Category Archives: European Union
Carol Harlow: Surveillance and the Superstate
For a society as devoted to secrets and privacy as the British are traditionally supposed to be, however, the law possesses surprisingly few protections for the communications of its citizens. True, phone hacking has become a criminal offence under the … Continue reading
Filed under European Union, Human rights
Tom Hickman: Data Over-Protection
When my central heating boiler stopped working the other day I was expecting exorbitant costs, cold nights huddled around a hot water bottle and possibly a few hours holding on the phone to British Gas. I was not expecting an … Continue reading
Filed under European Union, Human rights
Jeffrey Goldsworthy: Parliamentary Sovereignty’s Premature Obituary
At the end of a long review of my book Parliamentary Sovereignty, Contemporary Debates (CUP, 2010, hereafter PS), Vernon Bogdanor concludes that I have “suffered one of the worst fates that can befall a philosopher”: I have “become the prisoner … Continue reading
Filed under European Union, UK Parliament
Arthur Dyevre: The Czech Ultra Vires Revolution: Isolated Accident or Omen of Judicial Armageddon?
On the face of things, the CCC’s judgment, by declaring an EU act, namely a ruling of the Court of Justice, ultra vires, constitutes a momentous and unprecedented display of judicial defiance. To my knowledge, no domestic court has ever … Continue reading
Filed under Comparative law, European Union
Patrick O’Brien: The European Fiscal Treaty: Constitutionalising ‘The Road to Serfdom’?
I start with a very old bad joke. A tourist is in Dublin, Ireland. In the midst of pondering the evident decline in the country’s fortunes (empty blocks of new apartments, growing anti-European sentiment, grizzled former bankers by the side … Continue reading
Filed under European Union
Jan Komarek: Playing With Matches: The Czech Constitutional Court’s Ultra Vires Revolution
When the Czech Constitutional Court (CCC) declared the CJEU’s judgment in C-399/09 Landtová “ultra vires”, one of my colleagues commented: “giving Solange into their hands was like to let children play with matches”. I am afraid it is the adequate … Continue reading
Filed under European Union
Armin von Bogdandy, Matthias Kottmann, Carlino Antpöhler, Johanna Dickschen, Simon Hentrei and Maja Smrkolj: A Rescue Package for EU Fundamental Rights – Illustrated with Reference to the Example of Media Freedom
Fundamental rights protection, once a side show, has become important for the EU, as proved by the newfound treaty recognition of the EU fundamental rights charter (CFREU), and the upcoming accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). At … Continue reading
Filed under Comparative law, European Union, Human rights
Paul Yowell: EU Act 2011: Law and Politics
The European Union Act 2011, which received royal assent in July of last year, could have important implications for several aspects of the UK constitution, including the UK’s relationship with the EU, the understanding of parliamentary sovereignty, the question of … Continue reading
Filed under European Union, UK Parliament
Mike Gordon: The European Union Act 2011
The European Union Act 2011 (EUA) is an unprecedented constitutional experiment. This post will outline the two main innovations of the Act: (1) the section 18 ‘sovereignty’ clause; and (2) the scheme of ‘referendum locks’ introduced in sections 2, 3 … Continue reading
Filed under European Union, UK Parliament
Nick Barber: The Commission on the Human Rights Act and the European Court of Human Rights.
The Commission tasked with suggesting reforms to the structure of rights protection in the United Kingdom has sent a letter to the Government outlining its interim advice for reforming the European Court of Human Rights. Drawing attention to the long delays experienced by … Continue reading
Filed under Constitutional reform, European Union, Human rights
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