Multiculturalism, freedom of religion, equality, and the British constitution: The JFS case considered

In the JFS case, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom held that the admissions policy of a Jewish faith school constituted unlawful racial discrimination because it used the Orthodox Jewish interpretation of who is Jewish as a criterion for determining admission to the school. A detailed discussion of the case is located in the context of two broader debates in Britain, which are characterized as constitutional in character or, at least, as possessing constitutional properties. The first is the debate concerning the treatment of minority groups, multiculturalism, and the changing perceptions in public policy of the role of race and religion in national life. It is suggested that this debate has become imbued with strong elements of what has been termed “post-multiculturalism”. The second debate is broader still, and pertains to shifting approaches to “constitutionalism” in Britain. It is suggested that, with the arrival of the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law, the U.K. has seen a shift from a pragmatic approach to constitutional thinking, in which legislative compromise played a key part, to the recognition of certain quasi-constitutional principles, allowing the judiciary greatly to expand its role in protecting individual rights while requiring the judges, at the same time, to articulate a principled basis for doing so. In both these debates, the principle of equality plays an important role. The JFS case is an important illustration of some of the implications of these developments.

British constitution.

"This work is part of the Society's larger treatise of Political philosophy."

The Irish House of Lords, 1780-1800: politics and ideology

This thesis covers the Irish House of Lords in the last two decades of its life. A number of important themes run through the work - the regency crisis, patronage, the management of the Lords, the relationship between the Lords and Commons. These themes, explored from different angles, are vital to an understanding of the political role of the upper house in the 1780s and 1790s. This study is confined to the Lords as a political institution and thus its judicial role as final court of appeal, which was restored to it in 1782, will not be explored here. The thesis consists of two parts. Part one examines the structure and powers of the House of Lords while part two looks at the parties and policies of the house. Chapter one discusses the British constitution as imposed upon Ireland. Chapter two suggests the reasons why constitutional changes were introduced in 1782, and looks at the contribution made by the Irish House of Lords in securing these changes. Chapter three explores the various channels of influence which the peers enjoyed. Chapter four explores the sometimes tense relationship between Lords and Commons. Chapter five examines management of the House of Lords by Dublin Castle. Part two, begins at chapter six. This chapter explores the leadership of both parties within the Lords. Chapter seven looks at how patronage was used to reward those who were loyal to the government. Chapter eight explores the influence of the Whig opposition. Chapter nine looks at the controversial attempts made by Pitt and his ministry during the 1790s to win the support of catholics and turn them from the lure of French ideas, and of the response of the peers to these attempts. Chapter ten is concerned with the relationship between the peers of the House of Lords and the lords lieutenant during the 1790s. Chapter eleven looks at the Union and the House of Lords and attempts to answer the question historians have long asked: why did the Irish parliament and the House of Lords in particular, look favourably on the proposed union of the two kingdoms and the end of their own institution? The House of Lords in the closing decades of the eighteenth century was an institution within which the wealth and power of the kingdom could be found. Its members were politically active, both inside and outside the house. It contained a majority who saw the Crown as the source of stability, but it was a living and evolving political organism and therefore it contained men who believed that the Crown should have its influence limited. This evolution is also demonstrated in its desire for political change in 1782 and 1788. Its last, and perhaps most radical decision, was to vote for its own demise in 1900.

Edmund Burke and the heritage of oral culture

The dissertation proposes that one of the more fruitful ways of interpreting Burke's work is to evaluate him as an oral performer rather than a literary practitioner and it argues that in his voice can be heard the modulations of the genres and conventions of oral composition of eighteenth-century Gaelic Ireland. The first chapter situates Burke in the milieu of the Gaelic landed class of eighteenth-century Ireland. The next chapter examines how the rich oral culture of the Munster Gaelic gentry, where Burke spent his childhood days, was to provide a lasting influence on the form and content of Burke's work. His speeches on the British constitution are read in the context of the historical and literary culture of the Jacobites, specifically the speculum principis, Párliament na mBán. The third chapter surveys the tradition of Anglo-Irish theoretical writings on oratory and discusses how Burke is aligned with this school. The focus is on how Burke's thought and practice, his 'idioms', might be understood as being mediated through the criterion of orality rather than literature. The remaining chapters discuss Burke's politics and performance in the light of Gaelic cultural practices such as the rituals of the courts of poetry, the Warrant Poems or Barántas; the performance of funeral laments and elegies, Caoineadh, the laments for the fallen nobility, Marbhna na daoine uaisle, the satires and the political vision allegories of Munster, Aislingí na Mumhan; to show how they provide us with a remarkable context for discussing Burke's poetical-political performance. In hearing Burke's voice through the body of Gaelic culture our understanding of Burke's position in the wider world of the eighteenth century (and hence his meaning) is profoundly affected.

Copy of page 141 of Confederation by Joseph Pope annotated by John A. Macdonald, 1867

Joseph Pope was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1854. He was the private secretary to Sir John A. Macdonald from 1882-1891. He worked as the assistant clerk to the Privy Council and undersecretary of state for Canada from 1896-1909. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1901. He was later knighted as a Knight Commander of the same order. Joseph Pope was the first permanent head of the Department of External Affairs (now Foreign Affairs and Internal Trade) 1909-1925. He was an advisor to Prime Ministers from Macdonald to King. He died in Ottawa, in 1926. As well as Confederation, Pope also penned: Memoirs of Sir John A. Macdonald : A Chronicle of the First Prime Minister of the Dominion; The Day of Sir John Macdonald; Jacques Cartier, his life and voyages; Traditions and Sir John A. MacDonald vindicated : a review of the Right Honourable Sir Richard Cartwright's reminiscences as well as other books Pope’s son, Maurice Arthur Pope wrote a book about Joseph entitled Public Servant: the Memoirs of Sir Joseph Pope”.

El derecho parlamentario comparado instrumento normativo del poder legislativo: criticas y propuestas para modernizar el congreso de Colombia en el siglo XXI

Modernización del Congreso de Colombia, entendido como una responsabilidad académica, más que un punto de negociación de los grupos guerrilleros o al margen de la ley, y menos aún bandera de campaña política y calculadora revancha entre partidos

Why UK public lawyers need to be legal and political theorists

My aim in this article is to encourage UK public lawyers to engage with contemporary debates in legal, political and constitutional theory. My argument is motivated by three related concerns. First, there is an extricable link between these disciplines: behind every proposition of public law can be found a theory of law, govenment, the state and so on; secondly, public lawyers have historically neglected or fudged theory in their work; finally, a growing number of public lawyers are now using cutting-edge legal and political theories to fashion radical new understandings of the British constitution: other (more conservative-minded) public lawyers have no option, I argue, but to answer these new challenges. I illustrate my argument with reference to debates about Parliamentary sovereignty, the constitutional foundations of judicial review, political constitutionalism, and judicial deference.

Disenchantments of secularism: the West and India

This Chapter is an exercise in comparative secularism. In this chapter I will be concerned basically with a critique of Western conceptions of secularism, beginning with Hegel’s invention of a particular reading of secularism that, through imperialist literature, gave a preeminent direction to the ideology of the less-religiously orientated Indian nationalists during their drawn-out independence struggle. My main concern will be to contrast the Western debates on ‘the secular’, particularly in its recent permutations or attempted revisions as a response to the crisis of modernity, with the current Indian debates—where ‘ the secular; has all but been hijacked by the Hindu Right—and to show—reversing Hegel’s trajectory—what impact the latter could have on the former. There is some evidence of this already occurring, particularly in Charles Taylor’s work and travels wherein he does make some gestures towards looking at non-Western experiences of secularism (which is taken more or less to be synonymous with secularization). There are severe limitations to this overture however, and the chapter hopes to sound a word of caution on the kind of excitement over which Taylor seems to have become something of a celebrity in the academe. Even more disappointingly, one does not find a similar emphatic approach or opening to non-Western experiences and rethinking of the secular in the works of other modernists; and I point to Habermas and Žižek as my examples, who I touch on, albeit very briefly. This lack or lacuna makes both the discourse of modernity and the supplementary critique of secularism much the poorer for it.

Party Elites and the Search for Credibility : Plaid Cymru and the SNP as New Parties of Government

Peer reviewed

Works of Henry, lord Brougham ...

[v. 1] Lives of philosophers of the time of George III. 1855.--[v. 2] Lives of men of letters of the time of George III. 1855.--[v. 3]-5. Historical sketches of statesmen who flourished in the time of George III. 1856-58.--v. 6. Natural theology ... 1856.--v. 7. Rhetorical and literary dissertations and addresses. 1856.--v. 8. Historical and political dissertations. 1857.--v. 9-10. Speeches on social and political subjects. 1857.--v. 11. The British constitution: its history, structure, and working. 1861.

Substance of lectures on the ancient Greeks, and on the revival of Greek learning in Europe.

Preface signed: John Dalzel.

Complete Public Law Text, Cases and Materials, 3rd edition

Complete Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials combines extracts from key primary and secondary materials with clear explanatory text to provide a complete resource for students of constitutional and administrative law. Clear, concise explanation of key legal principles is combined with a wide range of extracts, from statutes, case law and academic materials to provide a complete resource for students The authors use straightforward and uncomplicated language to ensure legal concepts and the complexities of the British constitution are easily understood Learning features such as thinking points, diagrams, useful notes, summary points and reflective questions provide valuable support for students and encourage them to engage with the subject A helpful 'case study' chapter on human rights, terrorism and the courts illustrates how the Human Rights Act has been used in practice across the legal system, providing extra insight into the importance of both human rights law and the process of judicial review The 'Judicial review: putting it all together in problem answers' chapter pulls together strands from previous chapters to provide a checklist of issues to be considered in order to diagnose a judicial review problem and advise a client