Constitutional Conventions

Marshall, Geoffrey

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198762027.001.0001

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…This affords critics and commentators the scope to suggest that a conventional rule may be wrongly interpreted, or that practice should be changed if it is to comply properly with the reason that lies behind the convention. 80 In essence, we need to look for a Dworkinian 'line of best fit' as a means of understanding and refining the convention. 81 A breach of a convention does not necessarily mean that the convention does not exist or that it has ended, any more than breach of a criminal law means that that law is not in effect.…”

Section: Did the Politics Convention Exist?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Judges and Politics: The Parliamentary Contributions of the Law Lords 1876–2009

O’Brien

2016

Modern Law Review

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There is a common perception that, prior to the exclusion of serving judges from the House of Lords in 2009, a ‘politics convention’ operated which required judges to avoid party‐political controversy and ensured that they contributed to debate only rarely. On this view, the presence of the Law Lords in parliament prior to 2009 presented a judicial independence and separation of powers problem in theory only. An examination of the contributions of serving Law Lords and other judicial peers to debates in the House of Lords from 1876–2009 (and retired judges from 1876–2015) reveals that the convention either did not exist or was frequently ignored. While most judges were infrequent participants in parliamentary debate, some were enthusiastic – a small number among the most active parliamentarians in the Lords. The most active judicial peers were conservative in their politics and the best predictor that a judge would be active in the House was an association with conservative politics or causes.

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Section: Did the Politics Convention Exist?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Judges and Politics: The Parliamentary Contributions of the Law Lords 1876–2009

O’Brien

2016

Modern Law Review

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“…The office of head of the commonwealth, a 'remarkable piece of pragmatic nonsense' as constitutional scholar Geoffrey Marshall described it, would become even more prominent an issue at the Lusaka conference in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher questioned whose responsibility the queen was, 30 years after this 'obscure and uncertain' office had been conceived. 33 We now go on to explore the tumultuous debates over the Lusaka Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1979, and the ways in which these contributed further to the shaping of the queen's commonwealth role.…”

Section: The Queen On Tourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Losing an Empire and Building a Role: The Queen, Geopolitics and the Construction of the Commonwealth Headship at the Lusaka Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, 1979

Craggs¹,

Kumarasingham²

2014

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

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The queen's role as the head of the commonwealth has evolved over the last 60 years. In this article, we explore the ways in which this position was constructed and negotiated through the queen's presence (and absence) at commonwealth conferences. Utilising the example of the Lusaka Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1979-a highly fraught meeting, the queen's attendance at which was hotly contested-we examine narratives present in newspaper and oral history accounts surrounding the queen's role. Placing this event in the context of the broader constitutional and political issues that have surrounded the headship since the creation of this ambiguous office in 1949, we explore the competing interpretations of the meaning of head of the commonwealth and the vexed question of who was responsible for advising the queen in this role. We argue that the example of the Lusaka summit shows that, far from being a crowned non-entity, the queen was an active agent, both shaping a constitutional role for herself that was separate from that as British monarch and becoming enrolled in broader geopolitical scripts.This article examines the evolution of the British monarch's distinct role as the head of the commonwealth, exploring the ways in which this position has been shaped and negotiated-by the present queen herself, but also by politicians, civil servants and the press. It considers the development of this role from before the start of her

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“…His 315 seats in the House of Commons gave him a majority over all other parties combined, though, being a majority of six, it was not one that was satisfactory to the Labour Party or one which in their opponents' view gave them a clear mandate to put their programme into effect. 35 George VI accepted Attlee's advice and parliament was dissolved on 5 October 1951, one year and seven months after first meeting on 1 March 1950. 36 The dissolution of 1966 certainly led to an increase in the size of the In a strict constitutional sense, this aspect of the dissolution equation may not appear to impose on the constitutional uncertainty of the question being examined here.…”

Section: Desire Of a Government To Seek A Mandatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geoffrey Marshall,47 while agreeing that there is a prime ministerial theory of dissolution, is of the firm belief that the decision to hold a general election is no different from any other aspect of Cabinet policy. Rodney Brazier 48 is prepared to accept that senior ministers may be consulted before the Cabinet is informed of the prime minister's decision.…”

Section: The Dominance Of the Prime Ministermentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of the power of dissolution: The ambiguity of codifying Westminster conventions in the commonwealth Caribbean

Ghany

1999

The Journal of Legislative Studies

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Constitutional Conventions

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Judges and Politics: The Parliamentary Contributions of the Law Lords 1876–2009

Judges and Politics: The Parliamentary Contributions of the Law Lords 1876–2009

Losing an Empire and Building a Role: The Queen, Geopolitics and the Construction of the Commonwealth Headship at the Lusaka Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, 1979

The evolution of the power of dissolution: The ambiguity of codifying Westminster conventions in the commonwealth Caribbean

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