“The fate of six West Indian prisoners on death row will be decided through the adjudication of the privy council this summer amid fresh pressure from the Caribbean to limit the UK’s role in determining capital punishment cases.”
The Guardian, 12th June 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The government is consulting Commonwealth countries about changing the laws on royal succession, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.”
BBC News, 16th April 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“According to the master of the rolls, courts could overrule parliament in wholly exceptional cases.”
The Guardian, 11th April 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The government’s little-reported announcement last week that it will no longer bypass parliament when it abolishes public bodies is a sign that the House of Lords is working effectively: even ministers now understand that the best thing to do when they find themselves in a hole is to stop digging.”
The Guardian, 9th March 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Phil Woolas has lost his election court challenge but the decision shines a light on an obscure part of the constitutional system.”
The Guardian, 3rd December 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“When an appeal to the Privy Council was expressed to be as of right under the Constitution of the country appealed from, it was still necessary either to obtain leave from the local Court of Appeal or if that was refused, to obtain special leave from the Privy Council.”
WLR Daily, 24th November 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Today I am talking to Carl Gardner, ex government lawyer and author of the Head of Legal blog, about the extraordinary idea being put forward by Foreign Secretary William Hague that we need to enshrine Parliamentary Sovereignty in our law. There are many dangers in doing so. There could well be *unintended consequences* and Carl Gardner says that the drafting of this legislation will need especial care.”
Charon QC, 8th October 20101
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
“Freedom of information hearing delayed until next year for reasons panel cannot ‘go into.’ ”
The Guardian, 16th September 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A major potential flaw in the coalition’s bill to introduce fixed-term parliaments was exposed when the clerk of the Commons today warned it would open the way for repeated legal challenges if parliament passed a vote of no confidence in a government, leading to a general election.”
The Guardian, 7th September 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The most curious feature of the European court of justice (ECJ) , the court of the European Union, is not that it is a political court, but rather that it has until very recently been so successful in pursuing its political programme of the integration of Europe through law without attracting much public or even expert notice.”
The Guardian, 10th August 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Baroness Hale of Richmond has spoken to the Salford Human Rights Conference on the development of human rights law, and has lamented the time spent on constitutional wrangling rather than applying the essence of the Act.”
The Guardian, 25th June 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The presence of two unelected non-voting members in the legislature of the Channel Island of Sark, which had 28 democratically elected voting members, did not contravene art 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and alternatively, even if art 3 had required that all members be elected, was well within the margin of appreciation afforded by the article. A prohibition on aliens standing for election as members of the legislature was not incompatible with art 3.”
WLR Daily, 1st December 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal case by the Barclay brothers who wanted to force a change to constitutional reforms on Sark.”
BBC News, 1st December 2009
Source; www.bbc.co.uk
“Gordon Brown today sparked controversy on the eve of the Commonwealth summit by suggesting he backs the sweeping away of 300-year-old laws that prevent Roman Catholics ascending to the Throne.”
The Times, 25th November 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“An abridged version of a lecture given by Jack Straw at Brunel University’s Magna Carta Institute on Monday 23 November 2009.”
Ministry of Justice, 24th November 2009
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“A review of the ancient royal prerogative powers available to UK government ministers.”
Ministry of Justice, 15th October 2009
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“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
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