Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials

Written by leading academics, this new Text, Cases, & Materials book on Public Law provides a thought-provoking and vivid account of one of the most interesting areas of the undergraduate law syllabus. The authors have drawn on their substantial experience as teachers and researchers to write a book that will enable readers to acquire both a thorough knowledge of the practicalities of this area of law and an understanding of the theoretical and political debates. The authors explain the key principles of constitutional law and practice, drawing on extracts from a diverse range of materials, along with case studies designed to bring the subject alive. Throughout the book a wealth of learning features - such as questions, discussion points and summaries - are used to help students develop their knowledge and understanding of the issues. The book is organised in four parts. Part 1, constitutional fundamentals, introduces the role of constitutions and core principles such the 'rule of law' and the protection of constitutional rights. Part 2, the executive function, focuses on the organisation and nature of government within the UK and the EU, and how executive power is held to account. Part 3 deals with legislation. It asks who makes legislation? It also examines the extent to which legislators in the UK and EU are accountable for the rules they generate. Part 4 concentrates on the role of the courts and tribunals to explore how disputes between individuals and public bodies are dealt with. ONLINE RESOURCE CENTRE The book is supported by an Online Resource Centre featuring updates on case law, legislation and academic commentary, a test bank of multiple choice questions, a glossary of key terms, extra material to support the case studies in the book, links to relevant material including home pages of the main institutions involved in the case studies (e.g a government department, parliamentary select committee, and campaign group) and reports in the online news media.

Table of Contents:
PART 1: CONSTITUTIONAL FUNDAMENTALS; 1. Getting started in public law; 2. Legitimacy in the constitution: parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law; 3. Distributing, separating and balancing power; 4. Protecting human rights and civil liberties; 5. Case study: reforming the Lord Chancellor; PART II: EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS; INTRODUCTION TO PART II; 6. Government and accountability in the UK; 7. Exercise and control of executive power in the European Union; 8. Prerogative powers and case study on the war prerogative; PART III: LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS; INTRODUCTION TO PART III; 9. Primary legislation; 10. Delegated legislation; 11. European Union treaties and the legislative process; 12. Case studies: what happens when the Commons and the Lords disagree; PART IV: JUDICIAL AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION FUNCTIONS; INTRODUCTION TO JUDICIAL AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION FUNCTIONS; 13. Judges and courts; 14. Administrative justice and tribunals; 15. Judicial review; 16. Human rights in the UK courts; 17. European Union law in the UK courts

About the Author :
Andrew Le Sueur joined Queen Mary, University of London in May 2006, having previously held posts at the University of Birmingham and UCL. He is editor of Public Law, the leading British academic journal on law and government. He was legal adviser to the House of Lords Constitution Committee 2006 - 2009 and he is a door tenant at Brick Court, London. Maurice Sunkin is a Professor in the School of Law at Essex. He has been Dean of the Faculty of Law and Management (2005-2007); Dean of the School of Law (2004-2005); and Head of School of Law (1997-2000). Called to the Bar in 1975, he is an associate member of Landmark Chambers. He is currently Director of the Essex LLM in UK Human Rights and Public Law. His main teaching interests are in the fields of public law, human rights and environmental law. He has undertaken much research on the use and impact of judicial review. He is currently on the management committee, and a trustee, of the Public Law Project (a national charity concerned to improve access to public law) and has served on the Tribunals Committee of the Judicial Studies Board. His consultancy and advisory work has included acting as academic legal advisor to a Whitehall working group on Crown Immunity. Dr Jo Murkens is a lecturer in law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He studied law in London, Copenhagen and Florence. He previously worked as a researcher at the Constitution Unit UCL, and has taught at King's College, Queen Mary, University of London and University College London. Jo was called to the Bar in 2006.