The Joint Committee on the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill took evidence this afternoon on the provisions of the Bill dealing with demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament. We heard from Milan Rai, who was arrested in 2006 when he was reading out the names of people killed in Iraq. (He was subsequently convicted, fined and,…
The right to demonstrate is fundamental in a free society. People variously demonstrate in front of Parliament. However, the continued presence of one vocal demonstrator, Brian Haw, has caused particular controversy. His essentially permanent anti-war encampment on Parliament Square has aroused considerable opposition from parliamentarians and their staff. Some have objected because of the noise from…
I promised in response to a comment on an earlier post to discuss post-legislative scrutiny. When I chaired the Constitution Committee of the Lords, we undertook a major inquiry into the legislative process. We looked at the legislative process holistically, examining not only the process when a Bill is before Parliament but also pre-legislative and…
Given the time I spend in Westminster, I normally utilise weekends to catch up on research and administration. Part of the time is given over to teaching on an online degree we offer – the MA in Legislative Studies Online. Part of this weekend is also given over to making arrangements for a biennial conference…
There was an important statement made in both the Lords and Commons about constitutional reform on Tuesday 25th March which received far less coverage in the media than it should have done. The link here is to the statement in the Commons which is then repeated word for word in the Lords. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080325/debtext/80325-0003.htm#0803254000001 The statement…
