Public Law in a Multi-layered Constitution

How is the distribution of power between the different levels of the contemporary constitution to be policed? What is the emerging contribution of the courts in regard to EC law, the Human Rights Act 1998 and devolution? What roles should be played by the legislative and judicial bodies at each level? Who should have access to the courts in public law disputes, and on what grounds should the courts regulate the exercise of public power? Can a coherent distinction be maintained between public and private law? These essays by leading public law scholars explore the allocation and regulation of public power in the United Kingdom. At the beginning of the 21st century, it appears that the traditional Diceyan model of a unitary constitution has been superseded as power has come to be distributed - particularly in the post-1997 period - between institutions at European, national, devolved and local level. Furthermore, the courts have come to play a powerful role at all levels through judicial review, while forms of regulation and contracting, together with other informal techniques of governance, have emerged. The contemporary constitution can be characterised as involving a multi-layered distribution of power - a situation which raises many key questions about the role of public law. The essays in this collection tackle such questions from a variety of perspectives, aiming between them to provide a dynamic picture of the role of public law in the contemporary, multi-layered constitution.

About the Author :
Nicholas Bamforth is Fellow in Law at The Queen's College, Oxford University. Peter Leyland is Professor of Public Law at London Metropolitan University.

Review :
.a significant contribution to a better understanding of how public law is transformed, in Great Britain and elsewhere.an extremely valuable, informative and readable collection of essays. The book can be recommended to anybody who is involved with public law.By opening up an entire range of questions the book is an invitation to engage in further, and even more comparative, research on how and why public law in the 21st century will be different. Franz C. Mayer European Law Books May 2007 ...an ambitious collection of essays. Barry K. Winetrobe British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol 7 August 2005 .this is a useful collection of original essays ranging across the broad field of public law. Each of the contributions conveys useful information or develops interesting arguments, and often as not both. Jonathan Morgan Cambridge Law Journal April 2004 The book providesa very significant and timely contribution to the body of literature on public law developments in the UK[It] is an excellent and original collection of essays that brings many new perspectives to debates about constitutionalism above, below, and within the UK. It is well produced and it stands as a credit to its contributors, editors, and publisher. Gordon Anthony Modern Law Review December 2004 Scholars with research interests in the field of public law will undoubtedly welcome the contribution this book makes to existing knowledge. Ian Turner, University of Central Lancashire The Law Teacher February 2005