Constitutional Review under the Uk Human Rights Act (Law in Context)
Cambridge University Press, 5/7/2009
EAN 9780521682190, ISBN10: 0521682193
Paperback, 470 pages, 22.8 x 15.1 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
Under the Human Rights Act, British courts are for the first time empowered to review primary legislation for compliance with a codified set of fundamental rights. In this book, Aileen Kavanagh argues that the HRA gives judges strong powers of constitutional review, similar to those exercised by the courts under an entrenched Bill of Rights. The aim of the book is to subject the leading case-law under the HRA to critical scrutiny, whilst remaining sensitive to the deeper constitutional, political and theoretical questions which underpin it. Such questions include the idea of judicial deference, the constitutional status of the HRA, the principle of parliamentary sovereignty and the constitutional division of labour between Parliament and the courts. The book closes with a sustained defence of the legitimacy of constitutional review in a democracy, thus providing a powerful rejoinder to those who are sceptical about judicial power under the HRA.
1. Introduction
Part I. Questions of Interpretation
2. Sections 3 and 4 HRA
the early case-law
3. Interpretation after Ghaidan v. Mendoza
4. Section 3(1) as a strong presumption of statutory interpretation
5. The interplay between s.3 and s.4
6. The duty of the courts under s.2(1)
Part II. Questions of Deference
7. The nature and grounds of judicial deference
8. Deference in particular contexts
9. Proportionality and deference under the Human Rights Act
Part III. Questions of Constitutional Status and Legitimacy
10. The nature and status of the HRA
11. Parliamentary sovereignty and the HRA
12. Justifying constitutional review
13. Constitutional review and participatory democracy
14. Conclusion.
'This excellent book should be on the required reading list of every human rights syllabus that aims at getting under the skin of the Human Rights Act (HRA) … an indispensable guide to the first 10 years of the HRA, by the finest scholar of the first generation to have cut their academic teeth on the measure.' Professor Conor Gearty, Public Law
'Aileen Kavanagh's book adds to [the] body of scholarship through a particularly skilful analysis of the methodology that underlies judicial decision-making in terms of the HRA. … her work probably qualifies as the most comprehensive of its kind to date. For this admirable feat the author deserves praise.' European Constitutional Law Review