The course will offer an introduction to constitutional and administrative law in the England. Week 1 will offer an overview of three main actors in English public law – the UK Parliament, the courts and the executive – as well as beginning to highlight some of the debates about the scope of their powers and the relationships between them. Weeks 2 and 3 will build on the first week by considering more specifically how the executive is held to account in English law. The main focus will be on judicial review, including the grounds on which it can be sought and the various barriers to access. However, the course will also consider other methods of legal accountability, including the role of tribunals in the English legal system and the possibility of bringing a private law claim against a public authority. Week 4 will consider and evaluate methods of rights protection in the UK, including the Human Rights Act 1998 and common law rights.
The course will aim to foster legal expertise, especially in case law analysis. Each class will be focused on a case which will serve as a springboard for broader discussion of the themes raised. The course will be assessed as a three hour exam sat at the end of the course.