Tag: Constitutional Theory
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Paolo Sandro: Do You Really Mean It? Ouster Clauses, Judicial Review Reform, and the UK Constitutionalism Paradox
The Conservative government’s response to the IRAL report has raised plenty of alarm bells from UK constitutional scholars. The widespread observation that the government’s judicial review reform plans appear to go well beyond what the Independent Panel recommended points to a more fundamental problem: that the government seems to proceed from a very partial understanding…
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Kyle Murray: Putting Parliament in Its Place: The Pro-Brexit, Democratic Case for a Second Brexit Referendum
I am a Brexiteer. I am also a democrat (indeed for me the two are very much connected). In this post, I argue that despite mainstream protests to the contrary, democratic principle points to a strong case for a second Brexit referendum. The argument also gives some food for thought regarding the democratic credentials of…
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Weekly round-up of events
This week’s event announcement is below. ~~~ Event: Foundational Concepts in Constitutional Theory, 10 – 12 July 2019 Despite the field of constitutional theory recently coming of age, there are at least three problems evident in its scholarly discussion. First, legal scholars and political scientists have often approached the subjects differently and in isolation from…
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Richard Ekins: Representative Politics and the Limits of Law
This is the first of a series of posts in which Richard Ekins reflects upon Lord Sumption’s Reith Lectures. In his second Reith lecture, “In Praise of Politics”, broadcast on Tuesday, Jonathan Sumption aims “to make the case for the political process, with all its imperfections.” He develops a forceful argument for the capacity of…
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Weekly round-up of events
This week’s event announcements include: SLS Public Law Section, Call for Papers/Panels for 2019 SLS Annual Conference, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, 3-6 September 2019 Call for Papers, Annual Doctoral Workshop in Constitutional Theory: Domestic, European and International Perspectives, University of Liverpool, 10-11 June 2019 ~~~ SLS Public Law Section Call for Papers/Panels for…
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Tom Hickey: The Republican Core of the Case for Judicial Review
Richard Bellamy is right about many things. One of them is that judicial review cannot be defended on the basis of what he calls its “epistemic properties:” on its supposed capacity to bring about better outcomes in disputes about rights. This is because of the fact of reasonable disagreement about rights combined with the fact…
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Weekly round-up of events
This week’s event announcements are below. ~~~ The Democratic Case for a Written Constitution UCL Gustave Tuck LT, Wilkins Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT Thursday 1 March 2018, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Speaker: Professor Jeff King (University College London) Chair: Lord Pannick QC (Blackstone Chambers) Series: Current Legal Problems 2017-18 Lecture Series The…
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Lea Raible and Leah Trueblood: The Swiss System of Referendums and the Impossibility of Direct Democracy
The referendums in the United Kingdom of 2011, 2014, and 2016 have sparked a debate about the merits of direct democracy. In this debate references to the system of referendums in Switzerland take one of two forms: either as (i) a sui generis case of no relevance or (ii) a demonstration of the virtues of referendums and direct…
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Weekly round-up
This week’s announcements include: Study of Parliament Group circular: Committee of Privileges Inquiry Launched Call for applications, Junior Research Fellowship in Constitutional Law or Constitutional Theory, Trinity College, Oxford University ~~~ Study of Parliament Group circular: Committee of Privileges Inquiry Launched The House of Commons Committee of Privileges had launched an inquiry into the exercise…
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Thomas Poole: Losing our Religion? Public Law and Brexit
Prerogative is the enemy of the people. This has been settled as matter of law for a very long time. The constitutional settlement of 1688 made a decision for responsible and representative government. We have had no constitutional moment of similar magnitude since. All constitutional changes – some very significant – have taken place within…