24 Jan 2021 | Publications, Supreme Court Reform
In the wake of our August paper, Reforming the Supreme Court, Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project is pleased to publish a new symposium on Supreme Court reform, in which distinguished legal commentators engage with the question of how and by whom appellate...
24 Jan 2021 | Supreme Court Reform
In our recent paper, Reforming the Supreme Court, Professor Wyatt and I discussed the merits of his proposal to authorise changing panels of Court of Appeal judges to act as the apex appellate court. I noted that my initial view had been that the proposal was too...
24 Jan 2021 | Supreme Court Reform
In Reforming the Supreme Court, Professor Wyatt and Professor Ekins have produced a thoughtful contribution to the ongoing scholarly debate on the correct limits to judicial power; a debate which is, and always has been, driven by political rather than legal...
24 Jan 2021 | Supreme Court Reform
Nomen omen – but not always. The High Courts and Courts of Appeal in England and Northern Ireland formed part of the Supreme Court of Judicature before the coming into force of the Constitution Reform Act 2005 and, by and large, there was never a widespread...
24 Jan 2021 | Supreme Court Reform
The debate about the role of judiciary in our democracy, and in particular of the Supreme Court, will never be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. At root, there is fundamental disagreement about the legitimate function of the judges under the British...
24 Jan 2021 | Supreme Court Reform
Introduction This paper is a sequel to the earlier one published by Policy Exchange entitled “Should the UK Supreme Court be abolished?”[1] A number of commentators, as well as the contributors to this symposium, have discussed my proposal for an extended Final Court...
24 Jan 2021 | Supreme Court Reform
Full Disclosure The politically febrile aftermath of Miller I[1] and Miller II[2]is not an ideal time to consider the reform of our Supreme Court. Those decisions seemed, at the time, of enormous political significance, and partisans for the losing side (I am...
16 Oct 2017 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts
Click here to watch footage of the session. Everyone has questions about Brexit. But perhaps the most significant are those being asked by the House of Commons’ Exiting the EU Committee, which, on Wednesday, held its first hearing of this parliament. The committee’s...
23 Jun 2017 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts
In an interview with Germany’s leading daily Die Welt on 18 June 2017, German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel appeared to signal the EU might be willing to relax some of its more extravagant demands in the Brexit negotiations. So far the EU Commission has insisted...
18 Jun 2017 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts, Publications: Brexit and Judicial Power
Download pdf The tremors caused by the general election are still working their way through the political system. The implications for the nature of the UK’s future relationship with the EU have been the subject of much speculation. Before too long, however, the...
7 May 2017 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts
Leading authority on EU Law, Dr Gunnar Beck (SOAS), writes for Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project to explain why, as a matter of law, Britain can leave the EU without any liability for any allegedly outstanding sums under the EU budget. Dr Beck...
2 Feb 2017 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism
Part of our series on “Debating Judicial Power: Papers from the ALBA Summer Conference”. In his new paper, Richard Ekins offers an ambitious and wide-ranging narrative of judicial power. He argues that a ‘new understanding’ of judicial power is ascendant. He seeks to...
1 Feb 2017 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism
Judicial power in the new UK constitution is on the rise. This is hardly a remarkable claim: Lord Neuberger and Lady Hale, for example, each take the expansion of judicial power to be an undeniable feature of the change over time in our governing arrangements. In a...
4 Jan 2017 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts, Publications, Publications: Brexit and Judicial Power
Download paper The legal controversy in the Miller case may now be distilled in the following way. The government argues that it has a general power to withdraw from treaties, which it certainly does. The claimants argue that the executive does not have a power to...
16 Dec 2016 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts
Part of our series on “Debating Judicial Power: Papers from the ALBA Summer Conference”. A pdf version of this post can be found here. Maya Lester, firstly, accuses Leave campaigners of populist attacks on the Luxembourg Court; secondly, is unsure what critics mean by...
15 Dec 2016 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism
In the third part of our series on Debating Judicial Power: Papers from the ALBA Summer Conference, Maya Lester QC from Brick Court Chambers writes on ‘The “Rogue” European Court in the Campaign for Brexit’. With debate about judicial activism playing a...
13 Dec 2016 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism
Part of our series on “Debating Judicial Power: Papers from the ALBA Summer Conference”. A pdf version of this post can be found here. 1. Sir John Laws writes, whether on or off the bench, with brilliance and brio. He presents an apparently utterly persuasive account...
12 Dec 2016 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism
Download John Laws paper Christopher Forsyth reply In the second part of our series on Debating Judicial Power: Papers from the ALBA Summer Conference, Sir John Laws, who served from 1999-2016 as a Lord Justice of Appeal, shares his thoughts on “Judicial Activism”,...
1 Dec 2016 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts, Publications, Publications: Brexit and Judicial Power
The Government’s argument in the Miller case is that triggering Article 50 lies within the power of the Crown to make and unmake international treaties – a power the leading litigant, Gina Miller, has termed ‘this ancient, secretive Royal...
24 Nov 2016 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Publications: Critiquing Judicial Power
Part of our series on “Debating Judicial Power: Papers from the ALBA Summer Conference”. A pdf version of this post can be found here. These brief marginal comments on Dame Elisabeth Laing’s interesting, important, and enviably readable “shop floor” reflections in her...
22 Nov 2016 | ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism, Posts, Publications, Publications: ALBA Papers on Judicial Activism
Download Elisabeth Laing paper John Finnis reply Today we launch this series with a paper by High Court judge Dame Elisabeth Laing entitled ‘Two Cheers for Judicial Activism’. The premise of the paper is that ‘there is a thing, which for want of a better label, we can...
2 Nov 2016 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Publications, Publications: Brexit and Judicial Power
This post is excerpted from a second short paper published today, available here: Download paper In a Judicial Power Project paper of 26 October, Terminating Treaty-based UK Rights, I argued that UK law and constitutional practice about double tax treaties provides a...
26 Oct 2016 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Publications, Publications: Brexit and Judicial Power
This post is excerpted from a short paper published today, available here: Download paper Oral argument in the Brexit Case in the Administrative Court last week left an easy case looking a bit difficult. It allowed Lord Pannick QC, for the lead claimant, to reiterate...
28 Jul 2016 | Brexit and Judicial Power, Posts
Panel Discussion of Judicial Power and Brexit On 21 July 2016, Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project hosted a panel discussion on Brexit and Judicial Power. Key issues addressed included: what Brexit means for judicial power in the UK constitution, the role of...
14 Jun 2016 | Posts, Varuhas on Judicial Review and Political Accountability
Editor’s Note: Last week Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project published a report by Dr Jason Varuhas on Judicial Capture of Political Accountability. The Project has invited commentators with a range of views to reply to the report. Some might be expected to be...
9 Jun 2016 | Posts, Varuhas on Judicial Review and Political Accountability
Editor’s Note: Earlier this week Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project published a report by Dr Jason Varuhas on Judicial Capture of Political Accountability. The Project has invited commentators with a range of views to reply to the report. Some might be expected...
8 Jun 2016 | Posts, Varuhas on Judicial Review and Political Accountability
Judicial review of executive action is a vital part of the rule of law. The courts rightly hold ministers and other public bodies to the scope of their lawful powers, insisting on procedural fairness and correcting some obvious abuses of power, but aiming always to...
8 Jun 2016 | Posts, Varuhas on Judicial Review and Political Accountability
Editor’s Note: Earlier this week Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project published a report by Dr Jason Varuhas on Judicial Capture of Political Accountability. The Project has invited commentators with a range of views to reply to the report. Some might be expected...
7 Jun 2016 | Posts, Varuhas on Judicial Review and Political Accountability
Editor’s Note: Earlier this week Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project published a report by Dr Jason Varuhas on Judicial Capture of Political Accountability. The Project has invited commentators with a range of views to reply to the report. Some might be expected...
6 Jun 2016 | Posts, Publications: Critiquing Judicial Power, Varuhas on Judicial Review and Political Accountability
In a Policy Exchange report released today I examine the increasing capture of political accountability mechanisms by courts. Institutions such as the Parliamentary Ombudsman are intended to operate in the political sphere, securing government accountability through...
