Parliamentary Sovereignty

This book has four main themes: (1) a criticism of ‘common law constitutionalism', the theory that Parliament's authority is conferred by, and therefore is or can be made subordinate to, judge-made common law; (2) an analysis of Parliament's ability to abdicate, limit or regulate the exercise of its own authority, including a revision of Dicey's conception of sovereignty, a repudiation of the doctrine of implied repeal and the proposal of a novel theory of ‘manner and form' requirements for law-making; (3) an examination of the relationship between parliamentary sovereignty and statutory interpretation, defending the reality of legislative intentions, and their indispensability to sensible interpretation and respect for parliamentary sovereignty; and (4) an assessment of the compatibility of parliamentary sovereignty with recent constitutional developments, including the expansion of judicial review of administrative action, the Human Rights and European Communities Acts and the growing recognition of ‘constitutional principles' and ‘constitutional statutes'.

Response of a defender of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty to the most recently published criticisms of the doctrine, at a critical period of constitutional innovation • Critically assesses all existing theories, and proposes a novel theory, of Parliament's ability to regulate the exercise of its law-making powers by enacting 'manner and form' requirements • Reviews the most recent and important constitutional developments in the UK and discusses their compatibility with the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty • Discusses statutory interpretation and its relationship to parliamentary sovereignty, including a defence of the reality and relevance of legislative intentions