Constitutional & Administrative Law

Book Preface

The United Kingdom’s constitution, while of ancient origins, remains both dynamic and vibrant. As every public lawyer is only too aware, nowadays, the proper boundaries of constitutional and administrative law are both increasingly wide and subject to debate. In compiling any textbook on this subject, one of the principal preliminary tasks lies in defi ning the scope of material to be included and the approach to be adopted in relation to that material. The task of writing is made more problematic by the many and varied depths in which, and the means by which, the subject is taught both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Full- time students, part- time students, students on long- distance learning programmes and students combining both constitutional and administrative law within a one- year course, all have differing needs. The aim in this book has been to provide suffi cient detail to meet all such needs in a userfriendly manner.

As emphasised in the introductory chapters, the study of the United Kingdom’s constitutional and administrative law involves rather more than a learning of rules of law, and necessarily encompasses – over and above an understanding of legal rules – an understanding of history, government, politics and conventional practices which form the foundations of the contemporary constitution. As a result, any constitutional and administrative law textbook must incorporate suffi cient information relating to such matters so as to enable students to view the constitution in its historical, political and conventional context. In this book, I have addressed the subject in this manner in order to provide a rounded, contextual explanation of the United Kingdom’s constitution, which goes beyond pure law while also adequately covering the law.

As previously, the text is divided into seven main parts. Part 1 provides a general introduction to the scope of constitutional law, the sources of the constitution and the structure of the United Kingdom. In Part 2, the fundamental concepts of the constitution are considered: the rule of law, separation of powers, the royal prerogative and parliamentary sovereignty. In Part 3, the European Union is discussed. The material is divided into two chapters. Chapter 7 considers the evolution, aims and structure of the Union and the principal institutions and their respective powers. In Chapter 8, the sources of European Union law and the relationship between national and European Union law are discussed.