11. The Welsh Way/Y Ffordd Gymreig

2019 ◽  
pp. 296-322
Author(s):  
Richard Rawlings

Welsh constitutional development in recent times is characterized by a convoluted and ongoing set of legislative transformations and by the emergence of a distinct policy approach not only for the sub-state polity itself but also under the banner of a ‘new Union’ for the United Kingdom as a whole. Examination of the design and dynamics of the Wales Act 2017 serves to illuminate the difficulties and rewards of the territorial constitutional journey, especially in terms of central government conservatism in the face of principled argument and of the scope afforded for home-grown democratic renewal. In terms of the extended Brexit process, where competing conceptions of the UK territorial constitution are brought to the fore, the Welsh Labour Government is seen combatting potentials for centralization under the rubric of a ‘UK internal market’, deal-making in the name of mutual benefit, and championing a new brand of shared governance in the UK. Today, the workings of the justice system in Wales are being examined on their own for the first time in two centuries by an independent commission established by the Welsh Government. With a new stage in the Welsh constitutional journey in prospect, a series of foundational questions is raised. This chapter reviews the key elements of the arrangements made for devolving legislative and executive power to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, explaining how these arrangements have developed over time and are still doing so. Particular attention is paid to the implications of the result of the independence referendum in Scotland in September 2014, not just for Scotland but also for England. Consideration is given to how mechanisms for making devolution work more effectively might be devised and to what the effects might be on devolution if the UK’s membership of the EU or its commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights are seriously called into question.

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-109
Author(s):  
Lynda M. Warren

In January 2021 the UK government granted an application for authorisation to use thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid pesticide, to protect commercial sugar beet crops from attack by viruses transmitted by aphids. This was the first time such an authorisation had been granted in the United Kingdom (UK) and there were concerns that it signalled a weakening of environmental standards now that the UK was no longer part of the European Union. In fact, similar authorisations had been granted by several European Member States in the last 2 years, despite the ban on the use of neonicotinoids introduced in 2018. Nevertheless, the reasons for granting the authorisation do suggest that the balance between adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection and taking emergency action to protect economic interests may have shifted. It was acknowledged that the proposed mitigation to safeguard bees and other wildlife was not entirely satisfactory. In the end, due to unforeseen weather conditions it meant that the pesticide is not necessary, which in itself demonstrates that short-term emergency measures are unsuitable for dealing with the problem. If the sugar beet industry is to continue to prosper in the UK, it will need to be managed in a way that provides resistance to virus infection without the use of controversial chemicals.


Author(s):  
Samuel Yee Ching Leung ◽  
Alex Chun Hei Chan

Abstract Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd (formerly known as Ace Bermuda Insurance Ltd [2020] UKSC 48 is an important case not only to the UK but also to the international arbitration community for several reasons: first, it examines indispensable duties in international arbitration and for the first time recognises and explicates upon the duty of disclosure at the highest court of the United Kingdom; secondly, it addresses and clarifies key concepts in international arbitration; thirdly, it confirms the objective nature of the test of justifiable doubts which has wider implications for other arbitral forums; fourthly, it illustrates how the duties of impartiality, disclosure, and confidentiality interact with and affect each other and how the key concepts should be applied to this interaction; and finally, it lays down useful guidance for arbitrators. For these reasons, this case deserves close and careful examination. This article aims to explain the significance of the aforesaid and suggests that, in addition to what has been addressed, further judicial explanations are warranted in what other aspects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 477-494
Author(s):  
Bríd Ní Ghráinne ◽  
Aisling McMahon

AbstractOn 7 June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSCt) issued its decision on, inter alia, whether Northern Ireland's near-total abortion ban was compatible with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). This article critically assesses the UKSC's treatment of international law in this case. It argues that the UKSCt was justified in finding that Northern Ireland's ban on abortion in cases of rape, incest, and FFA was a violation of Article 8, but that the majority erred in its assessment of Article 3 ECHR and of the relevance of international law more generally.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-185
Author(s):  
Caroline Mackenzie

AbstractDuring my first twelve years in India I studied Hindu art and philosophy, encountering "inculturated" Catholic Christianity for the first time. When I returned to the United Kingdom, I was struck by a manifest separation between the dry, orderly church, and the imaginative world of "New Age" networks such as Dances of Universal Peace. In 1999 I received a major commission to re-design a church in Wales. This opening allowed me to use art as a means to bring some of the insights gained in India into a Western Christian context. After this public work, I made a series of personal pictures that depicted the healing and empowering effect of the new public images (archetypes) on my inner world. I then tried to connect the work in the church to liturgy but found no opening in the UK. In 2003, I returned to India to the Fireflies Intercultural Centre in Bangalore. There I found a "laboratory of the spirit" that provided the right conditions for serious religious experimentation. In 2007, I found a way to express the vision of the artwork in the Welsh church via an embodied liturgy. Using masks representing the Elements, I worked with an Indian Catholic priest to create a cosmic Easter Triduum.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme T. Laurie ◽  
Kathryn G. Hunter

This article assesses the legal framework within which responses are deployed in the United Kingdom in the face of a pandemic such as the current H1N1 crisis or some other public health emergency. It begins with an account of the importance of legal preparedness as an essential feature of public health preparedness. It moves to an outline of the key legal provisions and parameters which provide the architecture for the existing framework in the UK, both domestically and internationally; thereafter, it identifies relevant factors that can be used to assess the efficacy of current legal preparedness, drawing on comparative experiences. Finally, it offers recommendations on how legal preparedness could be improved within the United Kingdom and in line with international obligations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 317-368
Author(s):  
Karen Morrow

The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) (ECHR) regime has, in the absence of specific coverage of environmental rights, developed a “creative” approach in its jurisprudence in this area, pressing a variety of other rights, notably: Article 6 (the right to a fair hearing); Article 8 (the right to privacy and family life); and Article 1 to the First Protocol of the ECHR (the right to enjoyment of property) into service. This creativity has achieved much in according indirect protection to individuals in this regard, but has also placed additional pressure on the already congested Convention system. The entry into force of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) made long-held rights under the ECHR directly accessible in domestic law in the United Kingdom. This naturally spawned a wave of litigation. One of the most prominently litigated areas concerned the pursuit of a variety of environment-based rights claims. In the intervening decade, the application of the ECHR to environmental claims in the UK courts has generated somewhat mixed results. This is in part a result of the “patchwork” approach that has developed toward environmental claims within the Convention regime itself, but it is also a product of the nature of the relationship between the ECHR and domestic law and the content and ethos of both regimes. This article will conclude by briefly considering the on-going role of the ECHR regime in environmental cases in light of subsequent developments in this area of law, notably under the Aarhus Convention.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Nafpliotis

The focus of this article is an analysis of the Greek junta’s relations with the Wilson and Heath governments in the United Kingdom from 1967 to 1974. Emphasis is placed on diplomatic relations between the two traditional allies. The reactions of the military leaders of the regime in Athens and its representatives in Britain to policies pursued by London towards the establishment, consolidation and eventual demise of the colonels’ dictatorship are presented through the examination (for the first time) of official documents from both the UK and Greece. It is argued that the Greek military regime struggled to cultivate relations with Britain primarily for reasons of domestic and international prestige. Whereas Whitehall pursued a policy of “good working relations” with the junta in order to promote British interests vis-à-vis NATO, Cyprus and trade, the leadership in Athens was solely interested in using British support to gain legitimacy internationally and domestically.


1990 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. C. M. Fyfe

Most lower limb amputations in the United Kingdom (UK) are carried out within general surgical, orthopaedic and plastic surgical units of district hospitals. This study of patients referred for rehabilitation was undertaken to determine the number and specialty interests of surgeons referring amputees, the numbers referred by each and, as one of several possible measures of appropriateness for rehabilitation, the amputation levels in patients referred for the first time to one sub-regional Disablement Services (limb fitting) Centre (DSC) over a 14 month period. Thirty nine surgeons, referred 263 amputees. The majority (61%) of surgeons referred 5 or fewer: a nucleus of 11 vascular surgeons (28%) referred 64% of the patients. The underlying pathology, speciality interest of the surgeon or numbers referred by individual surgeons had no relation to final healed level which was below the knee in 55% of cases compared to national figures for all other DSC's ranging between 39% and 48% below-knee between 1981 and 1988. Since current practice in the UK is to refer all but the frailest patients for consideration of prosthetic rehabilitation, this study suggests that, nationally, more patients could be suited for the functionally superior below-knee level of amputation than are currently benefiting from it.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Reilly ◽  
Adrienne R. Hughes ◽  
Xanne Janssen ◽  
Kathryn R. Hesketh ◽  
Sonia Livingstone ◽  
...  

Background: This article summarizes the approach taken to develop UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines for the Under 5s, 2019. Methods: The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE)-Adaptation, Adoption, De Novo Development (ADOLOPMENT) approach was used, based on the guidelines from Canada and Australia, with evidence updated to February 2018. Recommendations were based on the associations between (1) time spent in sleep, sedentary time, physical activity, and 10 health outcomes and (2) time spent in physical activity and sedentary behavior on sleep outcomes (duration and latency). Results: For many outcomes, more time spent in physical activity and sleep (up to a point) was beneficial, as was less time spent in sedentary behavior. The authors present, for the first time, evidence in GRADE format on behavior type–outcome associations for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Stakeholders supported all recommendations, but recommendations on sleep and screen time were not accepted by the Chief Medical Officers; UK guidelines will refer only to physical activity. Conclusions: This is the first European use of GRADE-ADOLOPMENT to develop physical activity guidelines. The process is robust, rapid, and inexpensive, but the UK experience illustrates a number of challenges that should help development of physical activity guidelines in future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 106 (6) ◽  
pp. 30-41
Author(s):  
Kira Godovanyuk ◽  

The article outlines the special features of the UK foreign policy described as an outcome of the request for a new international role after the withdrawal from the EU. Proceeding from the theory of rational choice, the author concludes that the UK uses relations with Washington to adapt the idea of “Global Britain” to the changes in the international environment, taking into account the reduction of its own weight in international politics. It is highlighted that the synchronization of the UK and the US international agendas is taking place against the backdrop of deteriorated UK-EU relations. Atlanticism, along with disengagement from the EU, became the ideological basis of a new British foreign policy aimed at ensuring Western unity, while increasing its fragmentation. The significance of the new Atlantic Charter and the military-political alliance AUKUS for the foreign strategy of the UK is assessed. Despite the global nature of the articulated goals, the United Kingdom operates in the logic of a middle power in the face of intense international competition. It is concluded that the special emphasis on “hard” power and the strengthening of military-political alliances based on liberal values does not solve the strategic dilemmas of Britain, which will still have to balance between the major international actors.


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