The current Government was elected on a promise to cut £12 billion from the social security budget. Detailed plans were announced post-election in the July 2015 Summer Budget and legislation has been published in the form of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill (‘the Bill’). This paper considers whether proposals , as currently drafted , are lawful and specifically whether current measures in the Bill comply with domestic and international law.
These are the notes to a seminar on the role of the Ombudsman , looking particularly at the PHSO.
…it is opportune to consider the alternative protections for fundamental human rights which are available and to which lawyers should properly have regard in pleading cases before the courts of England , Wales , Scotland and the North of Ireland. We consider two important parallel sources of fundamental rights protection , namely (I) the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
of the European Union and (II) the common law.
This is a panel debate from our 2015 annual conference on 5th October. Panelists Hugh Tomlinson (Chair) David Anderson QC , Michael Drury CMG , Eric King & Alice Ross.
In this Audio recording from our 2015 annual conference , Mike talks about the following: • Implications of repeal of the HRA and statutorily restricted rights • The strength and potential of the common law and international human rights obligations • A rebalanced Constitution through the principle of legality and the rule of law
Sir Stephen Sedley and Cambridge University Press (CUP) have allowed us to publish the introduction to Lions under the Throne , Essays on the History of English Public Law. The first part of this chapter sketches the early growth of English public law. The second part tries to describe what it was like to be involved in the modern take-off of public law as it roused itself from its long sleep.
This paper presentation will cover which acts of Government have been challenged , changes to Government policy and its stance during and after litigation. It will also look at the feasibility studies , the current Supreme Court case and what the new decision means.
The Government sometimes adds a provision to a Bill which enables the Government to repeal or amend it after it has become an Act of Parliament. The provision enables the amendment of primary legislation using delegated (or secondary) legislation. Such provisions are known as ‘Henry VIII clauses’. To students of ‘1066 and All That’ Henry VIII was a dangerous tyrant and ‘a bad thing’. In 1539 he persuaded a supine parliament to pass the Statute of Proclamations giving the king’s decisions the same force as acts of the legislature; hence the name Henry VIII clause.
There are no enforceable economic , social or cultural rights in the UK. Although the UK has ratified ICESCR it has not been incorporated into domestic law and the ECHR is of course primarily concerned with civil and political rights. Therefore it is generally uncontroversial that there are no rights to state benefits or social security in the UK. The attempts that have been made to infer such rights under ECHR have largely failed.
Henry VIII clauses by which Acts of Parliament may be changed by delegated legislation are a constitutional anomaly. They are derived from a time when the Crown exercised absolute power. In the modern age they have the potential to subvert the sovereignty of parliament and substitute executive tyranny.
The result of a collaborative project with The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and The Public Law Project , this work aims to provide an introduction to the latest changes to judicial review practice and procedure. Setting the latest changes from Parliament in their constitutional context , we hope that our work will help inform the Act’s interpretation and its early application.
This paper surveys the significant decisions and developments in discrimination cases this year that are likely to be of most relevance for public law claims.