“Legislation is to be rushed through Parliament to end Westminster’s system of self-regulation and impose a new code of conduct on MPs in the wake of the expenses scandal, Gordon Brown announced today.”
The Independent, 10th June 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Gordon Brown is set to announce plans to examine a new system of voting MPs to the House of Commons.”
BBC News, 10th June 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Thinking the unthinkable is what constitutional lawyers are paid to do. Many are now saying that with the daily revelations about improper expenses claims from beleaguered MPs the Queen should step in and dissolve Parliament — against the Government’s wishes — forcing a general election to compel MPs to stand for immediate re-election after a scandal on the scale of that of the pre 1832 rotten boroughs. Trust has now been destroyed. It can, so the argument runs, be rebuilt only by a neutral third party, the Queen, and not by a self-interested and wholly discredited cabal of politicians.”
The Times, 21st May 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A national debate is launched today to explore whether a clearer common understanding of our rights and responsibilities might be built by articulating them in a single text – a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.”
Ministry of Justice, 23rd March 2009
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“A cabinet minister has called for progress to be made on ending the 300-year old legal ban on Roman Catholics succeeding to the throne.”
BBC News, 10th December 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Regina (Barclay and Others) v Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Others
Court of Appeal
“Proposed reform of the constitution of the Channel Island of Sark which allowed the Seneschal, appointed by the Seigneur, to be both a member of the legislature and the chief judge, contravened article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal.”
The Times, 5th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note that the Times Law Reports are only availalble free on Times Online for 21 days from th date of publication.
“The Reform (Sark) Law 2008, which, inter alia, provided, in relation to the Island of Sark, a Crown Dependency and a part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, for the Seneschal, the senior judge of Sark, to remain as an unelected member and President of the Chief Pleas, the island’s legislature, did not breach art 3 of the First Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.”
WLR Daily, 4th December 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
“The Channel island of Sark has come under renewed pressure to scrap one of the last vestiges of its feudal system after the Court of Appeal ruled that its new constitution breached human rights laws.”
Daily Telegraph, 3rd December 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Dicey Revisited: Separation of powers for the 21st century.”
Full speech (PDF)
The Judiciary of England and Wales, 28th November 2008
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“The Prime Minister’s plans to introduce a ‘Bill of Rights and Responsibilities’ have been dealt a blow with the resignation of the Lord Lester of Herne Hill, the Liberal Democrat peer.”
The Times, 5th November 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Jack Straw, the justice secretary, is facing a cabinet-level revolt over his plans for a British bill of rights and responsibilities, and has sent his justice minister, Michael Wills, on a mission to re-explain the proposals to sceptical Whitehall departments.”
The Guardian, 4th November 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Constitutional experts and minority parties yesterday rallied behind proposals to repeal the 300-year bar to Catholics succeeding to the throne and end male precedence in the royal succession.”
The Guardian, 26th September 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The government should adopt a Bill of Rights for the UK, a cross-party committee of MPs and peers has urged.”
BBC News, 10th August 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Britain has officially ratified the controversial Lisbon treaty, it was announced today.”
The Guardian, 17th July 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Constitutional Justice: lessons from Magna Carta (PDF)
Speech by Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls at Royal Holloway, University of London, 16th June 2008
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“Justice Secretary Jack Straw today marked the one-year anniversary of the government’s constitutional change programme and said the progress made was a major step forward in renewing Britain’s democracy.”
Ministry of Justice, 3rd July 2008
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“An attempt to block Britain’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty has been rejected by the High Court.”
BBC News, 19th June 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Peers will vote later today on whether to ratify the Lisbon treaty – its final parliamentary hurdle – after it was rejected in an Irish referendum last week.”
The Guardian, 18th June 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Ireland has voted No to the Lisbon Treaty, plunging the European Union into a new crisis.”
The Times, 13th June 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“The House of Lords has voted against holding a referendum on the EU Treaty – a day before the Irish Republic’s national ballot on the agreement.”
BBC News, 11th June 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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