Human rights in the UK are routinely reviewed by various UN bodies – treaty bodies, special procedures, and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The influence of these activities in the UK has been the subject of some inquiry in the past (see, notably, Brice Dickson’s recent book on the subject). But what has remained elusive is whether the work of these bodies has any salience to the UK Government. As the prime initiator of policy and legislation, the executive holds significant power to implement the recommendations of UN bodies that it supports. Hence, we must understand the extent to whic ..read more

University of Bristol Law School, 1 July 2024 We are excited to announce a one-day workshop for PhD candidates and early-career academics whose research interests fall broadly within constitutional law and theory. The workshop will allow PhD candidates and early-career scholars to present their research, receive constructive feedback from established scholars and network with other participants and academics within the field. This workshop will be held at the University of Bristol Law School on 1st July 2024. The workshop is jointly organised by the University of Bristol’s Centre for European ..read more

Commentary on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act (“RA”), which is shortly to receive Royal Assent, has concentrated principally on its deeming of Rwanda as a safe country whilst ousting the supervision of courts. This post considers a separate issue – section 4 of the Act as it applies to victims of slavery (“VOS”). Section 4 provides a carve out from the Act’s deeming provisions where the Home Secretary considers Rwanda is unsafe for an individual “based on compelling evidence relating specifically to their particular individual circumstances”. It also provides courts with ..read more

SLS Sponsored Collaborative Workshop for PhD Candidates and Early Career Academics in Public Law, Labour Law, Migration & Asylum, and Human Rights Durham, 20 June 2024 We are pleased to announce a collaborative one-day workshop for PhD candidates and early career academics to be held on 20 June 2024 at Durham University. The workshop is jointly organised by the Public Law, Labour Law, Migration & Asylum, and Human Rights subject sections of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) and funded by the SLS Subject Sections Fund. The workshop is an exciting opportunity for researchers in one or ..read more

The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill was introduced into Parliament before Christmas, starting in the House of Lords, to which it will shortly return for consideration of Commons amendments. Generally, the progress of the Bill, much of which implements recommendations made by Lord Anderson of Ipswich in his review of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 of June 2023, has been smooth. This post considers an issue which has been the focus of a large portion of the attention the Bill has received during the Parliamentary process – the change being made to the law permitting the survei ..read more

The Work and Pensions Committee is conducting an inquiry on a highly important matter: how vulnerable welfare claimants are safeguarded by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), and whether changes ought to be made. In the course of this work, it has raised this important question: should the DWP be placed under a statutory duty for safeguarding vulnerable claimants? In posing this question, the Committee is contemplating joining in with a trend in contemporary public law: the proliferation of the concept of ‘vulnerability’. Much of the research on this trend has thus far focused on human ..read more

As it becomes clear the Labour Party is on course to win the next general election, greater attention is being paid to their intended programme for government. Despite the current leadership disowning policies from the 2017 and 2019 manifesto, the Labour Party remains committed to expropriation in a limited number of areas: renationalising the railways, publicly controlling aspects of energy, and reforming planning laws to obtain land for housing and prison building programmes. Moreover, considering the on-going water pollution crisis, the Labour Party have pledged to expand the power of ..read more

Constitutionalism Beyond the State and the Role of Domestic Constitutional Courts 30-31 May 2024, WZB Berlin Social Science Centre Almost fifty years have passed since the German Federal Constitutional Court rendered one of its most widely discussed and influential decisions: Solange I. On May 29, 1974, the Court famously held that it would review European Community law by the standards of German constitutional law as long as the Community had not received a catalogue of fundamental rights, which is adequate in comparison with the catalogue contained in the German Basic Law. It is not our ..read more

The Editorial Committee of Public Law invites Guest Editors to submit proposals for a themed set of ‘Analysis’ papers to be published in the April 2025 issue of the journal. This set of papers will follow publication—in April 2023—of the papers on ‘Government Outsourcing in the Modern Administrative State’ (curated by Joe Tomlinson (York) and Janina Boughey (UNSW)) and—in April 2024—of the collection on ‘Public Law and Vulnerability’ (brought together by Maria O’Sullivan (Deakin University) and Robert Thomas (University of Manchester). Themed ‘Analysis’ Sections One issue of Pub ..read more

How should the Centre of government (i.e., No 10 and the Cabinet Office) organise itself so that it is effective and ensures effective government more generally? A recent report, Power with Purpose (PWP), by the Commission for the Centre of Government under the auspices of the Institute for Government, reminds us of the difficulties of managing and deploying public power.  PWP seems, at first glance, a rather technocratic report. It recommends changes to the machinery of government—that is, structures, institutional processes and functions, rather than values or people. It expli ..read more