Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth

ISBN-13: 9780521400398 / Angielski / Twarda / 1991 / 128 str.

Canberra) Leslie Zines (Australian National University

Opis

This book is concerned with changes and proposed changes to the governmental structures of the four oldest members of the Commonwealth--Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is divided into three sections. The first contrasts the efforts of the three "older dominions" to free themselves legally from their constitutional ties with the United Kingdom, not achieved until the 1980s. The second section examines attempts and proposals to curb the power of the parliaments to impair individual and democratic rights. Only Canada has achieved something similar to the United States' Bill of Rights, but there are some social pressures in the same direction in the other three countries. The final section compares the judicial interpretation of the federal constitutions of Canada and Australia. This in turn is compared with the position of Britain in the EEC. As a result of political forces and judicial interpretation, the power of the British Parliament is steadily waning in favor of increased Community power, in a manner akin to that occurring in relation to the distribution of central and regional power in Canada and Australia.

Recenzje

"Although their importance may be increasingly apparent with the advent of democratization and constitutional change in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, laudable studies in comparative constitutional law are infrequent. A good one, such as Leslie Zines's Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth, is therefore worthy of study, not only for what it says but also for how it says it." The Review of Politics

Spis treści

1. Constitutional autonomy; 2. The entrenchment of individual and democratic rights; 3. Federal and supra-national features; Index.