3 Oct 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
The Supreme Court’s decision in Miller/Cherry that suspending Parliament was unlawful is an extraordinary contribution to a long term trend in Western countries: the judicialisation of politics, that is, the transfer of political, social and economic issues form...
2 Oct 2019 | Judicial Review and Judicial Independence, Publications
The Supreme Court’s judgment in Miller/Cherry [2019] UKSC 41 holds that Parliamentary sovereignty needs to be judicially protected against the power of the Government to prorogue Parliament. But the Judgment itself undercuts the genuine sovereignty of Parliament by...
1 Oct 2019 | Past events
Speakers: Hon George Brandis QC, High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom; Lucy Frazer QC MP, Minister of State for Justice; Richard Godden, Corporate Partner at Linklaters; Richard Ekins, Policy Exchange (Chair).
1 Oct 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
The core of the task facing the Supreme Court in Cherry/Miller was to interpret and apply constitutional and legal principles. One of the striking things about the judgment is the forthrightness with which the justices set out their collective view about how the...
30 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
In Bush v Gore (2004) the US Supreme Court stopped Florida’s recount of votes in the presidential election, sealing George Bush’s slim lead. After time for reflection, influential US scholars argued that the case should have been treated as a political question, since...
30 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
Some cases end up deciding much more in retrospect than they did at the time they were decided. The case of Anisminic [1969] 2 AC 147 (HL) comes to mind as one of the clearest examples of such a case in public law, with later courts taking the judgment to be grounds...
30 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
The Government’s decision to use the prorogation power for questionable political purposes was a provocation to the courts. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s understandable discomfort with the Government’s move led it to search for, and ultimately create, a legal...
30 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
The prorogation case is undoubtedly the most challenging that the Supreme Court has had to deal with so far in its relatively short history, involving a high-stakes dispute in extremely politicised territory in which there was a real risk to the court’s authority. It...
29 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
The Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v Prime Ministerand Cherry v The Advocate Generalis to be welcomed. It demonstrates a delicate balance between law and politics, affirming the Supreme Court’s role as the guardian of the UK’s constitution. The Supreme Court...
29 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
In Miller (No 2), the Supreme Court held that article 9 is intended to protect freedom of speech and debate in the Houses and their committees and the right of the Houses to manage their own affairs without external interference. While prorogation may take place...
29 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
North and south of the Border, the courts at first instance dismissed the Miller/Cherry claims in short order as non-justiciable. Miller proceeded directly to the Supreme Court by virtue of the “leapfrog” procedure. Cherry, however, was appealed to the Inner House of...
29 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
Did the Supreme Court get Miller right? The case was certainly one in which the judges developed, as opposed to merely applied, the law. Even the very best lawyer could not have known for sure whether the judges would conclude that the abuse of the prerogative – and...
29 Sep 2019 | Debating the Supreme Court’s prorogation judgment
The Supreme Court’s judgment in Miller/Cherry[2019] UKSC 41, holding that Parliament was not prorogued on 10 September, is by any measure a momentous judgment. Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project commented on the litigation before this judgment was handed down,...
25 Sep 2019 | In the Media
21 Sep 2019 | In the Media
17 Sep 2019 | Posts
The appeal in Miller (No. 2) is due to be heard from 17-19 September in the Supreme Court. I have elsewhere set out my view of the merits of Ms Miller’s application but one issue that has perhaps been underexplored so far is the problem of what remedies Ms Miller is...
17 Sep 2019 | Posts
The Court of Session has ruled today that the Prime Minister’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament, and the prorogation that followed, was unlawful and so is null and of no effect. This is a startling – and misconceived – judgment. It does not though seem...
17 Sep 2019 | Judicial Review and Judicial Independence, Publications
This paper addresses the question of whether the Supreme Court should rule that the Government’s advice to Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament was unlawful. It argues that the prerogative power to prorogue Parliament is not subject to judicial control. Proroguing...
16 Sep 2019 | In the Media
11 Sep 2019 | In the Media
26 Jul 2019 | In the Media
26 Jul 2019 | Posts
While all eyes have been on the formation of the new Government, some other important appointments have been made and are at risk of being overlooked. From January through June next year, three new Justices will join the Supreme Court. Two are serving Lord Justices...
12 Jul 2019 | Posts
John Major has threatened personally to bring legal action if the next prime minister were to attempt to prorogue Parliament in the autumn. On Tuesday, Dominic Grieve MP moved an amendment that might encourage legal challenge to an attempt to prorogue. It is unclear...
8 Jul 2019 | In the Media
28 Jun 2019 | Publications, Publications: 'Lawfare' and Judicial Power
The next Prime Minister has a responsibility to act urgently to protect UK troops, whether serving or retired, from ongoing exposure to legal risk and to unfair legal processes. From Northern Ireland to Iraq and Afghanistan, those who served – or who serve still – in...
21 Jun 2019 | Commentary on Lord Sumption's Reith Lectures
In his fifth and final Reith lecture, “Shifting the Foundations”, Jonathan Sumption brings to a conclusion his reflections on “the decline of politics and the rise of law to fill the void”. The lecture encourages us to resist calls for a written constitution, calls...
20 Jun 2019 | Past events
speakers: with Richard Ekins Head of Judicial Power Project Associate Professor, University of Oxford Patrick Hennessey Barrister, author and former British Army Officer Lt Gen Sir Graeme Lamb KBE, CMG, DSO Former Commander of the British Field Army Former Director...
18 Jun 2019 | Commentary on Lord Sumption's Reith Lectures
In his fourth Reith lecture, entitled “Rights and the Ideal Constitution”, Jonathan Sumption turns to the American experience of struggling to reconcile democracy with rights adjudication. It is a cautionary tale, illustrating some of the damaging political...
7 Jun 2019 | Commentary on Lord Sumption's Reith Lectures
In his third Reith lecture, broadcast yesterday and entitled “Human Rights and Wrongs”, Jonathan Sumption examines international human rights law, “the main battleground between law and politics”. His strategy is to consider the nature of rights before explaining...
30 May 2019 | Commentary on Lord Sumption's Reith Lectures
In his second Reith lecture, “In Praise of Politics”, broadcast on Tuesday, Jonathan Sumption aims “to make the case for the political process, with all its imperfections.” He develops a forceful argument for the capacity of representative politics to secure...
