Tag: law-making
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Mark K Heatley: The Disadvantages of Local Legislation
The term Private Acts of Parliament (PA) is widely used to include local Acts, that benefit organizations such as local authorities or authorize major infrastructure projects and are often of limited geographical extent, or personal Acts that benefit individuals. This post considers the reasons for the decline in the enaction of Local Acts of Parliament…
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Ronan Cormacain: Blue-eyed Babies, Amnesties, Sovereignty of Parliament and the Rule of Law: The Northern Ireland Legacy Proposals
Could Parliament pass a law that all blue-eyed babies be murdered? This was the hypothetical question posed by Stephen in the Science of Ethics, quoted by AV Dicey in the Introduction to the Study of The Constitution. Dicey agreed with the answer that “legislators must go mad before they could pass such a law, and…
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Michael Foran: Parliamentary Sovereignty and the Politics of Law-making
Parliamentary sovereignty has traditionally been understood to mean that Parliament is free to enact legislation on any area of law that it chooses, and that Acts of the U.K. Parliament take precedence over subordinate legislation, regulation, or common law rule. Understood this way, parliamentary sovereignty is a constitutional principle that is couched explicitly in legal…
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Thomas L Muinzer: Russell’s Paradox and the Principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty
The Brexit process has served to draw significant attention to a rich variety of questions engaging the character and scope of the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty. This includes on this blog, where various significant issues have been ably examined by, amongst others: Professor Mike Gordon, with reference to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill and…
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Emilia Cieslak: Getting the timing right- a review of the Leicester lockdown Regulations
The local lockdown in Leicester was announced on the 29th June and began on the 30th, despite the relevant Regulations only coming into force on the 4th July. This post argues that a legal vacuum – even one lasting only a few days – has damaging effects on the Rule of Law and creates problems…