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This book examines the operation of the rule of law in the non-liberal democracy of Singapore.The rule of law in Singapore has been both lauded for anchoring efficient and effective government and lambasted for being procedural and statist. 21st-century Singapore has experienced modest political liberalisation, manifesting a paternal democracy where the governor-governed relationship is evolving, from a'father knows best'paternalistic mindset to a more consultative approach to governance, where dialogue rather than diktat is the norm in a post-deferential era. The Singapore case study helps pluralise the rule of law as a universal principle which moderates power, and may be variously implemented. The book examines the reception of the rule of law within the Singapore legal order, and how it interacts with constitutional principles like the separation of powers and democracy in the design of constitutional institutions and forging of structural and rights-oriented judicial review. It considers how the rule of law, contoured by legal communitarianism, sustains a managed democracy in relation to legislation governing internal security, public assemblies, religious harmony and online falsehoods. It questions whether the chilling of political speech by strict laws on political defamation and contempt of court has been significantly defrosted by important developments which seek ordered liberty through a more calibrated form of review.Lucid and engaging, this book will be of interest to researchers working in constitutional law.

This book considers whether Parliament recognises a constitutional right to property.Parliament is supreme: in theory, there is nothing to stop it from passing laws to confiscate property. Nevertheless, MPs often argue that a proposed law would be unconstitutional. What does this mean in a system without a written constitution? What counts as a sound argument about constitutional rights? And what influence do constitutional arguments have on the legislative process?The book takes a close look at these questions. It reviews legislation and debates from the Middle Ages through to more recent legislation, and covers a wide range of topics, such as land reform, nationalisation, taxation, regulatory laws and retrospection. It also looks at the most recent debates and considers the relevance of constitutional thinking to election manifestos of the main political parties.

This collection of essays on the reform of public procurement law and policy honours the contribution of Sue Arrowsmith as the leading scholar in the field.The book is divided into 3 main parts – on the UK, the EU, and the world – and focuses on central reform themes that have characterised the evolution of public procurement law and policy in the past decades. These include sustainability, complex contracts, review and remedies, electronic procurement, and defence procurement, as well as topics such as debarment, the overall development of EU procurement reform, the very nature of procurement law, or the regulation of UK procurement law after Brexit. The book also covers the dynamic reform process of the EU Procurement Directives and case law, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement, the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and national systems including the US, China, Africa, and the UK. The chapters are written by experts in specific topics of procurement reform from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe with backgrounds in academia, legal practice, and international organisations.The reader is provided with a diverse set of insights into the objectives, approaches, priorities, and future direction of public procurement reform.

The breadth and depth of the scholarship of Marise Cremona is honoured in this collection of essays written by her colleagues and friends.Taking Cremona's field-defining research as a point of reference, this collection of research articles examines the power of law in EU external relations. Echoing the expansive scope of Cremona's intellectual enquiries across the growing and diversifying field of external relations law, this volume offers new insights into the principles and procedures that underlie this area of law; the role and responsibilities of the EU as an international actor; and the strategies and instruments through which the Union pursues its external agenda.Spanning the analysis of foundational concepts and more contemporary interventions in respect of the environment, human rights, foreign direct investment and even Brexit, what emerges from this collection is a richly conceptualised and clear examination of the multiple ways in which the power of law captures or eludes the EU's construction of a domain of external relations; a domain in which the EU interacts not only with its Member States but also other subjects of the international legal order.

This is the first comprehensive guide to the rules of organised political activity in Britain and the standards of conduct expected of those involved in it.Organised politics involves not only political parties (their members, leaders, officials, and elected representatives in local and national governments) but also trade unions, charities, lobbyists and others. This book codifies the statutory and case law regulating their activity, including much not addressed elsewhere.It provides detailed and practical guidance on establishing and operating political parties, the rights of party members and powers of committees, electing party leaders, selecting candidates, party discipline, controlling political factions, holding meetings, political campaigning by charities and trade unions, lobbying, Parliamentary conduct and standards, and other matters. This accessible guide is designed for those needing to ensure that political office-holders act lawfully, for those who want to hold them to account, for lawyers, politicians (eg MPs, peers, local councillors, mayors, and electoral candidates) ordinary party members and others involved in political activity, and for students and everyone interested in how politics works.

Administrative tribunals are a vital part of the public law frameworks of many countries. This is the 1st edited book collection to examine tribunals across the common law world. It brings together key international scholars to discuss current and future challenges.The book includes contributions from leading scholars from all major common law jurisdictions – the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and South Africa. This global analysis is both deep and expansive in its coverage of the operation of administrative tribunals across common law legal systems. The book has two key themes: one is the enduring question of the location and operation of tribunals within public law systems; the second is the continued mission of tribunals to provide administrative justice. The collection is an important addition to global public law scholarship, addressing common problems faced by the tribunals of common law countries, and providing solutions for how tribunals can evolve to match the changing nature of government.

This book presents a defence of the value of equality within law which is neither purely formal nor an entirely speculative theory of justice. It does this by combining a theoretical with a doctrinal project.At the theoretical level, it argues that there is a distinct and meaningful conception of equality before the law which can be separated from concerns of distributive justice. It therefore rejects the claim that legal equality is merely formal. Rather, it is grounded in the equal moral status of all legal subjects. The demand that individuals be treated in accordance with the principle of equality before the law, then, requires that they not be treated in ways that would deny their equal moral standing. This principle of moral equality is the fundamental normative basis of the rule of law.This general claim is applied, in the second half of the book, to antidiscrimination law. It is argued here that the wrong of wrongful discrimination consists in implicit or explicit denial of the equal moral status of legal subjects. This is also a core wrong that the common law seeks to remedy via judicial review and is thus intimately tied to legality itself.In the final chapter, these two strands are brought together to defend the idea that law is a public asset which must be directed towards advancing the best interests of those it governs. This kind of equality principle, one which sets the outermost limits of the use of public power, must look beyond individual rights claims. It manifests a fundamental commitment to substantive equality – manifest in a commitment to collective flourishing – without tying it to group-based distributive concerns which arise from distinct social and historical contexts and require the exercise of political authority to choose among a range of plausible options for their resolution.

This book provides an account of the evolving constitutional arrangement known as “One Country, Two Systems”, as practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The British colony of Hong Kong, one of the “Four Little Dragons” of East Asia, reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. Since then, Hong Kong has continued to be an international financial centre, a free market, and a cosmopolitan city. At the same time, the tensions and contradictions inherent in “One Country, Two Systems” have given rise to constitutional controversies and social movements, culminating in the Umbrella movement of 2014, the anti-extradition law movement of 2019, the enactment of a National Security Law in 2020, and the electoral overhaul of 2021. This book discusses the structure and operations of Hong Kong's legal, judicial and political systems and their interactions with the national authorities of the PRC. The book provides a useful case study in comparative constitutional law, especially on autonomy and devolution issues within sovereign States. This comparative study is particularly interesting because Hong Kong is a common law jurisdiction within the PRC's socialist legal system. It will therefore be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese law, Hong Kong law and comparative politics, as well as lawyers whose practice involves Hong Kong.

This book explores how the law of treaty withdrawal operates. Many commentators have observed a wider sense of crisis in international law as governments of different ideological stripes withdraw or threaten to withdraw from international organisations and treaties. There are different political forces behind all of these cases, but they all use the same basic device in international law – a treaty withdrawal clause. This book focuses on withdrawal clauses within multilateral treaties, providing a detailed overview of their operation, drawing on a range of case studies including Brexit, nuclear weapons treaties and investment arbitration agreements. The obligations a withdrawal clause places on a withdrawing state help regulate the withdrawal process, providing a notional form of stability. Using insights from international relations theory and legal theory, this book unpacks how and why the law of withdrawal operates and what its limitations are.

This book examines the relationship between tax law and crisis. In times of environmental, financial, and public health breakdown, policymakers look to tax for solutions. Yet these crises also constrain the ways in which tax liabilities can be imposed and administered, and limit the revenues that can be collected. What should governments do in these circumstances and what are the wider consequences for states, societies, and institutions such as the EU?The book shows how crises place strain on the basic functions of tax, including revenue-raising, institution-building, regulation, redistribution, and the structuring of society. These strains bear more heavily on some sections of business and society than others. This makes the tax consequences of crisis unpredictable. It also means that the best choice of legal response is not merely a technical matter. Instead, it engages deeper attitudes towards crisis relief, change, social values, and democratic control.These issues are highlighted by COVID-19 but are of utmost lasting importance. The book takes a comprehensive approach and looks in more depth at the systemic roles that crises play in contemporary tax systems. It features an impressive cast of leading researchers across multiple jurisdictions and is essential for policymakers and scholars alike.

There is growing judicial, academic and political interest in the concept of common law constitutional rights. Concurrently, significant public law judgments, including R (Miller) v The Prime Minister, R (Begum) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission and R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal, continue to sustain and enrich the academic debate on the nature of the UK constitution.Bringing these two highly topical themes together, the book argues, firstly, that neither common law constitutionalism nor political constitutionalism adequately captures the nature of public law litigation because neither is fully able to account for the co-existence and interplay between parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law. Advancing the idea of a'nuanced'constitution instead, the book then provides an in-depth analysis of common law constitutional rights, looking at their history, conceptual foundations, contemporary characteristics, coverage and resilience.In doing so, this book highlights and re-conceptualises the dynamics and mechanisms of constitutional law adjudication and provides the first comprehensive critique of common law constitutional rights jurisprudence. It is centred around extensive case law analysis which focuses predominantly on recent Supreme Court judgments.

This book explores critical issues about how courts engage with questions of fact in public law adjudication. Although the topic of judicial review - the mechanism through which individuals can challenge governmental action - continues to generate sustained interest amongst constitutional and administrative lawyers, there has been little attention given to questions of fact. This is so despite such determinations of fact often being hugely important to the outcomes and impacts of public law adjudication. The book brings together scholars from across the common law world to identify and explore contested issues, common challenges, and gaps in understanding. The various chapters consider where facts arise in constitutional and administrative law proceedings, the role of the courts, and the types of evidence that might assist courts in determining legal issues that are underpinned by complex and contested social or policy questions. The book also considers whether the existing laws and practices surrounding evidence are sufficient, and how other disciplines might assist the courts. The book reconnects the key practical issues surrounding evidence and facts with the lively academic debate on judicial review in the common law world; it therefore contributes to an emerging area of scholarly debate and also has practical implications for the conduct of litigation and government policy-making.

This book presents the first detailed study of'indirect criminalisation'(the legal treatment of antisocial behaviour through civil preventative measures such as the ASBO) in England and Wales. Since the late 20th century many Western jurisdictions introduced a range of civil preventive measures in order to prevent and deal with various types of criminality. Although the stated objective of these interventions is the prevention of crime, their implementation can result in the imposition of restrictions akin to criminal punishment leading to the indirect criminalisation of certain kinds of behaviour.Through the adoption of an interdisciplinary approach which combines criminal law theory and empirical criminology, this book engages with the phenomenon of indirect criminalisation using the legal framework on anti-social behaviour in England and Wales as a case study.It engages with central questions within legal theory: - what are the normative challenges posed by indirect criminalisation and mechanisms for distinguishing criminal from non-criminal rules? - how can such questions be tested and applied empirically? - has the ASBO's successor been operating as de facto criminal measure?

How do courts reconcile protecting family life with immigration control in human rights cases? This book addresses that question through an analysis of 11 UK Supreme Court decisions on immigration and family life, mostly focusing on Article 8 ECHR, the right to respect for family life, and starting with Huang v SSHD in 2007. The analysis is set against a national context that includes the Human Rights Act 1998 and regular controversies over immigration.The book explains how the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence has developed in recent years, but, particularly in the absence of children, it often still awards little weight to claims by citizens and residents to be joined by family when immigration status is an issue. This reflects governments'resistance to encroachment on their control over borders. The Supreme Court decisions show that, despite powers conferred by the Human Rights Act, a more nuanced position in domestic law was difficult to articulate and sustain. The book explores the way in which these problems were reflected in the changing language, argumentation, and structure of judgments. These problems revealed judges to be strategic actors drawing on personal and institutional values and responding to the shifting political context.A more generous reading of Article 8 would be legally coherent but needs wider societal support to be realisable. The book ends with a discussion of how, if such support were present, the jurisprudence could give more weight to the needs of families. It is vital reading for anyone interested in families and immigration, and in the problems and potential of human rights adjudication.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the influential ERTA doctrine, this book analyses and contextualises the entire breadth of the jurisprudence of EU external relations law through a systematic, case-by-case account of the field. The entire framework of EU external relations law has been built from the ground up by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the beginning of the field's emergence, the legal questions to be answered concerned the division of powers and competence between, firstly, the Member States and that of the Union; and secondly, the division of powers and competence between the different institutions of the Union. Questions on such matters continue to be asked, but more contemporarily, new legal questions have arisen that have been in need of adjudication, including questions concerning the autonomy of Union law; the relationship between the Union and other international organisations; the relationship between Union law and international law; the scope and breadth of international agreements; amongst others. The book features established academic scholars, judges, agents of institutions and Member States, and legal practitioners in the field of EU external relations law, analysing over 90 cases in which the Court has legally shaped the theory and practice of the external dimension of legal Europe.Cited in Opinion of Advocate General Nicholas Emiliou in Case C-516/22, European Commission v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, ECLI:EU:C:2023:857 (Judgment of the UK Supreme Court), Court of Justice of the European Union, 9 November 2023.

This book shows how the Austrian Constitution has been shaped and interpreted by the fundamental events in Austria's modern history. At the same time it emphasises the way in which the Constitution establishes a parliamentary system, with additional presidential features, limited, in turn, by Austria's federal structure and the parliaments of nine states. It charts the history and character of the constitution; the political structure; the legislative and executive branches of the federal government; public bodies; jurisdiction and fundamental Rights. This new edition explores the changing political landscape, particularly the development of a more competitive party system. It also looks at the response to COVID and the jurisprudence of the Austrian Constitutional Court in the face of the curtailment of rights in order to curb the pandemic. Offering the trademark combination of clarity of explanation and rigour of analysis that defines the series, this is an excellent guide to a fascinating constitutional structure.

This book shows how the Austrian Constitution has been shaped and interpreted by the fundamental events in Austria's modern history. At the same time it emphasises the way in which the Constitution establishes a parliamentary system, with additional presidential features, limited, in turn, by Austria's federal structure and the parliaments of nine states. It charts the history and character of the constitution; the political structure; the legislative and executive branches of the federal government; public bodies; jurisdiction and fundamental Rights. This new edition explores the changing political landscape, particularly the development of a more competitive party system. It also looks at the response to COVID and the jurisprudence of the Austrian Constitutional Court in the face of the curtailment of rights in order to curb the pandemic. Offering the trademark combination of clarity of explanation and rigour of analysis that defines the series, this is an excellent guide to a fascinating constitutional structure.

This book looks at the interplay between criminal and other branches of public law pursuing similar objectives (referred to as'quasi-criminal law'). The need for clarifying the concepts and the interlink between criminal and quasi-criminal enforcement is a topic attracting a lot of discussion and debate both in academia and practice across Europe (and beyond). This volume adds to this debate by bringing to light the substantive and procedural problems stemming from the current parallel or dual use of the different enforcement systems. The collection draws on expertise from academia, practice and policy; its high-quality analysis will appeal to scholars, practitioners and policymakers alike.

This book revisits the Treaty of Lisbon's promise to further parliamentarize the EU's functioning by looking into the Treaty-law framework governing the delegation of legislative power in the EU. In this field, the Lisbon Treaty formally greatly strengthened the position of the European Parliament vis-à-vis both the European Commission and the Council. The book explores whether Parliament's formally reinforced role is reflected in the actual balance of powers in the area of delegated legislation and executive rule-making. It does so by assessing how both the law and practice of decision-making at the legislative level, looking at specific case studies, and the sub-legislative level, examining the scrutiny over delegated legislation, has crystallized in the ten years following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. This rigorous study gives a fascinating insight into one of the most significant developments in European parliamentary law-making, which EU constitutional lawyers will find required reading.

This book provides a detailed account of each law officer's functions and draws on that account as the basis for a conceptual analysis of their constitutional legitimacy.In recent years, the constitutional legitimacy of law officers has been questioned repeatedly because of recurring controversies surrounding the discharge of their varied functions. Indeed, it has become increasingly clear that those functions enable law officers to play a highly influential part in the regulation and exercise of public power throughout the United Kingdom. McCormick argues that the most persuasive framework for analysing the offices which make up this diverse regime involves concentrating on the constitutional values of independence, accountability and trust which underpin it.Both aspects of the book – namely the explanation of individual functions and the conceptual analysis of collective legitimacy – are written in a holistic way which encompasses critical analyses about the Attorney General and Solicitor General for England and Wales; the Counsel General for Wales; the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and Advocate General for Scotland, as well as the Attorney General and Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

This book provides a broad perspective of the functioning, evolution, and dynamics of the rule of law in Brazil. It stresses not only how the rule of law has developed in the legal system, but also how the political institutions and extra-legal organisations have transformed its foundations. The rule of law is not a simple concept when it comes to defining the political, economic, and legal developments of a country like Brazil. Similar to many other Latin American countries, Brazil is a young democracy struggling with its longstanding extractive institutions and entrenched interests. It features, however, one of Latin America's richest constitutional moments, when civil society actively participated in drafting the most democratic constitution in the country's history. Brazil has since strengthened its institutions and the rule of law, but the road toward consolidating them has been challenged by inequality and the legacies of that authoritarian past. The book explores how Brazilian democracy has dealt with the high levels of social inequality and the authoritarian mindset that still play a big role in its fate, and asks whether the country's democratic achievements and institutional framework are sufficiently strong to enforce the rule of law as an imperative for Brazil's development, especially in times when the country is most in need of them.

This book makes a significant contribution to the ongoing global conversations on the various understandings of equality. It illuminates the many ways in which diverse equality guarantees clash, or are interrelated. It also sets out principled approaches on how they can be coherently interpreted to address the myriad inequalities in Kenya.Taking a comparative approach, the book considers how other jurisdictions including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, India and Botswana have approached the conceptualisation, interpretation and application of various equality concepts.The book focuses on important issues such as:- transformative constitutionalism in relation to the interpretation of Kenya's 2010 Constitution;- expanding the list of enumerated grounds for non-discrimination;- affirmative action;- accommodating religious and cultural diversity versus gender equality;- the interrelation between socio-economic rights and status-based equality.

What is more paradoxically democratic than a people exercising their vote against the harbingers of the rule of law and democracy? What happens when the will of the people and the rule of law are at odds? Some commentators note that the presence of illiberal political movements in the public arena of many Western countries demonstrates that their democracy is so inclusive and alive that it comprehends and countenances even undemocratic forces and political agendas. But what if, on the contrary, these were the signs of the deconsolidation of democracy instead of its good health? What if democratically elected regimes were to ignore constitutional principles representing the rule of law and the limits of their power? With contributions from judges and scholars from different backgrounds and nationalities this book explores the framework in which this tension currently takes place in several Western countries by focusing on four key themes:- The Rule of Law: presenting a historical and theoretical reconstruction of the evolution of the Rule of Law;- The People: dealing with a set of problems around the notion of'people'and the forces claiming to represent their voice; - Democracy and its enemies: tackling a variety of phenomena impacting on the traditional democratic balance of powers and institutional order;- Elected and Non-Elected: focusing on the juxtaposition between judges (and, more generally, non-representative bodies) and the people's representation.

This book explores a democratic theory of international law. Characterised by a back-and-forth between theory and practice, it explores the question from two perspectives: a theoretical level which reflects and criticizes the categories, words and concepts through which international law is understood, and a more applied level focussing on'cosmopolitan building sites'or the practical features of the law, such as the role of civil society in international organisations or reform of the UN Security Council. Though written for an academic audience, it will have a more general appeal and be of interest to all those concerned with how international governance is developing.

This book offers a compelling and persuasive framework for understanding the German constitutional system. It argues that it can only be fully understood as a dual structure combining two layers with little in common. The first layer is the basic administrative institutional structure, comprised of federal institutions. The second layer is that of parliamentary democracy. It is the interplay between the two, as mediated by the chancellery, the major political parties and the Federal Constitutional Court, which lies at the heart of the German constitutional arrangement. This innovative hybrid perspective allows for a better understanding of the current challenges of parliamentary government and its potential long-term development. An updated translation of its impactful German edition, this provides one of the most brilliant introductions to governmental systems of one of the world's most influential states.

This book addresses the different forms of austerity, contestation and resistance, in order to understand how they relate to one another and the impact they have on the democratic quality of public debates, the trust in public institutions and the legitimacy of law. Contestation of austerity includes not only traditional activism strategies such as human rights litigation and direct democracy instruments, but also new forms of collective action and collaborative resistance. Most importantly, many of the new anti-austerity initiatives also aim to renovate existing modes of democratic decision-making on the European, national, regional and local levels. The book focuses on different types of contesting austerity measures and the interaction between institutional and civil society actors. It will enhance understanding of how the various actors frame not only their goal but also the underlying social conflict to contest austerity and through which means they try to achieve political and legal changes. With 16 chapters written by contributors from Spain, Germany, Greece, Portugal and the UK, the book approaches 3 crucial areas of austerity policies: cuts in payment and pensions, labour law reform, and old and new poverty. In each field, the contributors analyse the processes of decision-making and contestation from 3 perspectives: institutions, democratic theory and societal responses.

Prompted by the events following the 2016 referendum on EU membership and written during the COVID-19 pandemic by one of the leading public lawyers of our day, this book considers two key constitutional principles, the rule of law and separation of powers, by examining the generality, certainty and predictability of law, relations between the different branches of the state, and the mechanisms of accountability within our democracy.Since the referendum and in the light of the restrictions imposed to deal with the pandemic, and the use of guidelines presented as rules to do so, attention has refocused on the relationship and respective powers and competences of the three branches of the state, the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. They have also placed strains on our unwritten constitution that have been unknown in modern times.The role of the courts and of the rule of law, has been dramatically illustrated by recent litigation, most notably the decisions on whether legislation was needed to serve notice of the UK's intention to leave the EU and whether the prorogation of the Westminster Parliament in 2019 was a matter for the courts as opposed to a political question for government.Set against this backdrop, the book answers the following questions:- How accessible is the law and how does it avoid arbitrariness?- How is access to justice protected?- How does our constitution reflect the separation of powers and the balance of responsibilities between law and politics?- How does our democracy enable majorities and protect minorities?

This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to the role of humanity in international law, offering a fresh perspective to a discussions with global implications. The 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed the sporadic emergence of a new vision of global law. Although the vision has taken many different forms, all instances of it have been uniform in the attempt of radically altering how we understand international law by seeking to posit the human as the primary subject of the international legal order and humanity as its main source of legitimacy. Together, this book calls these instances “the law of humanity project”. In so doing, it also paints a picture of and critically assesses a particular moment in the history of international law – a moment which may have already come to a sudden end as a consequence of the current populist backlash in world politics, but during which it seemed inevitable that the law of humanity vision would come to play an increasingly important role in world affairs.

This timely edited collection brings together experts in the fields of legal history, criminal justice, human rights and counter-terrorism law to appraise Ireland's Offences Against the State Act on the eightieth anniversary of its enactment. The origins, development, invocation and extension of the powers contained in the legislation are analysed and critiqued using a broad range of methodologies. The book engages fully with the 1939 Act's scope and complexity including consideration of the impact of the Act on issues as diverse as trial by jury, paramilitary organisations, organised crime, disclosure, the rules of evidence, freedom of expression and association, parliamentary oversight of legislation and adherence to international human rights norms. In addition, the interplay of the Act with the universal themes of normalcy, exceptionalism, contagion and due process are explored throughout. This book will appeal to an audience beyond those with a particular interest in the Act itself. It combines historical and contemporary insights with theoretical and practical perspectives that will enrich the reader's understanding of emergency law, wherever it arises.

This book explores the external dimension of the ambitious EU policy on human trafficking. Through this policy the EU institutions and Member States promote the eradication of human trafficking and support, to that end, cooperation with their partners, being third States or international organisations. Analysing the unilateral and multilateral mechanisms the EU uses to achieve these aims, the book questions whether the EU's external response to human trafficking addresses it in all its dimensions, and whether it does so in a coherent way. As a case study, the book explores the cooperation of the EU with countries of the Western Balkans, which constitutes a specific unilateral mechanism. The analysis of the multilateral mechanisms covers the cooperation of the EU with key international and regional organisations combating human trafficking, including but not limited to the Council of Europe or the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The book also examines the impact of the evolution of migration flows and the increasing reliance of military tools on the EU's response to human trafficking.

This book looks into the evolution and current state of the rule of law in the European Union (EU). The thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is chosen as a natural moment of stocktaking; assessing the progress made since the beginning of the democratic reforms in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), but also critically analysing recent tendencies of rule of law backsliding and open revolt against liberal-democratic values in individual EU Member States. The volume is partly retrospective in that it reflects on the challenges of the post-communist transition and the process of Eastward Enlargement of the Union. Yet it is also prospective, in so far as it reviews the variety of novel mechanisms for strengthening rule of law enforcement in the EU and gauges their potential for bringing sustainable, positive change in this regard. All chapters are written by experienced scholars and practitioners in the field of EU law and policy.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of an often neglected, misunderstood and maligned source of international law. Article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice sets out that the Court will apply the'general principles of law recognized by civilized nations'. This source is variously lauded and criticised: held up as a panacea to all international law woes or denied even normative validity. The contrasting views and treatments of General Principles stem from a lack of a model of the source itself. This book provides that model, offering a new and rigorous understanding of Article 38(1)(c) that will be of immense value to scholars and practitioners of international law alike. At the heart of the book is a new tetrahedral framework of analysis - looking to function, type, methodology and jurisprudential legitimacy. Adopting an historical approach, the book traces the development of the source from 1875 to 2019, encompassing jurisprudence of the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court of Justice as well as cases from international criminal tribunals, the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organisation. The book argues for precision in identifying cases that actually apply General Principles, and builds upon these'proper use'cases to advance a comprehensive model of General Principles, advocating for a global approach to the methodology of the source.

Intertemporal Linguistics in International Law examines and offers an overdue solution to a specific problem central to the resolution of an ever increasing number of international legal disputes: how to interpret a treaty with terms that change in meaning over time.A wide-ranging review of the relevant international case law and scholarship reveals that no rule, principle or authority of international law – including even the oft-cited evolutionary interpretation doctrine – provides international adjudicators with the firm and practical guidance on this specific question that contemporary international litigants demand.Using an analytical approach inspired by the comparative method and drawing on specific concepts from external fields including private law, legal theory and, principally, modern-day linguistics, Intertemporal Linguistics in International Law restructures the most relevant international case law around a new conceptual framework that offers fresh insight into the process of treaty interpretation. It demonstrates that by distinguishing between resolving ambiguity and resolving vagueness, and by identifying the temporal sense-intention with which a treaty term is used, international adjudicators can avail themselves of a more predictable and appropriate method for solving this complex and practically important problem of international law.

This book presents the remarkable constitutional reforms undertaken by the Blair and Brown governments in the UK. The reforms are remarkable in that they had the potential to change the way Britons understood the national identity of the UK. The book illuminates the ambitions of the key players in Whitehall and Westminster and is enriched through a study of comparable constitutional reforms in Canada and Australia: the Charter of Rights and Freedoms pioneered by Pierre Trudeau and the attempt by Paul Keating to make Australia a Republic. The Canadian and Australian chapters are a contribution to the political history of those nations and a device for understanding the changes in Britain.The author is an expert in the use of Freedom of Information and was a senior policy maker in Whitehall working primarily on constitutional reform. Readers will benefit from the author's unrivalled access to interviewees and documentary sources in the three countries covered in the book.

There is a developing body of legal reasoning in the United Kingdom Supreme Court in which members of the senior judiciary have asserted the primary role of common law constitutional rights and critiqued legal arguments based first and foremost on the Human Rights Act 1998. Their calls for a shift in legal reasoning have created a sense amongst both scholars and the judiciary that something significant is happening. Yet despite renewed academic and judicial interest we have limited insight into what common law constitutional rights we have, how they work and what they offer. This book is the first collection of its kind to systematically explore both the content and role of individual common law constitutional rights alongside the constitutional significance and broader implications of these developments. It therefore contributes not only to our understanding of what the common law might be capable of offering in terms of the protection of rights, but also to our understanding of the nature of the constitutional order of which such rights are an integral part.

What can be done if the United Nations Security Council fails to protect people from mass atrocities? At a time of inaction and political paralysis at the United Nations, this book explains the legality of alternative action beyond the Security Council. This book takes a fresh look at the responsibility to protect and offers new and compelling insights into the powers and limits of the UN Security Council. It argues that the Security Council's responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and its responsibility to protect, do not die with its own failures. Other actors can and must take up responsibility to save those in need. In a persuasive and detailed examination of the legal framework, this research identifies options for coercive measures to be taken beyond the Council that could be used to break the deadlock, including through the General Assembly and regional organisations. It provides a must-have resource for students, academics, and researchers on key principles of international law. It also offers insight for governments, policy-makers, and other international actors on how they can uphold their legal responsibilities, maintain peace and security, and prevent their failures from undermining the very existence of the UN itself.

Immigration detention is considered by many states to be a necessary tool in the execution of immigration policy. Despite the apparently key role it plays in immigration enforcement, the law on immigration detention is often vague, especially in relation to determining the circumstances under which prolonged detention remains lawful. As a result, the courts are frequently called upon to adjudicate these matters, with scant legal tools at their disposal. Though there have been some significant judgments on the legality of detention at the constitutional level, the extent to which these judgments have had an impact at the lower end of the judiciary is unclear. Indeed, it is the lower courts which are tasked with judging the legality of detention through habeas corpus or judicial review proceedings. This book examines the way this has occurred in the lower courts of two jurisdictions, the UK and the US, and contrasts this practice not only in those jurisdictions, but with judgments rendered by the Court of Justice of the European Union, a constitutional court at the other end of the judicial spectrum whose judgments are applied by courts and tribunals in the EU Member States. Although these three jurisdictions use similar tests to evaluate the legality of detention, case outcomes significantly differ. Many factors contribute to this divergence, but key among them is the role that fundamental rights protection plays in each jurisdiction. Through a forensic evaluation of 191 judgments, this book compares the laws on detention in the UK, US and EU, and makes recommendations to these jurisdictions for improvement.

The first edition of this seminal textbook made a significant impact on the teaching of EU external relations law. This new edition retains the hallmarks of that success, while providing a fully revised and updated account of this burgeoning field. It offers a dual perspective, looking at questions from both the EU constitutional law perspective (the principles underpinning EU external action, the EU's powers, and the role of the Court of Justice of the EU); and the international law perspective (the effect of international law in the EU legal order and the position of the EU in international organisations such as the WTO). A number of key substantive policy areas are explored, including trade, security and defence, police and judicial cooperation, the environment, human rights, and development cooperation. Taking a'text, cases and materials'approach, it allows students to gain a thorough understanding of milestones in the evolution of EU law in this area, their judicial interpretation and scholarly appraisal. Linking these pieces together through the authors'commentary and analysis ensures that students are given the necessary guidance to properly position and digest these materials. Lastly, each chapter concludes with a section entitled'The Big Picture of EU External Relations Law', which weaves together the diverse and complex materials into a coherent whole and stimulates critical discussion of the topics covered.

Traditionally, human rights have protected those facing the sharp edge of the criminal justice system. But over time human rights law has become increasingly infused with duties to mobilise criminal law towards protection and redress for violation of rights. These developments give rise to a whole host of questions concerning the precise parameters of coercive human rights, the rationale(s) that underpin them, and their effects and implications for victims, perpetrators, domestic legal systems, and for the theory and practice of human rights and criminal justice. This collection addresses these questions with a focus on the rich jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The collection explores four interlocking themes surrounding the issue of coercive human rights: First, the key threads in the doctrine of the ECtHR on duties to mobilise the criminal law as a means of delivering human rights protection. Secondly, the factors that contribute to a readiness to demand coercive measures, including discrimination and vulnerability, and other key justificatory reasoning shaping the development of coercive human rights. Thirdly, the most pressing challenges for the ECtHR's coercive duties doctrine, including: - how it relates to theories and rationales of criminalisation and criminal punishment; - its implications for the fundamental tenets of human rights law itself;- its relationship to transitional justice objectives; and - how (far) it coheres with the imperative of effective protection for persons in precarious or vulnerable situations.Fourthly, the (prospective) evolution of the coercive human rights doctrine and its application within national jurisdictions.

The fight against impunity is an increasingly central concept in EU law-making and adjudication. What is the meaning and the scope of impunity as a legal concept in the EU legal order? How does the fight against impunity influence policy and adjudication?This timely first piece of comprehensive research aims to to address these largely unexplored questions, which involve structural institutional and substantive dilemmas underpinning the most recent developments of the European integration process. In recent years, the fight against impunity has become a pressing concern for the European institutions. It has shaped several EU policies and has led to a recurring argument in the case law of the Court of Justice. The book sheds light on this elusive notion, providing a much needed conceptual appraisal. The first section examines the scope of the notion of impunity, and its role in the EU decision-making process and in the development of EU competences. Subsequent sections discuss the implications of impunity - and of the fight against it - in a variety of complementary domains, namely the allocation of criminal jurisdiction, mutual recognition instruments, the rise of new surveillance technologies and the external dimension of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. This book is an original and timely contribution to scholarship, which is of interest to academics, researchers and policy-makers alike.

This work expounds, for those in practice and beyond, the rules of international law governing the inter-state use of force. Jus ad bellum determines when a state - or group of states - may lawfully use force against, or on the territory of, another state, and when such action violates international law. The bedrock of the law is found in the Charter of the United Nations, but the interpretation and application of many of the rules codified in the Charter, particularly by the International Court of Justice, are contested. Accordingly, the book clarifies the law as it stands today, explaining its many complexities and controversies, such as when non-state actors may be attacked in another state and when consent is validly given to foreign intervention. The interrelationships between jus ad bellum and the law of armed conflict/international humanitarian law, the law of neutrality, and international human rights law are also illuminated, along with important concepts such as the'responsibility to protect'and humanitarian intervention.

This work contains within a single book an account of all the forms of estoppel in operation today, including estoppel by record (res iudicata), as well as of the associated doctrine of election. There can be few practitioners who do not at some time have to engage with estoppel. Estoppel applies across all, or nearly all, English civil law. In explaining each form of estoppel an attempt is made to state the main elements which have to be proved to establish the estoppel and then to detail each element with its various components. At the end of each chapter a brief summary of the estoppel is included so as to guide practitioners and others to any question important in any particular case. The law of estoppel has considerably advanced over recent decades, and over the last 10 years alone there have been major changes, such as the clarification of the previously uncertain boundaries of proprietary estoppel, a statement of the exceptions to the principles of res iudicata, and the extension law as well as of fact. These and other subjects are explained in full.

The global phenomenon of the establishment of specialist courts is one of the most important recent developments in environmental law. Although they are generally seen as a much needed innovation, they do pose challenges, particularly around questions of legitimacy. This important book tackles these questions directly, looking specifically at the courts in the common law world. It argues that to fully understand the nature of the adjudication of these courts, a bottom-up approach must be taken: ie the question before the court is determinative. Despite its theoretical focus, the book will also provide invaluable insights to practitioners engaging with these new courts for the first time. An innovative study on a seismic change in how environmental law is adjudicated.

Ten years after the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union became part of binding primary law, and twenty years since its adoption, this volume assess the application of the EU Charter in the Member States. How often, and in particular by which actors, is the EU Charter invoked at the national level? In what type of situations is it used? Has the approach of national courts in general, and of constitutional courts in particular, to EU law to EU fundamental rights law changed following the entry into force of the Charter? What sort of interplay does the Charter generate with the national bill of rights and the European Convention? Is the life with the Charter on the national level a harmonious'praktische Konkordanz'or rather a messy'ménage à trois'? These and other questions are discussed in the four parts that form the book. Part I is dedicated to the normative foundations. Part II sets out Member States'Perspectives, providing a structured, in-depth account of the Charter's operation in 16 different Member States. Part III provides a detailed evaluation of selected rights contained within the Charter. Part IV synthesises the materials presented up to that point to develop a series of broader perspectives, looking to discover underlying lessons about the relationship between EU fundamental rights law and national legal systems.

This monograph looks at how tax is intertwined with constitutional law and the state in the UK. It looks at a variety of topics including tax devolution, scrutiny and reform of tax legislation, the protection of taxpayers and the domestic legal processing of international rules and problems.Tax Law, State-Building and the Constitution presents and interrogates five key claims. First, there is a clear overlap between the concerns of tax and constitutional lawyers. Secondly, the tax system is being deeply affected by the fast pace of constitutional change. Thirdly, decisions taken in the tax field are likely to have a reverse influence on the evolution of the constitution. Fourthly, these relationships are heavily context-dependent, with tax making all the difference to some ongoing constitutional controversies whilst having very little to do with others. Fifthly, by acknowledging tax as an important moving part within the contemporary constitution we might understand both tax and constitutional law a little better.The book therefore contributes to deeper theoretical debates on the identity of tax law as a discipline, the relevance of tax to public lawyers, the meaning of state-building in the recent history of a developed country and the importance of public finances to a wider sense of'what is going on'. These are questions that ought to command the attention of tax and constitutional law academics as well as policy makers and reformers.Runner-up of the 2022 SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship.

This timely book provides a comprehensive guide to, and rigorous analysis of, prosecutorial discretion at the International Criminal Court. This is the first ever study that takes the reader through all the key stages of the Proscecutor's decision-making process. Starting from preliminary examinations and the decision to investigate, the book also explores case selection processes, plea agreements, culminating in the question of how to end engagement in specific country situations. The book serves as a guide to the Rome Statute through the lens of the Prosecutor's activities. With its unique combination of legal theory and specific policy analysis, it addresses broader questions that will be relevant to other international and hybrid criminal courts and tribunals. The book will be of interest to students, practitioners of law, academics, and the wider public concerned with international law, criminal justice and international relations.

International courts and tribunals are increasingly asked to pass judgment on matters that are traditionally considered to fall within the domestic jurisdiction of States. Especially in the fields of human rights, investment, and trade law, international adjudicators commonly evaluate decisions of national authorities that have been made in the course of democratic procedures and public deliberation. A controversial question is whether international adjudicators should review such decisions de novo or show deference to domestic authorities. This book investigates how various international courts and tribunals have responded to this question. In addition to a comparative analysis, the book provides a normative argument, discussing whether different forms of deference are justified in international adjudication. It proposes a distinction between epistemic deference, which is based on the superior capacity of domestic authorities to make factual and technical assessments, and constitutional deference, which is based on the democratic legitimacy of domestic decision-making. The book concludes that epistemic deference is a prudent acknowledgement of the limited expertise of international adjudicators, whereas the case for constitutional deference depends on the relative power of the reviewing court vis-à-vis the domestic legal order.

This book, the result of a major international conference held at Yale Law School, contains contributions from leading scholars in public law who engage critically with Bruce Ackerman's path-breaking book, Revolutionary Constitutions: Charismatic Leadership and the Rule of Law. The book also features a rebuttal chapter by Ackerman in which he responds directly to the contributors'essays.Some advance Ackerman's theory, others attack it, and still others refine it – but all agree that the ideas in his book reset the terms of debate on the most important subjects in constitutionalism today: from the promise and perils of populism to the causes and consequences of democratic backsliding, from the optimal models of constitutional design to the forms and limits of constitutional amendment, and from the role of courts in politics to how we identify when the mythical'people'have spoken. A must-read for all interested in the current state of constitutionalism.

This volume focuses on the making, nature, and role of the first modern constitutions at the founding of the modern nation-states in Southeast Asia. These historical essays add richly to our understanding and appreciation of the founding moments and to the theory and practice of constitutionalism in these states. This volume makes three significant contributions. First, it helps plug the wide knowledge gap in comparative constitutional history in Southeast Asia. Second, it furthers our understanding of contemporary constitutional practice and also anticipates possible developmental trajectories in light of the foundational values embedded in and manifested through these constitutions. Third, through the comparative historical study of these early constitutions, plausible theoretical insights may be gained to further our understanding of Southeast Asia's constitutional history. The book is essential reading for those wishing to obtain a deeper understanding of the constitutional foundings of Southeast Asia.

Jeffrey Goldsworthy is a renowned constitutional scholar and legal theorist whose work on the powers of Parliament and the interpretation of constitutional and statute laws has helped shape debates on these topics across the English-speaking world. The importance of democratic constitutionalism is central to Professor Goldsworthy's work: it lies at the heart of his defence of Parliamentary supremacy and shapes his approach to both constitutional and statutory interpretation. In honour of Professor Goldsworthy's retirement, this collection provides new perspectives from a range of leading public law scholars and theorists on the legal and philosophical principles that govern the making and interpretation of laws in a constitutional democracy. It also addresses some of the challenges to democratic constitutionalism that have arisen in light of contemporary developments in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.