Category: Constitutional reform
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Patrick Graham: Legality, Legitimacy, and Durability – The Limits of Constitutional Reform in Northern Ireland
There is some unreality to the current clamour for reform of Northern Ireland’s devolved government. The three major non-unionist parties, as well as the British and Irish governments, have proposed or are open to substantial changes in the teeth of unionist opposition. That debate too often overlooks cross-community consent as a principle shaping constitutional form,…
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Stephen Tierney: Towards a Principle of Positive Engagement?: The House of Lords Constitution Committee reports on The Governance of the Union
Over the past decade the House of Lords Constitution Committee has immersed itself in the principles, purposes and operation of devolution. Last week marked 10 years since the referendum on Scottish independence, and in that time the Committee has published multiple reports on the changing face of the territorial constitution, offering encouragement, detailed critique and…
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Rhiannon Ogden-Jones: Legal Uncertainty and the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill 2023
The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill (‘LURB’), currently before the House of Lords, aims to facilitate the government’s levelling-up agenda, which was set out in the ‘Levelling-Up the United Kingdom’ White Paper in 2022. At 222 clauses and 18 schedules, full consideration of the Bill (as amended in Committee, 24th May 2023) would require more than…
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Mike Gordon: Creating an Integrity and Ethics Commission in the UK: The Case for Reform and Challenges for Implementation
In an era of intense and continuing controversy over the rules of political responsibility, the question of how to reform the current framework of constitutional standards applicable to politicians requires serious consideration. In addition to the regularity with which allegations about ministerial irresponsibility are being raised and sometimes (eventually) addressed, there are clearly structural challenges…
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John Stanton: Law, Localism, and the Constitution: A Comparative Perspective
Local government is an aspect of UK constitutional law that is often neglected or overlooked. Councils, though, are a vital part of our governmental order, providing the services and opportunities, and making the decisions and policies, that shape a large part of our day-to-day lives. They are also the institutions of government with which the…
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Gordon Guthrie: Brown vs Dewar – The Labour Commission on the UK’s Future
With the publication of Labour’s Commission on the UK’s Future it is worth contrasting the approach that Gordon Brown and his colleagues have taken with the very successful devolutionary legacy of Donald Dewar. The Scottish Parliament is one of the most powerful subnational parliaments in the world. But the Scottish state hardly changed in 1999…
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Conor Casey: House of Lords Constitution Committee Rejects Significant Reform to UK Law Officers
Background to Inquiry on Role of Law Officers The Attorney General and Solicitor General are the UK government’s principal legal advisors. Known collectively as the Law Officers, the origins of these ancient constitutional officers date back to the 13th Century. Historically, the Law Officers were leading barristers who acted as the Crown’s personal lawyers, fiercely…
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Robert Greally: The Brown Report: Political Legitimacy and the Power of the Assembly
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…
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Tarun Khaitan: An Elected Second Chamber? Some Thoughts on the Brown Report
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…
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Paolo Sandro: Vorrei ma non posso? The Brown Commission’s report and the conundrum of constitutional entrenchment in the UK
The Brown Commission’s report on the future of the Union has already sparked a lively debate. In a series of excellent posts, Aileen McHarg, Adam Tucker, and Michael Gordon have dissected and subjected to critical scrutiny some of the key proposals for constitutional reform contained in the report. The entrenchment of a new category of…