Scotland's Constitution


Book Description

Scotland.s Constitution: Law and Practice is a clear, comprehensive account of the Scottish dimension of constitutional law within its UK and European context. It describes and analyses constitutional arrangements while integrating that analysis with a general background to constitutional law and the UK institutions which have a continuing relevance for the government of Scotland. This highly regarded text considers law-making powers for Scotland, the legislative process at Westminster and at Holyrood, the accountability and scrutiny of government, the independence of the judiciary and the role of the courts in interpreting and adjudicating upon constitutional and administrative law questions. The second edition has been fully updated throughout and includes a wholly new chapter, entitled Citizen and State, covering important recent developments in human rights and civil liberties. Account is also taken of the work of the Calman Commission, the current Scottish government.s .National Conversation. and developments in the House of Lords and the Supreme Court. Further new material relating to data protection and freedom of information, elections and the reform of the tribunals system has been included. This text provides an essential introduction to constitutional law for law students and for others with a general interest in this subject. Chris Himsworth is Professor of Administrative Law at the University of Edinburgh and is a Solicitor admitted in Scotland and in England and Wales. Christine O.Neill is a Partner at Brodies LLP. Contents: Constitutions and Constitutional Law; Constitutional Law and Constitutional Values; The Scottish Constitutional Context; The UK and Scottish Parliaments; Law-Making Competences for Scotland; The UK Government and the Scottish Executive; Local Authorities and Other Public Bodies; Law-Making Procedures; The Parliamentary Accountability of Government; Public Finance; Courts and the Independence of Judiciary; Public Law Adjudication; I




Scotland's Constitution: Law and Practice


Book Description

A clear, comprehensive account of Scottish constitutional law within its UK and European context. It describes and analyses constitutional arrangements while integrating that analysis with a general background to constitutional law and the UK institutions which have a continuing relevance for the government of Scotland. This highly regarded text considers law-making powers for Scotland, the legislative process at Westminster and at Holyrood, the accountability and scrutiny of government, the independence of the judiciary and the role of the courts in interpreting and adjudicating upon constitutional and administrative law questions. The fourth edition has been fully updated throughout and includes: · An update on the Scottish devolution settlement, including the changes made by the Scotland Act 2016 in the field of social security. · A new chapter covering the Brexit referendum, the withdrawal negotiations between the UK and the EU and Brexit litigation - with a particular focus on Brexit's impact on Scottish constitutional arrangements. · Coverage of new case law since the last edition in the area of judicial review and specifically on devolution.




The Oxford Handbook of Scottish Politics


Book Description

The Handbook of Scottish Politics provides a detailed overview of politics in Scotland, looking at areas such as elections and electoral behaviour, public policy, political parties, and Scotland's relationship with the EU and the wider world. The contributors to this volume are some of the leading experts on politics in Scotland.




Devolution, Law Making and the Constitution


Book Description

Law making is a primary function of government, and how well the three devolved UK legislatures exercise this function will be a crucial test of the whole devolution project. This book provides the first systematic study and authoritative data to start that assessment. It represents the fruits of a four-year collaboration between top constitutional lawyers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and leading researchers in UCL's Constitution Unit. The book opens with detailed studies of law making in the period 1999–2004 in the Scottish Parliament and the Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, and how they interact with Westminster. Later contributions look at aspects of legislative partnership in the light of the UK's strongly asymmetric devolutionary development, and also explain the unexpected impact of devolution on the courts. Individual chapters focus on various constitutional aspects of law making, examining the interplay of continuity and change in political, legal and administrative practice, and the competing pressures for convergence and divergence between the different parliaments and assemblies. This book is essential reading for academics and students in law and in politics, and for anyone interested in the constitutional and legal aspects of UK devolution, not least the practitioners and policymakers in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.




The United Kingdom Constitution


Book Description

This volume provides an introduction to the United Kingdom's constitution that recognises and embraces its historical, social, political, and legal dimensions. It critically examines the radical changes to the UK constitution that have occurred over the last thirty years, paying particular attention to the revival of the constituent territories of the UK - Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England - and to the increasing role played by the judges in constitutional disputes. The UK constitution is presented as being shaped by a set of constitutional principles, including state sovereignty, separation of powers, democracy, subsidiarity, and the rule of law, principles which set the overall structure of the constitution and inform statutes and the decisions of judges. Adopting a principled approach to the UK constitution allows us to see both the clarity of the constitution's structure and also helps explain its complexities.




An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution


Book Description

A starting point for the study of the English Constitution and comparative constitutional law, The Law of the Constitution elucidates the guiding principles of the modern constitution of England: the legislative sovereignty of Parliament, the rule of law, and the binding force of unwritten conventions.




The Scottish Legal System


Book Description

A course on the Scottish legal system is a compulsory part of undergraduate degrees in Scots Law. The Scottish Legal System sets out to present the 'legal system and law of Scotland as a unique and constantly changing human enterprise' and places the Scottish legal system in its broader political and social contexts. This is achieved by covering not only the central aspects of the system, such as the courts and the legal profession, but also the border areas with constitutional law and jurisprudence. This new sixth edition includes new case law on devolution and human rights issues in Scotland. This well established text provides an up-to-date treatment of all significant developments affecting the Scottish legal system.




Constitutional Law of Scotland


Book Description

A very different book from its predecessor in the SULI series, J D B Mitchell's Constitutional Law, which was first published almost fifty years ago. This title's aim is to provide an authoritative account of both the new Scottish constitution and the contemporary governance of Scotland. It also charts the long march towards 'accountable' government in Scotland. After exploring the new Scottish constitution as set out in the Scotland and the Human Rights Act, it examines the separate Scottish, United Kingdom and European dimensions of the contemporary governance of Scotland. Constitutional law.




The Constitution of the Criminal Law


Book Description

The third book in the Criminalization series examines the constitutionalization of criminal law. It considers how the criminal law is constituted through the political processes of the state; how the agents of the criminal law can be answerable to it themselves; and finally, how the criminal law can be constituted as part of the international order. Addressing the ways in which and the grounds on which types of conduct can be justifiably criminalized, the first four chapters of this volume focus on the questions that arise from a consideration of the political constitution of the criminal law. The contributors then turn their attention to the role of the state, its institutions and officials, and their role not only as creators, enactors, interpreters, and enforcers of the criminal law, but also as subjects of it. How can the agents of the criminal law also be answerable to it? Finally discussion turns to how the criminal law can be constituted as part of an international order. Examining the relationships between domestic laws of different nation-states, and between domestic criminal law and international or transnational law, the chapters also look at the authority and jurisdiction of international criminal law itself, and its relationship to other dimensions of the international order. A vital examination of one of the most important topics in modern criminal legal theory, this volume raises new questions central to the study of the criminal law and offers new suggestions for addressing them.




Public Law


Book Description

Public Law is a high quality introductory textbook that comprehensively covers the key topics found on undergraduate public law courses. Three key themes that permeate all of the content allow students to approach the content in a structured and easy to understand way and questions posed throughout the chapters give students the opportunity to provide answers that show how their knowledge has increased as the chapter progresses. The key themes are: -The significance of executive power in the contemporary constitution and the challenge of ensuring that those who wield it are held to account -The shift in recent times from a more political to a more legal constitution and the implications of this change -The increasingly 'multi-layered' character of the British constitution Online Resource Centre Public Law is accompanied by a free, open-access Online Resource Centre (www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/orc/elliott_thomas) which offers the following resources to support students: - Figures from the book reproduced online - A list of useful websites for students - Regularly posted legal and political updates for the book - A testbank of questions for tutors to assess students' progress This book has been highly endorsed by lecturers for level of coverage, accuracy, and the manner in which the three themes provide an excellent backdrop to the book's content. 'I think it will be a very welcome addition to the range of text books available and I suspect that it will become my personal favourite.' - Barbara Mauthe; Lancaster University 'I found the book impressive and likely to be of interest and use to a great many. It is written in a style that is pitched about the right level. It was easy to understand and provides - for me - a good blend of black letter law and socio-political context' - David Mead; University of East Anglia Written by two experienced teachers of the subject, Public Law is an essential new text that focuses on what students need to engage with and understand this challenging subject.