version of the argument was first suggested in a case note on Evans written by the author in the Modern Law Review. This second post also addresses some implications for Privacy International.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 11th December 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Catalonia: The Right to Secede and the Right to Self-Determination – Oxford Human Rights Hub

Posted October 24th, 2017 in constitutional law, devolution, foreign jurisdictions, news by sally

‘In an address to the Parliament of Catalonia on 10th October 2017, the President of Catalonia issued a ‘suspended’ unilateral declaration of independence (“UDI”) from Spain. The ‘suspended’ UDI followed a controversial independence referendum on 1st October 2017. The referendum, which was mired by protests and attempts by federal police forces to prevent people from voting, had resulted in a vote of 90% in favour of independence with a reported 42% turn-out.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 23rd October 2017

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Cormac Mac Amhlaigh: Can Brexit Be Stopped under EU Law? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 12th, 2017 in brexit, constitutional law, constitutional reform, EC law, international law, news, treaties by sally

‘Ominous clouds are gathering and the terrain underfoot increasingly resembles a quagmire on the Brexiteers’ ‘sunlit uplands’. The latest reminders that the reality will be significantly different from their utopia of a prosperous global Buccaneering Britain has come in the form of a trade dispute between the U.S. and a Canadian aircraft manufacturer which could have a devastating impact on the Northern-Irish economy where the manufacturer has a significant base; and the threat from a gang of countries that they will not accept a proposed agreement (one of the few agreements for now) between the EU and UK as to the divvying up of agricultural import quotas after Brexit. Perhaps most galling on this front is the fact that the gang involves those with whom it was hoped trade deals would be swiftly struck; including the U.S. and New Zealand.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 10th October 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org