1. What is Public Law?

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Immigration Law ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Responsible Government ◽  
Executive Action ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter provides an introduction to public law. Public law regulates the relationships between individuals (and organisations) with the state and its organs. Examples include criminal and immigration law and human rights-related issues. Public law is made up of a number of key principles designed to ensure a healthy, representative, law-abiding country that strikes a balance between the needs of the state and the needs of its citizens. Each of these principles is discussed in turn: the rule of law, separation of powers, representative democracy, supremacy of Parliament, limited and responsible government, and judicial review executive action by the courts.

1. What is Public Law?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Immigration Law ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Responsible Government ◽  
Executive Action ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter provides an introduction to public law. Public law regulates the relationships between individuals (and organizations) with the state and its organs. Examples include criminal and immigration law, and human rights-related issues. Public law is made up of a number of key principles designed to ensure a healthy, representative, law-abiding country that strikes a balance between the needs of the state and the needs of its citizens. Each of these principles is discussed in turn: the rule of law, separation of powers, representative democracy, supremacy of Parliament, limited and responsible government, and judicial review executive action by the courts.

Complete Public Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Judicial Review ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Primary Materials ◽  
Secondary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. Complete Public Law combines clear explanatory text and practical learning features with extracts from a wide range of primary and secondary materials. The book has been structured with the needs of undergraduate courses in mind. Opening with consideration of basic constitutional principles (in which no previous knowledge is assumed), the chapters move on to cover all other essential areas, before closing with consideration of the principles and procedures of judicial review. This edition includes a new chapter on executive accountability through a range of methods including tribunals, inquiries and alternative dispute resolution. The book has now been fully updated to account for the latest developments in constitutional law and politics, including the constitutional pathway to ‘Brexit’.

Complete Public Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Primary Materials ◽  
Secondary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. Complete Public Law combines clear explanatory text and practical learning features with extracts from a wide range of primary and secondary materials. The book has been structured with the needs of undergraduate courses in mind. Opening with consideration of basic constitutional principles (in which no previous knowledge is assumed), the chapters move on to cover all other essential areas, before closing with consideration of the principles and procedures of judicial review. This edition includes substantial updates to address the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and the constitutional implications these new arrangements have, including in the context of devolution.

7. Parliamentary Supremacy

2021 ◽  
pp. 185-224
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Legal Power ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Parliamentary Supremacy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. Parliamentary supremacy means that the Westminster Parliament is legally entitled to pass, amend, or repeal any law it wishes. Consequently, if the House of Commons and the House of Lords pass the legislation and the monarch gives her royal assent, then no court or other body has the legal power to declare the legislation invalid. This explains why the term ‘parliamentary supremacy’ has been coined: (the Queen in) Parliament holds the supreme law-making power in the UK. This chapter sketches the history leading to parliamentary supremacy. It discusses the theories behind the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy; restrictions on the power of Parliament; how parliamentary supremacy compares with constitutional supremacy; and how parliamentary supremacy fits with the separation of powers and the rule of law.

7. Parliamentary Supremacy: the theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Legal Power ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Parliamentary Supremacy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. Parliamentary supremacy means that the Westminster Parliament is legally entitled to pass, amend, or repeal any law it wishes. Consequently, if the House of Commons and the House of Lords pass the legislation and the monarch gives her royal assent, then no court or other body has the legal power to declare the legislation invalid. This explains why the term ‘parliamentary supremacy’ has been coined: (the Queen in) Parliament holds the supreme lawmaking power in the UK. This chapter sketches the history leading to parliamentary supremacy. It discusses the theories behind the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy; restrictions on the power of Parliament; how parliamentary supremacy compares with constitutional supremacy; and how parliamentary supremacy fits with the separation of powers and the rule of law.

12. Responsible Government and Constitutional Conventions

2021 ◽  
pp. 369-396
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Wide Range ◽  
Responsible Government ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Constitutional Conventions ◽  
Ministerial Responsibility ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the nature and extent of constitutional conventions, which are political rules that are binding upon those to whom they apply. They apply to the relationships between the Crown, Parliament, the judiciary, the civil service, and the executive, and play a key role in limiting the powers granted to institutions of government by unwritten rules or sources. Constitutional conventions also regulate key parts of the relationship between the institutions of government. The doctrine of ministerial responsibility is one of the most important examples of constitutional conventions regulating the behaviour of the executive. There are two main branches of ministerial responsibility. One is individual ministerial responsibility—that is, a minister’s obligation to account to Parliament for his or her words and actions and for those of his or her civil servants. The second branch of ministerial responsibility is collective ministerial responsibility. Amongst other things, collective ministerial responsibility prescribes that decisions reached by the Cabinet or other ministerial committees are binding on all members of the government, regardless of whether or not the individual ministers agree with them.

5. The Separation of Powers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
The Uk ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. The separation of powers is a theory or a doctrine that describes how a state organizes the distribution of power and function between its different branches. It is often used as an umbrella term to denote the extent to which the three ‘powers’ in, or branches of, the state are fused or divided—that is, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial powers. This chapter begins by sketching the history of the separation of powers in the UK. It then discusses the purpose of the separation of powers; the similarities and differences between different theories of the separation of powers; the impact of recent constitutional reform on the operation of the separation of powers in the UK; how courts have interpreted the separation of powers; and the relevance of the separation of powers today including in the context of the balance of power between the executive and Parliament as regards the UK’s decision to exit the EU.

11. Free movement of persons

2019 ◽  
pp. 522-582
Author(s):  
Elspeth Berry ◽  
Matthew J. Homewood ◽  
Barbara Bogusz
Keyword(s):  
Free Movement ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Free Movement Of Persons ◽  
The Right ◽  
Primary Materials ◽  
The Eu

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the scope of the right of the free movement of persons in the EU; the relevant Treaty provisions and secondary legislation provisions regarding the free movement of persons in the EU; the specific rights granted to workers and EU citizens under their general right of free movement; and limitations on the rights of free movement as provided for in primary and secondary legislation.

7. Challenging EU action or inaction

2019 ◽  
pp. 312-355
Author(s):  
Elspeth Berry ◽  
Matthew J. Homewood ◽  
Barbara Bogusz
Keyword(s):  
Member States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Locus Standi ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Primary Materials ◽  
The Eu

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the role of the Court of Justice in ensuring that the rule of law in the EU is observed both by Member States and EU Institutions. The chapter examines infringement actions under Article 258 TFEU, and financial penalties for Member States under Article 260 TFEU. The discussion of judicial review considers acts that may be challenged; who can bring an action under Article 263 TFEU; permissible applicants under Article 263 TFEU; non-privileged applicants; reforming the criteria for locus standi for non-privileged applicants. The chapter also explains the grounds for annulment; the effect of annulment; the plea of illegality; failure to act; and the relationship between Article 263 TFEU and Article 265 TFEU.

18. Procedural Impropriety

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Natural Justice ◽  
Legitimate Expectation ◽  
Legal Power ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
The Right ◽  
Primary Materials

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. A public authority must have the legal power to act; if that power is conferred by statute, it may also specify the procedure that must be used prior to an action or a decision being taken. This is what is known as a ‘statutory procedure’, because it is specified in a statute. The statute may, for example, require the authority to give notice of its intention to take action in a certain way, to consult interested groups, or to tell individuals that they have the right to appeal from an adverse decision. If the authority does not comply, then this is a breach of the statutory procedure and may be reviewed as a procedural impropriety. This chapter discusses the judicial review of procedural impropriety. It covers the rules of natural justice; the right to be heard; legitimate expectation; the detailed requirements of natural justice; the rule against bias; and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document