Category: Constitutional reform
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Jacob Eisler: Voter ID and the Elections Bill 2021: Legislative Manipulation of Democratic Procedure and the Limits of Judicial Review
The Elections Bill 2021, as of the date of publication for the House of Commons Committee stage, advances a variety of changes to the regulation of elections and the practice of voting in the UK. Of the reforms, one controversially reshapes the practical experience of voting for most citizens. A new voter ID requirement will…
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Jonathan Morgan: In Praise of Flexibility: Clause 1 of the Judicial Review and Courts Bill (2021)
Much has been written about the government’s judicial review reform project, which has led from IRAL to a further round of government consultation, culminating in the Judicial Review and Courts Bill. This note concerns Clause 1 (‘Quashing Orders’). This provision in the Bill has received an excellent summary, commentary and thoughtful critique from Tom Hickman. …
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Vernon Bogdanor: Reply to McHarg and Young
Aileen McHarg and Alison Young believe that the new British constitution, which I wrote about in my book of that name published in 2009 is less securely based than I suggested. The pillars of that new constitution were, I argued, the Human Rights Act, the devolution settlement, the referendum, and the new arrangements for the…
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Aileen McHarg and Alison L. Young: The Resilience of the (Old) British Constitution
In 2009, Vernon Bogdanor wrote about The New British Constitution. His thesis was that a decade of New Labour reforms had produced a shift in the nature of the constitution, from one based on parliamentary sovereignty, to one based on the ‘sovereignty of the constitution’. Since 2009, further constitutional reforms have been implemented by governments…
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Stephen Tierney: The Scottish Parliamentary Elections and the “Second Referendum” Debate
The Scottish National Party emerged as the largest party in the Scottish parliamentary elections held on 6 May. It fell short of an overall majority but still won an impressive 64 of 129 seats. Nicola Sturgeon, who will be reappointed as First Minister within the new devolved administration, has reiterated the SNP’s quest for independence,…
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Tim Sayer: Preserving Judicial Oversight: An Appeal to Self-Interest
Boris Johnson’s government takes the view that ours is a time of judicial overreach, necessitating redress in terms of the balance of judicial and executive power. This seems to have been driven by a number of high-profile cases, certain vocal thinktanks which appear to have the ear of government, and a wider constitutional prospectus of…
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Joe Tomlinson and Alison Pickup: Putting the Cart before the horse? The Confused Empirical Basis for Reform of Cart Judicial Reviews
The Independent Review of Administrative Law has now reported. For a review process that was unnecessarily quick, the Expert Panel, led by Lord Faulks QC, has produced a substantial and detailed analysis. The Report has rightly drawn broad support from across the political spectrum—even if the Government’s support for the report has been accompanied by…
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Craig Prescott: Modernising the Monarchy: Moving Beyond the 1917 Letters Patent and the “George V Convention”
In March 2021, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, gave one of the most extraordinary interviews ever held with a member of the Royal Family. It may have a profound and long-lasting effect on the monarchy, an institution that remains central to the UK’s constitutional arrangements. Already, there are calls for reform. This blog focuses on the…
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Alison L Young: The Draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill: Turning Back the Clock?
Things were different in 2010. If schools closed and households found themselves stuck indoors, or unable to travel abroad, it was due to snowstorms and erupting Icelandic volcanoes, not because of a pandemic. Moreover, if the then Prime Minister wished to dissolve Parliament, he did not need to adhere to the requirements of the Fixed-term…
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Nicholas Reed Langen: Reforming the Supreme Court
Fresh from inaugurating its Independent Review of Administrative Law, this government is still not finished with the judiciary, at least according to recent policy proposals leaked to the Sunday Telegraph. Downing Street has also turned its eye onto the Supreme Court and its structure and composition. According to the leaked policy proposals, the government’s reforms…