The British Constitution and the Movement for a Modern Bill of Rights
Abstract
It took the incisive pen of H.G. Wells to provide a simple understanding of the diffuse and arcane British constitution:
Nobody planned the confounded constitution. It came about; … but you see it came about so happily in a way, it so suited the climate and temperament of our people and our island, it was on the whole so cosy, that our people settled down into it. You can't help settling down into it.
The purpose of this paper is to briefly look at some aspects of the constitution that the British “settled down into” and to examine arguments calling for the incorporation of a written declaration of individual rights.
- 1.
Wells H.G. , Mr. Britling Sees It Through, bk. a, ch. 1, sec. 11.
- 2.
10 Halsbury's Statutes of England (4th ed. 1985).
- 3.
801 Parl. Deb., H.C. (5th ser.) 198 (1970).
- 4.
The Chequers Estate Act 1917.
- 5.
Bagehot W. , The English Constitution 111.
- 6.
deSmith S. A , Constitutional and Administrative Law 99 (3rd ed. 1977).
- 7.
McIlwain C. H. , Constitutionalism and the Changing World 279 (1939).
- 8.
Id. at 279-80.
- 9.
British Coal Corp. v. The King, [1935] A.C. 500, 520 (H.L.).
- 10.
See the opinion of the Privy Council declaring a Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) statute ultra vires and void: Liyange v. The Queen, [1967] 1 A.C. 259 (P.C.).
- 11.
Burmah Oil Co., Ltd. v. Lord Advocate, [1965] A.C. 75 (H.L.).
- 12.
Turpin C. , British Government and the Constitution 56-57 (1985).
- 13.
City of London v. Wood, 88 Eng. Rep. 1592, 1602 (1701).
- 14.
Jolowicz, “The Judicial Protection of Fundamental Rights under English Law.” In The Cambridge-Tilburg Law Lectures 1979 at 44.
- 15.
Allen, “Legislative Supremacy and the Rule of Law: Democracy and Constitutionalism,” Cambridge Law Journal (1985). 11-12.
- 16.
Scarman L. , English Law—The New Dimension 69 (1974).
- 17.
Id. 74-5.
- 18.
Jennings I. , The Law and The Constitution 247 (4th ed. 1952).
- 19.
Malone v. Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis (No. 2), [1979] 2 All E.R. 620, 630 (Ch.D.), per Meggary, V-C.
- 20.
Baldwin Robertson v. , 165 U.S. 275, 281 (1986).
- 21.
Supra note 12, at 92.
- 22.
For a descriptive account of the trial, see I. Stevens & D. Yardley, The Protection of Liberty 122-23 (1982) and G. Robertson & A. Nicol, Media Law 92-94 (1984).
- 23.
Shaw v. D.P.P., [1962] A.C. 220 (H.L.).
- 24.
Id. at 293-94.
- 25.
Supra note 22, at 124.
- 26.
Bonnard v. Perryman, [1891] 2 Ch. 269. 284.
- 27.
Attorney-General v. Times Newspapers Ltd. [1974] A.C. 273 (H.L.).
- 28.
Sunday Times v. United Kingdom. [1979] 2 E.H.RR. 245.
- 29.
Scarman L. , “Human Rights: The Current Situation,” in Do We Need A Bill of Rights? ed. C. Campbell 6 (1980).
- 30.
Supra note 12, at 10.
Copyright © 1987 by International Association of Law Libraries
Artikel in diesem Heft
- In Memoriam
- Dr. Klaus Menzinger, President of the IALL
- Articles
- The British Constitution and the Movement for a Modern Bill of Rights
- Disk and Dat: Recent Developments in Legal Databases and Emerging Information Technologies in the United States
- Bibliographies
- Bibliography of Recent Writings Related to the Work of UNCITRAL
- Notes and Comments
- Ninth IALL Course Explores Topic “Crossroads in Comparative Constitutional Law Development”
- Robert Schaaf Receives Documents Librarianship Award
- Periodical Reviews
- New Periodicals
- International Documentation
- New International Agreements
- Miscellaneous
- Correction
- Books Received and Noted
- The International Bookshelf
- Bibliographie juristischer Festschriften und Festschriftenbeiträge: Deutschland, Schweiz, Österreich/Bibliography of Legal Festschriften, Titles and Contents: Germany, Switzerland, Austria
- Cross-Border Litigation: Environmental Rights in the Great Lakes Ecosystem
- Exemption Clauses and Implied Obligations in Contracts
- Das Vorabentscheidungsverfahren vor dem Gerichtshof der Europäischen Gemeinschaften: Praxis und Rechtsprechung
- Iniuria Types in Roman Law
- Law and Legal Information Directory
- Legal Research in the United Kingdom
- International Securities Regulation
- Malaysian Legal Essays—a Collection of Essays in Honour of Professor Emeritus Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim
- ABC Guide To The Federal Court of Australia
- Domestic Contracts: A Comprehensive Guide to Marriage, Cohabitation and Separation Agreements in British Columbia and Ontario
- UNCITRAL Model Law of International Commercial Arbitration: A documentary history
- Eine Villa am Rhein: die Deutsche Parlamentarische Gesellschaft in Bonn
- The Decay of International Law? A Reappraisal of the Limits of Legal Imagination in International Affairs
- Specialized Legal Research
- Australian Private International Law
- Theorie und Praxis angebotsorientierter Stabilitätspolitik
- Ruling Communist Parties and their Status under Law
- The Maritime Laws of the Arabian Gulf Co-operation States
- Law and Justice in a New Land: Essays in Western Canadian Legal History
- Comparative Law Yearbook
- Computer Software: Legal Protection in the United Kingdom
- Searching the Law
- Medicine and Surgery for Lawyers
- Informatique Juridique: Eléments d'Informatique
- Front matter
- JLI volume 15 issue 3-4 Cover and Front matter
- Back matter
- JLI volume 15 issue 3-4 Cover and Back matter
Artikel in diesem Heft
- In Memoriam
- Dr. Klaus Menzinger, President of the IALL
- Articles
- The British Constitution and the Movement for a Modern Bill of Rights
- Disk and Dat: Recent Developments in Legal Databases and Emerging Information Technologies in the United States
- Bibliographies
- Bibliography of Recent Writings Related to the Work of UNCITRAL
- Notes and Comments
- Ninth IALL Course Explores Topic “Crossroads in Comparative Constitutional Law Development”
- Robert Schaaf Receives Documents Librarianship Award
- Periodical Reviews
- New Periodicals
- International Documentation
- New International Agreements
- Miscellaneous
- Correction
- Books Received and Noted
- The International Bookshelf
- Bibliographie juristischer Festschriften und Festschriftenbeiträge: Deutschland, Schweiz, Österreich/Bibliography of Legal Festschriften, Titles and Contents: Germany, Switzerland, Austria
- Cross-Border Litigation: Environmental Rights in the Great Lakes Ecosystem
- Exemption Clauses and Implied Obligations in Contracts
- Das Vorabentscheidungsverfahren vor dem Gerichtshof der Europäischen Gemeinschaften: Praxis und Rechtsprechung
- Iniuria Types in Roman Law
- Law and Legal Information Directory
- Legal Research in the United Kingdom
- International Securities Regulation
- Malaysian Legal Essays—a Collection of Essays in Honour of Professor Emeritus Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim
- ABC Guide To The Federal Court of Australia
- Domestic Contracts: A Comprehensive Guide to Marriage, Cohabitation and Separation Agreements in British Columbia and Ontario
- UNCITRAL Model Law of International Commercial Arbitration: A documentary history
- Eine Villa am Rhein: die Deutsche Parlamentarische Gesellschaft in Bonn
- The Decay of International Law? A Reappraisal of the Limits of Legal Imagination in International Affairs
- Specialized Legal Research
- Australian Private International Law
- Theorie und Praxis angebotsorientierter Stabilitätspolitik
- Ruling Communist Parties and their Status under Law
- The Maritime Laws of the Arabian Gulf Co-operation States
- Law and Justice in a New Land: Essays in Western Canadian Legal History
- Comparative Law Yearbook
- Computer Software: Legal Protection in the United Kingdom
- Searching the Law
- Medicine and Surgery for Lawyers
- Informatique Juridique: Eléments d'Informatique
- Front matter
- JLI volume 15 issue 3-4 Cover and Front matter
- Back matter
- JLI volume 15 issue 3-4 Cover and Back matter
