2017

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Ousting the Jurisdiction of the Courts: R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal [2017] EWHC 114 (Admin)

R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal [2017] EWHC 114 (Admin) is a rare example of an effective ouster clause. The applicant took issue with the Tribunal’s conclusion that, as a matter of law, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary was entitled to engage in computer hacking under s. 5 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994. […] Read more

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Henry VIII Clauses in Comparative Perspective

I had a free evening earlier this month and put together a submission to the House of Lords Constitution Committee’s Legislative Process Inquiry. You can find my submission here. Here is a brief excerpt:   Henry VIII clauses are constitutionally exceptional and exceptionable. Several examples can be given from jurisdictions with written and unwritten constitutions. […] Read more

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Too Simple

President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration derives its authority from the following statutory provision: Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall […] Read more

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How Many Steps Has Chevron Got? Encino Motorcars LLC v Navarro, 579 US ________ (2016)

American public lawyers have found themselves a little bit short of material in recent times. With Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court of the United States still unfilled months after his death, the eight-member Court has released few high-profile decisions. For instance, in the eagerly anticipated litigation on President Obama’s immigration reforms, the Court […] Read more

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Harold Laski on Experts and Expertise

When I was a doctoral student, I spent months trying to track down an essay by Harold Laski: ‘The Limitations of the Expert’ (1931) 162 Harper’s Monthly Magazine 101 (Fabian Tract No. 235). I eventually found it in a rare books collection at Harvard University while I was there as a visiting researcher. Finally finding […] Read more