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OxHRH

Swazi Court Reiterates Prominence of Human Rights in their Home-Grown Constitution

Caroline James - 7th December 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

In September 2016, the High Court in Swaziland ruled that certain provisions in the Sedition and Subversive Activities and Suppression of Terrorism Acts were unconstitutional. The Court held that the definitions of the offences and the procedure through which an organisation is declared a terrorist entity infringed the rights to freedom of expression, association and […]

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OxHRH

Miller in the Supreme Court: The Scottish Case

Sionaidh Douglas Scott - 5th December 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

In the Miller case, the High Court determined that the UK Government may not trigger Article 50 by use of the prerogative alone. Parliamentary authorisation must be obtained, apparently through primary legislation. The UK Government is appealing this case to the Supreme Court, which has approved new interventions from inter alia, the Scottish and Welsh […]

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OxHRH

Miller: Rights and Revocability

Paul Craig and Mark Freedland - 24th November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

There has been much discussion as to whether Article 50 once triggered is revocable. There is no intention to revisit the contending arguments here, save to say that the ultimate decision is for the CJEU and that the arguments for or against revocability are not acte clair. The Divisional Court’s judgment was, however, predicated on […]

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OxHRH

Miller: Alternative Syllogisms

Paul Craig - 23rd November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

Professor Finnis posed a powerful challenge to the Miller decision by contending that the claimant’s argument was based on the following syllogistic fallacy. (1) Statutory rights enacted by Parliament cannot be destroyed by executive action without Parliamentary statute. (2) The rights acquired by UK persons under the Treaties given effect in the UK by s. […]

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OxHRH

R (Miller) v The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union – Substance over Form?

Alison Young - 22nd November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

In a ground-breaking decision, the High Court issued a declaratory order that ‘the Secretary of State does not have power under the Crown’s prerogative to give notice pursuant to Article 50 of the TEU for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union.’ In earlier posts, I explained how the publically available arguments from […]

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OxHRH

EU Rights as British Rights

Eirik Bjorge - 14th November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

According to a carefully argued contribution by Professor Finnis in the Miller debate, rights under the European Communities Act 1972 ‘are not “statutory rights enacted by Parliament”’; they are only ‘rights under the treaty law we call EU law, as it stands “from time to time”’. Finnis thus purports to have broken the chain of […]

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OxHRH

The Cyprus Problem and EU Law: Ships Passing in the Night?

Louis Karaolis - 11th November 2016

Conflict and Security| Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Jurisdiction and Scope

Stripped to its core, the Cyprus Problem pertains to the illegal invasion of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkish forces in 1974 and the displacement of 180,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes. The invasion was followed by the establishment of a Turkish-Pseudo State and the stationing of 43,000 Turkish troops.  To this day, 37 per […]

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OxHRH

Speech and Spies: Why Sri Lanka’s New Counterterrorism Law is a Terrible Idea

Gehan Gunatilleke - 9th November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

A year ago, Sri Lanka promised the world that it would repeal its current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). In a historic co-sponsored resolution, it assured the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that it would replace the PTA with counterterrorism legislation that complies with international best practices. The current PTA is described as ‘draconian’, and […]

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OxHRH

The Least Dangerous Branch: Whose Role is it to Protect Parliamentary Sovereignty? Miller and the Human Rights Implications of Brexit

Sandra Fredman - 7th November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

One of the extraordinary outcomes of the Brexit referendum has been the insistence that the Government is entitled to exercise its powers in relation to the Brexit process without involving Parliament. In a constitution whose central principle is Parliamentary sovereignty, such claims must be viewed with deep suspicion. Human rights are already precarious if left […]

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OxHRH

A First Take on Miller – with a Note on the Human Rights Perspective

Max Harris - 3rd November 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

The High Court today handed down its decision in Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.  As has now been widely reported, the High Court found that the Government could not use its prerogative powers to trigger a notification under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to withdraw from the European Union.  […]

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OxHRH

Brexit: Foundational Constitutional and Interpretive Principles: II

Paul Craig - 28th October 2016

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

This should be read with the previous posting. They are both designed to reveal underlying issues of constitutional and interpretive principle that pertain to Brexit. The previous post considered constitutional principles that pertain to Parliament’s voice in the Brexit negotiations. This post addresses foundational principles that affect the interpretation of Article 50 TEU, the key […]

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