The Constitution After Scott : Government Unwrapped

ISBN-13: 9780198262909 / Angielski

Adam Tomkins

Opis

This work aims to provide a thorough and authoritative account of the constitutional implications of the Scott report. The Scott report was established by John Major in 1992 to look into British government policy during the 1980s with regard to trade (including the arms trade) with Iraq and to establish whether the Government had lied to Parliament about its policy. Scott also investigated a number of high-profile and controversial criminal prosecutions which the government brought against several companies that were accused of illegally exporting defence equipment to Iraq. All of these cases failed. This book does more than merely relate the Scott story. It offers an analysis of what the report means for the future of constitutional government, and constitutional reform in Britain. Issues of lying to Parliament and ministerial responsibility; of the regulation and control of the civil service; and of open government and freedom of information are all reappraised in the light of Scott's discoveries. Central questions of secret intelligence and troublesome public interest immunity certificates are also considered.

Recenzje

Tomkins is to be congratulated on producing a succinct description of some of the salient features of one of the most important episodes of recent British constitutional history .../ Ivan Hare, The Cambridge Law Journal, 1998.

O autorze

Adam Tomkins has been a lecturer in law at King's College, London since 1991.