Nearly six years after the referendum, the Northern Ireland aspect of Brexit is still causing controversy, and the significance of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement of 1998 is a recurrent theme. As part of their opposition to the Protocol on … [Read more...] about The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and Brexit by Andrew McCormick
This new report from The Constitution Society examines the idea of the political constitution in the United Kingdom, asking whether it is still worth protecting as a concept. The report’s author, Constitution Society Research Fellow Daniel … [Read more...] about The Political Constitution: An Idea Worth Protecting? by Daniel Skeffington
This new Constitution Society paper looks at the historically exceptional and precarious place of Northern Ireland in the uncodified and pliable constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. Since 1922 the Acts of … [Read more...] about The Vestigial Union: Northern Ireland’s Precarious Place in the Molten Constitution by Seán Bernard Newman
The territorial division of power in the UK constitution is an ever-evolving phenomenon. Under devolution, Scotland has developed a considerable foreign policy footprint. This footprint, however, is not strictly in accordance with the legal … [Read more...] about ‘Stop the World, Scotland Wants to Get On’: Devolution, Foreign Policy and the UK Constitution in Scotland by Reuben Duffy
Second Report from the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group The second report from the UK Constitution Monitoring Group (UKCMG) covers the six-month period from 1 July to 31 December 2021. It analyses legislation, decisions and events … [Read more...] about The Constitution in Review 2
Northern Ireland was at the heart of the protracted UK-EU withdrawal negotiations and the solution that was eventually reached – the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland – has proved controversial. It has caused economic, social and political … [Read more...] about Northern Ireland and Brexit: An Explanation by Lisa Claire Whitten
First Report from the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group The first report from the UK Constitution Monitoring Group (UKCMG) covers the six-month period from 1 January to 30 June 2021. It analyses legislation, decisions and events during … [Read more...] about The Constitution in Review
The May elections have prompted increased interest in the idea of an electoral pact between Opposition parties, aimed at defeating the Conservatives. It seems likely that an agreed objective of this kind of a pact would be electoral reform, moving to … [Read more...] about Electoral pacts and the constitution by Andrew Blick
The future of the UK Union is of increasing salience for British policy-makers. Against the backdrop of the twin crises of Brexit and coronavirus, speculation about its break-up has become widespread. Boris Johnson’s administration has so far … [Read more...] about Union at the Crossroads: Can the British state handle the challenges of devolution? by Michael Kenny, Philip Rycroft and Jack Sheldon
Can Select Committees influence a company's environmental, social and governance credentials? In this paper, Stanley Kwong examines the role of House of Commons Select Committees in scrutinising companies on their sustainability records and … [Read more...] about Climate Change and Democratic Representation by Stanley Kwong
This new report from the Policy Reform Group offers the expert analysis of Sir Thomas Legg, Lord Stephen Green, and Sir Martin Donnelly on the constitutional challenges facing the United Kingdom. These highly-experienced, former senior practitioners … [Read more...] about Constitutional reform: Sustaining a viable United Kingdom through the 21st century by Thomas Legg, Stephen Green and Martin Donnelly
The legal system is a crucial feature of the UK constitution. It has recently become a subject of controversy. The current government was re-elected in December 2019 on a commitment to inquire into the role of the courts in reviewing the actions of … [Read more...] about The legal system of England and Wales by Thomas Legg
