Parliament: Legislation and Accountability

by Alexander Horne, Andrew Le Sueur

Overview

This collection of essays by leading academics, lawyers, parliamentarians and parliamentary officials provides a critical assessment of the UK Parliament's two main constitutional roles-as a legislature and as the preeminent institution for calling government to account. Both functions are undergoing change and facing new challenges. Part 1 (Legislation) includes chapters on Parliament's emerging responsibilities for pre-legislative scrutiny of government Bills and for evaluating proposed legislation against explicit constitutional standards. The impact on legislation of the European Union and the growing influence of the House of Lords are also examined. Part 2 (Accountability) investigates how Parliament operates to scrutinise areas of executive action previously often shielded from effective parliamentary oversight, including national security, war-making powers and administrative justice. There are also chapters on parliamentary reform, including analysis of the House of Commons 'Wright reforms', parliamentary sovereignty, privilege and the European Convention on Human Rights, Euroscepticism, and parliamentary sovereignty and the regulation of lobbyists.

The book will be of interest to anyone who is curious about the work of Parliament and is aimed at legal academics, practitioners and political scientists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509925414
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/29/2018
Series:	Hart Studies in Constitutional Law
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Alexander Horne is Deputy Legal Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the United Kingdom Parliament and a teaching fellow at University College London.
Andrew Le Sueur is Professor of Constitutional Justice, University of Essex.

Table of Contents

Foreword v

Acknowledgements ix

List of Contributors xiii

Table of Cases xvii

Table of Legislation xix

Breaking News xxv

1 Introduction Alexander Horne Andrew Le Sueur 1

Part 1 Legislation

2 What is the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Legislation for? Sir Stephen Laws 15

3 Pre-legislative Scrutiny in Parliament Jessica Mulley Helen Kinghorn 39

4 Parliament's Constitutional Standards Jack Simson Caird Dawn Oliver 63

5 European Scrutiny Paul Hardy 89

6 Legislative Scrutiny in the House of Lords Philip Norton (Lord Norton of Louth) 117

Part 2 Accountability

7 Parliamentary Reform and the Accountability of Government to the House of Commons Richard Kelly Lucinda Maer 139

8 The Regulation of Lobbyists Oonagh Gay 161

9 Robot Government: Automated Decision-Making and its Implications for Parliament Andrew Le Sueur 183

10 Parliament and National Security Alexander Horne Clive Walker 203

11 Parliament and International Treaties Arabella Lang 241

12 Sovereignty, Privilege and the European Convention on Human Rights Alexander Horne Hélène Tyrrell 265

13 Euroscepticism and Parliamentary Sovereignty: The Lingering Shadows of Factortame and Thoburn Gavin Drewry 291

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

In the uncertain and unpredictable context of constitutional and Parliamentary development, this book is an essential companion.
Commonwealth Lawyers' Association and Contributors 2016

The book is an illuminating set of essays on such issues as parliamentary scrutiny of legislation, parliament's constitutional standards, regulation of lobbyists, and parliamentary sovereignty which, taken together, cannot but add to the value to the ongoing debate.
The Journal of Legislative Studies

This volume ... prompts us to ask some difficult questions about how we understand and measure Parliament's role in scrutiny and accountability. It is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the tensions between government and parliament on the one hand and between party politics and scrutiny within the Westminster system.
The Table

From the Publisher