The UKCLA Blog
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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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Francesca Jackson: Jamaica’s petition to King Charles on slavery reparations under s.4 Judicial Committee Act 1833: A constitutional analysis
On Monday 7th September 2026, Jamaica filed a petition with King Charles asking him to refer three specific questions on transatlantic slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (‘JCPC’) under s.4 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833 (‘JCA’). The questions focus on whether enslavement in Jamaica was ever lawful and whether there is an obligation on…
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David Erdos: Vince v Associated Newspapers: Have UK Data Protection’s Journalism Provisions Come of Age?
In Vince v Associated Newspapers [2026] EWCA Civ 899, the Court of Appeal held that an unfair processing compensation claim under data protection law provided redress against the seriously misleading publication of a juxtaposed headline and captioned photographs, even though this claim had not been raised in initial proceedings and redress was ruled out in…
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Thomas Horsley: Legislative Design in the Shadow of the UK Internal Market Act: The Food Price Cap (Scotland) Bill
The Scottish Government’s proposals to introduce statutory price caps on essential food items provide a new test of the practical effects of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (UKIMA) on devolved policymaking. This post examines its initial approach to navigating the UKIMA, outlined in a public consultation published on 1 September 2026. The Scottish…
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Julio Alberto Barajas-Servin: When Electoral Lies Become Justiciable
Wales has done something unusual – it has enacted a duty to prohibit electoral lies before deciding what the prohibition will look like. Since 27 June 2026, section 13 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 has required the Welsh Ministers to make provision against false or misleading statements of fact made to affect who…
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Announcement: UKCLA Blog Editorial Team
Professor Se-shauna Wheatle is stepping down as one of the editors of the UK Constitutional Law Association Blog. We would like to thank Se-shauna, on behalf of the wider public law community, for all her work over the last few years. Her place on the editorial team will be taken by Dr Ben Yong of Durham University.…
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Chris Rowe: Requalifying Article 8: The Immigration and Asylum Bill
The Immigration and Asylum Bill is the government’s third attempt to directly change how judges interpret and apply Article 8. Below I assess the likely impact of the proposed changes in the context of the previous reform efforts in 2012 and in particular 2014. I argue that (a) as previously the Bill does not require the courts to decide Article…
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Dane Luo: The Protection of “Purported Determinations” in the New Generation of Ouster Clauses
Recently enacted clauses expressly include define a “determination” to include a “purported determination” or state that a court may not question a “determination or purported determination”. It is obvious what is happening. This drafting technique is a direct response to judicial decisions such as the landmark cases in Anisminic and Privacy International. In this post,…
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Lewis Graham and Leah Trueblood: A right to information in domestic law: five points of interest for public lawyers
In a recent decision, the Upper Tribunal (‘the UT’) has found that the operation of section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’) breaches the right to access information under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’). The decision will obviously be of interest to lawyers working in the field…
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Robert Craig: Uncomfortable, But Not Unconstitutional – The Transition to a New Prime Minister
Despite Keir Starmer’s landslide majority just two years ago, the former Prime Minister announced his resignation from the premiership on 20 July. The departure of yet another prime minister, in short order, follows a series of political misjudgements that saw his support in both parliament and country drain away. The only candidate to replace Mr…