In the UK, House of Lords reform is often characterized as unfinished business: a riddle that has been left unanswered since 1911. But, rarely can an unanswered riddle have had so many answers offered, even though few have been accepted. Indeed, when Viscount Cave was invited in the mid-1920s to lead a Cabinet committee on Lords reform, he complained of finding 'the ground covered by an embarrassing mass of proposals.' That embarrassing mass increased throughout the 20th century. Much ink has been spilled on what should be done with the upper House of Parliament; much less ink has been...

In the UK, the status of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the country's contemporary Constitution is much contested. Changes in the architecture of the UK Constitution, diminishing academic reverence for the doctrine, and a more expansive vision of the judicial role all present challenges to the relevance, coherence, and desirability of this constitutional fundamental. At a time when the future of the sovereignty of Parliament may look less than assured, this book develops an account of the continuing significance of the doctrine. It argues that a rejuvenation of the manner and...

This collection of essays by leading academics, lawyers, parliamentarians and parliamentary officials provides a critical assessment of the UK Parliament's two main constitutional roles - as a legislature and as the preeminent institution for calling government to account. Both functions are undergoing change and facing new challenges. Part 1 (legislation) includes chapters on Parliament's emerging responsibilities for pre-legislative scrutiny of government bills and for evaluating proposed legislation against explicit constitutional standards. The impact on legislation of the European Union...

For a number of decades, officials working across different branches of the United Kingdom (UK) constitution have been engaged in a series of separate projects that, taken in their totality, amount to an astounding feat of constitutional writing and publication. Yet, until now, no-one has fully recognized or critically analyzed what has taken place. There has been a proliferation in the UK of publicly available codes, normally lacking a basis in statute, providing official accounts of a variety of different features of UK constitutional rules and principles. They cover institutions ranging...

The 8th of February 2015 marked the 200th anniversary of Thomas Erskine May's birth, the most famous holder of the office of the Clerk of the House of Commons. This volume celebrates that event. Bringing together current Clerks in the House of Commons and outside experts, the authors analyse May's profound contribution to the shaping of the modern House of Commons as it made the transition in his lifetime from the pre-Reform Act House to the modern core of the UK's constitutional democracy, symbolised perhaps from its enforced transition between 1834 and 1851 from a mediaeval slum to the...

Parliament and the Law is an edited collection of essays sponsored by the UK's Study of Parliament Group and written by leading constitutional lawyers, practitioners, and parliamentary officials. The book provides a helpful overview of the way that the law applies to Britain's Parliament, and it considers how recent changes to the constitutional arrangements (in particular the establishment of a Supreme Court and increasing devolution) have impacted Parliament as an institution. It includes a discussion of a number of topical issues, such as: the operation of parliamentary privilege in civil...

The status of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the contemporary UK Constitution is much contested. Changes in the architecture of the UK Constitution, diminishing academic reverence for the doctrine, and a more expansive vision of the judicial role, all present challenges to the relevance, coherence and desirability of this constitutional fundamental.
At a time when the future of the sovereignty of Parliament may look less than assured, this book develops an account of the continuing significance of the doctrine. It argues that a rejuvenation of the manner and form theory is...