An English Bill of Rights? Some Observations from Her Majesty's Former Colonies in America
73 Pages Posted: 28 May 2008
Abstract
Great Britain depends for the protection of its citizens' individual rights and liberties on Parliament, which struggled for centuries to wrest from the Crown the freedoms enjoyed today. In recent years, however, some have voiced the concern that a now omnipotent Parliament itself poses a threat to the freedoms it helped secure. Moreover, the protection of rights offered by the European Convention on Human Rights, which Britain signed but never implemented domestically highlights possible inadequacies in Parliament's protection of individual liberty. Thus the call has arisen for an English Bill of Rights. This paper focuses upon Lord Wade's proposed Bill, which would incorporate the European Convention into the domestic Law of Great Britain. It considers the implications such a Bill would have upon British constitutional structure, including the fundamental legal principles that one Parliament may not bind another and that the British judiciary may not overturn Acts of Parliament. The paper concludes that, in spite of these obstacles, the inherent flexibility of the Anglo-American system of law would permit enactment of a Bill of Rights.
Keywords: United Kingdom, constitutional reform, constitutional law, judicial review, bill of rights, parlimentary sovereignty
JEL Classification: K00, K10, K33, K39, K49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation