ABSTRACT

This book interweaves an authoritative authorial commentary – significantly expanded from the last edition - with extracts from a diverse and contemporary collection of cases and materials from three leading academics in the field. It provides an all-encompassing student guide to constitutional, administrative and UK human rights law.

This fourth edition provides comprehensive coverage of all recent developments, including the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011, restrictions on judicial review (Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015), changes to judicial appointments (Crime and Courts Act 2013), the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum, Scotland Act 2016 and draft Wales Bill 2016. Recent devolution cases in the Supreme Court, including Imperial Tobacco (2012) and Asbestos Diseases (2015) are fully analysed, as is the 2015 introduction of English Votes for English Laws. The remarkable Evans (2015) ‘Black Spider memos’ case is considered in a number of chapters. The common law rights resurgence seen in Osborn (2013), BBC (2014) and Kennedy (2014) is analysed in several places, along with other key developments in judicial review such as Keyu (2015) and Pham (2015). Ongoing parliamentary reform in both Lords and Commons, including major advances in controlling prerogative powers, are fully explained, as is the adaptation of the core Executive to Coalition Government (2010-2015). There is comprehensive coverage of key Strasbourg and HRA cases (Horncastle (2010), Nicklinson (2014), Moohan (2014), Carlile (2014)), and those in core areas of freedom of expression, police powers and public order (Animal Defenders (2013), Beghal (2015), Roberts (2015), Miranda (2016)) and the prisoners’ voting rights saga, up to Chester (2015).

chapter Chapter 1|34 pages

Constitutional Principles and the British Constitution

chapter Chapter 2|28 pages

The Nature and Role of Constitutional Conventions

chapter Chapter 3|76 pages

The Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers

chapter Chapter 4|42 pages

Parliamentary Sovereignty

chapter Chapter 5|18 pages

The European Union and Parliamentary Sovereignty

chapter Chapter 6|64 pages

Devolution

chapter Chapter 7|57 pages

The European Convention on Human Rights

chapter Chapter 8|62 pages

The Commons *

Elections, Parties, Legislation and Scrutiny

chapter Chapter 9|53 pages

The House of Lords and Reform

chapter Chapter 10|35 pages

Parliamentary Privilege

chapter Chapter 11|49 pages

Prerogative Powers

chapter Chapter 12|49 pages

The Central Executive *

Structures and Accountability

chapter Chapter 13|43 pages

Freedom of Information

chapter Chapter 14|44 pages

Judicial Review

Availability, Applicability, Procedural Exclusivity

chapter Chapter 15|96 pages

Grounds of Judicial Review

chapter Chapter 16|40 pages

Ombudsmen

chapter Chapter 18|66 pages

Freedom of Expression