‘A peer has been found to have broken the Code of Conduct after failing to properly declare her role in a not-for-profit company.’
The Independent, 20th April 2023
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘In its Report setting the agenda for a likely Labour government after the next elections, the Brown Commission has set out an ambitious programme of constitutional reform. In a previous post, I examined its recommendation in relation to a fully elected second chamber to replace the House of Lords. In this post, I will examine its recommendations concerning bodies that comparative constitutional scholarship calls ‘fourth branch’ or guarantor institutions. The Report recommends the setting up of three new independent constitutional guarantors: an Integrity & Ethics Commission to enforce the code of ministerial conduct, an Appointments Commission for merit-only appointments to public bodies, and an Anti-Corruption Commissioner. It also recommends further empowerment of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to provide evidence on the implementation of the new proposed social rights, ‘with a remit, membership and staffing substantially altered to give it capacity to do so.’ It seeks to offer a new constitutional mandate to the UK Infrastructure Bank and rename it as the British Regional Business Investment Bank.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th March 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘This Library Briefing gives an overview of data protection law and when Members of Parliament can share the personal information of constituents.’
House of Commons Library , 22nd March 2023
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘The Queen’s Speech 2022 committed to a Bill in the 2022-23 session to abolish ‘no-fault’ section 21 evictions in the private rented sector. This paper covers developments to date.’
House of Commons Library, 7th March 2023
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper considering when polygamous marriages might be legally recognised.’
Family Law, 10th February 2023
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘The former Labour MP Jared O’Mara has been found guilty of making fraudulent expense claims to fund a “galloping” cocaine habit.’
The Guardian, 8th February 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Brown Commission has recommended replacing the House of Lords with an elected Assembly of the Nations and Regions of the UK. In recent posts, the Commission’s proposals for legally empowering the Assembly to scrutinise bills and to protect the constitution have come under criticism on several grounds. First, there are concerns that the Assembly would be unable effectively to scrutinise ordinary bills, as unlike the Lords, the Assembly would lack the legal power to delay such bills. Second, the Assembly would be vested with the power to veto bills which amend existing constitutional arrangements. Yet the Commission not only fails to provide a definitive list of existing constitutional statutes that could be protected by the veto but also envisaged that in exceptional circumstances the House of Commons may still assert its primacy through a specific but currently undetermined processes. Thus, it has been argued the proposed position is not drastically different from the existing legislative process established by the Parliament Acts. Third, there is an implicit concern that the Assembly’s elected membership may hinder rather than facilitate the Assembly in scrutinising and protecting the constitution.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th January 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘One of the key recommendations of the Brown Commission is to replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber called the Assembly of the Nations and Regions. The proposal has stimulated a broad debate. A key intervention in the debate was by the Speaker of the Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, who has argued against replacing the House of Lords with a second elected chamber because—he claims—doing so would threaten the supremacy of the Commons. In this post, I will draw upon my paper in defence of “moderated parliamentarism” to argue that—if done right—this might be a welcome reform that could combine the benefits of creating a system that checks executive power better, but without being prone to US-style legislative deadlocks and governmental dysfunction. I will argue that a properly designed elected second chamber could make the quality of British democracy better, especially by doing a better job of holding the executive to account and improving the quality of legislation. To the extent that the details for this reform in the Brown Report are sketchy and not exactly thought through, the objective of this blogpost is to provide a relatively more detailed proposal—if only to explain what is at stake and what kinds of questions need to be discussed and answered.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th January 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The issue of children dying unexpectedly and without any known cause has been debated in Parliament for the first time.’
BBC News, 17th January 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The publication of the Report of the Commission on the UK’s Future is attracting widespread attention. The centrepiece of its constitutional content is the replacement of the House of Lords with a new second chamber with new composition and a reformed role, which would have particular responsibility for territorial aspects of the constitution (discussed here) and act as guardian of (newly) entrenched elements of the constitution –not just in the devolution context but also more widely.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 15th December 2022
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘This briefing provides an overview of the proposed measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, along with background on the issues it aims to address.’
House of Commons Library , 29th November 2022
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘This paper provides an overview of the rights of residents who live year-round on mobile (park) home sites and proposals to improve protections for residents in England.’
House of Commons Library , 1st December 2022
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘At paras 56-57 of their judgment, the court in Reference by the Lord Advocate of devolution issues ([2022] UKSC 31) declared: “The central issue is whether legislation for a referendum on Scottish independence would relate to a reserved matter…. The critical question is accordingly whether the proposed Bill would relate to the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England or the Parliament of the United Kingdom”.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 29th November 2022
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Rising like an arguably rather dark phoenix from the ashes, the Bill of Rights Bill now appears back on the legislative agenda. Yet again, the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) seems somewhat inevitable, unless cabinet will once again implode in turmoil. In this light, the potential of the common law to provide a system of rights protection of similar vigour to that of the HRA has rightly gained much attention. The previous debate has largely focused on the content and development of common law rights and the structural potentials of the common law constitution. In contrast, this post will shed some light on what Mark Elliott described as the rigour of rights protection. The repeal of s. 3 HRA is surely one of the major cuts of judicial competences that the Bill of Rights Bill aims to undertake. Reinforcing a suggestion made by Eirik Bjorge and Michael Foran, it will hence be argued that the judiciary may well fill this protection gap by applying the proactive principle of legality (PoL). The use of this principle, however, can only be justified by acknowledging a new doctrinal foundation that reconciles it with parliamentary sovereignty.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th November 2022
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The Elections Act 2022 will introduce the requirement to show photo ID at UK Parliamentary elections, police and crime commissioner elections and at local elections in England. This briefing looks at the background to voter ID in the UK.’
House of Commons Library , 14th November 2022
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘Bob Blackman’s Private Members Bill will receive its second reading on 18 November 2022. This paper explains how the bill aims to strengthen regulation of supported exempt housing in England.’
House of Commons Library , 15th November 2022
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘The Supreme Court will deliver its judgement next Wednesday on whether the Scottish Parliament can hold a second independence referendum without Westminster’s approval.’
BBC News, 16th November 2022
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The office of Prime Minister is a creature entirely of constitutional convention. While legislation references the office itself, setting out pay for example, this is only statutory recognition of the existence of an office which arises purely by virtue of convention. It is by convention that the Monarch appoints as Prime Minister someone who is capable of commanding the confidence of the House of Commons and it is by convention that he exercises certain prerogative powers only on the advice of the Prime Minister (or another minister in his government). The mechanism for choosing a Prime Minister is, however, not entirely covered by convention. While they must command the confidence of a majority of MPs in the Commons, it is not necessary that they be chosen directly by the Commons. This is because of the party system and the presumption that the leader of a given party has the confidence of their MPs, even if they might not always have their full support.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th October 2022
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Statement made by Brandon Lewis – update on transgender prisoners.’
Parliament.uk, 11th October 2022
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