Since its first edition in 1985, The Changing Constitution has cemented its reputation for providing concise, scholarly and thought-provoking essays on the key issues surrounding the UK's constitutional development, and the current debates around reform. The ninth edition of this highly successful volume is published at a time of accelerated constitutional change. This collection of essays brings together fourteen expert contributors to offer an invaluable source of material and analysis for all students of constitutional law and politics. It clarifies the scope of the powers exercised by central, devolved and local governments within the UK, and the relationship between Britain, the EU and other regional and international legal systems.
Sure to enhance its popularity among students and teachers, this is the new, expanded, and revised edition of Jowell and Oliver: The Changing Constitution. With new chapters on 'The European Community' by Vernon Bogdanor and 'International Human Rights Law' by Lord Lester QC, as well asrevised chapters on all other topics, the book once again offers an up-to-date view of the state of the UK constitution and its relationship with the European Community.
Since its first edition in 1985, The Changing Constitution has cemented its reputation for providing concise, scholarly and thought-provoking essays on the key issues surrounding the UK's constitutional development, and the current debates around reform. The sixth edition of a highly successful volume provides a thorough review of the latest developments in constitutional reform. It includes a new chapter on 'Constitutional Watchdogs' and expanded consideration of freedom of information and the control of public expenditure. Professors Jowell and Oliver have brought together nineteen expert contributors to offer an invaluable source of material and analysis for all students of public law.
This is the paperback edition of Robert Stevensâ?? acclaimed study of the English Judiciary from an historical perspective, with special reference to its changing role in the 20th century. Though the book was written and originally published before the most recent constitutional reforms were announced, it nonetheless brilliantly anticipated the direction in which the debate would move, and provides much valuable food for thought for those charged with shaping the role of the judiciary within the new constitutional settlement. The centerpiece of the book is a detailed study of the political influences on the judiciary and the influence the judiciary has had on politics in the 20th century. It concludes with a series of proposed reforms to ensure that the English judiciary will both maintain its strength and enhance its utility in the 21st century. It offers no simple-minded argument for separation of powers but analyzes what is needed to clarify the balance of powers and to advance the debate about the role of an unelected judiciary in an increasingly democratic society.
This textbook provides an introduction to the topical subject of constitutional change in Britain. It considers the historical origins of the constitution but its main focus is on recent reforms and their likely impact.It includes chapters on:*The Legislature: The House of Commons and the House of Lords*The Executive*The Judiciary*The Debate over a Written Constitution and a Bill of Rights for the UK*Devolution: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the English Regions*Electoral Reform and Referenda*The European Union and the United Kingdom Constitution*The e~Hollowing Out of the Statee(tm)The key theme running throughout the book is the debate as to whether the constitution has undergone a revolutionary transformation or has gradually evolved.Key Features:*Includes up-to-date examples of constutional change in Britain*Offers a readable, stimulating and provocative introduction to the subject*Covers all the major issues surrounding the constitution in Britain
This new account of constitutional reform in the UK offers a detailed discussion of all the significant changes that have developed following the elections of 1997 and 2001. Issues discussed include the recent devolution of power in Scotland and elections of Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland; reform of the House of Lords and the system of hereditary peers; the influence of the Human Rights Act; changes to electoral systems and party funding; and the significance of the European dimension on the British Constitution. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, the text is well referenced to aid further research and offers an extensive bibliography and list of official publications. It is essential reading for all those studying constitutional law and reform as part of their law or politics degree programmes.
This book examines the far-reaching changes made to the constitution in the United Kingdom in recent decades. It considers the way these reforms have fragmented power, once held centrally through the Crown-in-Parliament, by means of devolution, referendums, and judicial reform. It examines the reshaping of the balance of power between the executive, legislature, and the way that prerogative powers have been curtailed by statute and judicial ruling. It focuses on the Human Rights Act and the creation of the UK Supreme Court, which emboldened the judiciary to limit executive action and even to challenge Parliament, and argues that many of these symbolised an attempt to shift the 'political' constitution to a 'legal' one. Many virtues have been ascribed to these reforms. To the extent that criticism exists, it is often to argue that these reforms do not go far enough. An elected upper chamber, regional English parliaments, further electoral reform, and a codified constitution are common tonics prescribed by commentators from this point of view. This volume adopts a different approach. It provides a critical evaluation of these far-reaching reforms, drawing from the expertise of highly respected academics and experienced political figures from both the left and right. The book is an invaluable source of academic expertise and practical insights for the interested public, students, policymakers, and journalists, who too often are only exposed to the 'further reform' position.
Particularly valuable for both academics and practitioners, Human Rights and the Private Sphere: A Comparative Study analyzes the interaction between constitutional rights, freedoms and private law. Focusing primarily on civil and political rights, an international team of constitutional and private law experts have contributed a collection of chapters, each based around a different jurisdiction. They include Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, the UK, the US, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Union. As well as exploring, chapter by chapter, the key topics and debates in each jurisdiction, a comparative analysis draws the sections together; setting-out the common features and differences in the jurisdictions under review and identifies some common trends in this important area of the law. Cross-references between the various chapters and an appendix containing relevant legislative material and translated quotations from important court decisions makes this volume a valuable tool for those studying and working in the field of international human rights law.
How our experience of presence, time, and history is articulated in contemporary artistic practices. Our present is defined by contemporaneity: the interconnection of heterogeneous times, histories, and temporalities. These many and various times do not merely exist in parallel with one another, simultaneously. Rather, they interconnect and are brought to bear on the same present, forming a sort of planetary present, and—at least in principle—a global sharing of time, although one not shared equally. In The Changing Constitution of the Present: Essays on the Work of Art in Times of Contemporaneity, Jacob Lund explores how the conditions for politically engaged art and aesthetic practice, for questioning the present, have changed in recent decades, while considering how our historical present and its temporal quality differ significantly from previous presents.
