UKCLA Conference

Monday 11^th September – Tuesday 12^th September 2023

Venue: Events Space, School of Law and Social Justice Building, University of Liverpool, Chatham Street, L69 7ZR

The UKCLA and the Liverpool Public Law Unit conference ‘Contemporary Challenges for Constitutional Accountability’ will explore the nature and effectiveness of the UK’s framework of constitutional accountability.  In the present period of enduring constitutional turbulence relating to various legal and political controversies, an overarching assessment of the operation of the UK’s accountability practices and principles – looking back and to the future – is increasingly necessary.

Taking a broad approach to the idea of ‘accountability’, the conference will address a number of themes, including: what ‘accountability’ means and how it operates within the current constitutional landscape within or across the UK and its constituent nations; the relationship and tensions between legal and political modes of accountability; the effectiveness of existing processes for holding governments and public authorities to account; different critical and conceptual approaches to ‘constitutional accountability’; and the significance and effects of the interactions between parliamentary and extra-parliamentary actors in the context of constitutional accountability.

Across six panels, the conference will explore:

– how we conceptualise accountability

– accountability in the context of devolution

– the role and performance of the judiciary

– how scrutiny can be effective in an age of big government

– the different mechanisms for generating accountability

– the constitutional contribution of external actors and processes. 

The keynote will feature the Guardian journalist David Pegg in conversation with Dr Adam Tucker, discussing the ways in which investigative journalism can contribute to constitutional accountability, particularly in the context of the power and privileges of the monarchy.

The full programme is below.  The conference will be held in the School of Law and Social Justice Building at the University of Liverpool, and is kindly funded by the UKCLA and the School.  It will be an in person event, and registration to attend is free here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemporary-challenges-for-constitutional-accountability-tickets-684698831637

Programme

Monday 11th September
10.30am onwards	Coffee and Registration
11am – 11.10am	Welcome
11.10am – 12.30pm	Panel 1: Conceptualising Accountability   – Alan Greene (University of Birmingham), ‘Towards an Agonistic Constitutionalism?’   – James Milton (UCL), ‘The Rule of Law, Public Accountability, and the Interdependency of Norms’   – Guy Baldwin (University of Cambridge), ‘The Case for Moderate Constitutionalism in the UK’
12.20pm – 1.30pm	Lunch
1.30pm – 2.50pm	Panel 2: Devolution and Accountability   – Leah Rea (Ulster University), ‘“Endorsed by the UK Parliament”? Examining constitutional accountability in the context of constitutional conventions and legislative intervention on matters of human rights in Northern Ireland’   – Elisenda Casanas Adam (University of Edinburgh), ‘Do we need a clarity framework for a second Scottish independence referendum?’ – Chris McCorkindale (University of Strathclyde), ‘Delegated Law-Making Powers of UK Ministers in Devolved Areas: the Accountability Implications’
2.50pm – 3.10pm	Coffee Break
3.10pm – 4.30pm	Panel 3: Accountability and the Judiciary   – Lewis Graham (University of Oxford), ‘Have our judges been cowed by hostile political rhetoric?’ – Alison Seaman (University of Edinburgh), ‘Who should fill in the margins?’ – Daniella Lock (University of Oxford), ‘The Scope of Judicial Scrutiny in Recent UK National Security Law’
4.30pm – 5.30pm	Keynote: ‘Investigative Journalism as Constitutional Accountability’   David Pegg (The Guardian) in conversation with Adam Tucker (University of Liverpool)
5.30pm – 6.30pm	Drinks Reception
Tuesday 12th September
10am – 11.20am	Panel 4: Scrutinising Big Government – Leonid Sirota (University of Reading), ‘Keeping Big Government Accountable: (How) Can It Be Done? – Alexandra Sinclair (LSE), ‘Automated decision-making and the challenges for accountability’ – Tim Sayer (Oxford Brookes University), ‘Fetishising Sovereignty: An Administrative Perspective on the Delegated Legislation Problem’
11.20am – 11.40am	Coffee Break
11.40am – 1.00pm	Panel 5: Mechanisms of Accountability   – Robert Brett Taylor (University of Aberdeen), ‘Constitutional Conventions: Overcoming the Challenges of Constitutional Turbulence’ – Kate Ollerenshaw (University of Hertfordshire), ‘Impact Assessment as an Accountability Mechanism:  Past, Present and Future’ – Pablo Grez Hidalgo (University of Strathclyde), ‘Collaboration and friction in non-judicial constitutional review: the case the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform’
1.00pm – 1.40pm	Lunch
1.40pm – 3pm	Panel 6: External Processes and Actors – Aradhya Sethia (University of Cambridge), ‘Constitutional Accountability and Internal Processes of Political Parties’   – Andrea Jarman (University of Bournemouth), ‘The Accountability Loop: legal constitutionalism, the media, and the judge as public figure’ – Chris Monaghan (University of Worcester), ‘So, you want to safeguard the constitution? Rethinking accountability and the role of academics’