Constitutional Law

Scotland's Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain QC, has referred the provisions of the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill to the UK Supreme Court. The bill was introduced yesterday and proposes that a consultative referendum be held on 19 October 2023, Scottish Legal News reports.

The High Court has ruled that a key provision of legislation related to prosecutions of child sexual assault cases is invalid under the Constitution. The plaintiff challenged the constitutionality of section 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006, which provided that the “reasonable

The Supreme Court has ruled that the President of Ireland is immune from requests for information and documents pursuant to the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2014. It was held that the President’s office did not fall within Article 2(2) of the

The Supreme Court has held that the decision of the Minister for Education to exclude certain home-schooled students from the calculated grades scheme in the 2020 Leaving Certificate was invalid. It was held that the Minister’s decision was an unlawful interference with the constitutional righ

A new book exploring the constitutional legitimacy of law officers in the United Kingdom will be published this summer. Authored by Belfast-based legal academic Dr Conor McCormick, the book provides a detailed account of each law officer's functions and draws on that account as the basis for a conce

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has dismissed a challenge to the religious language contained in declarations required to take up the office of president. The court unanimously held that the applicants, a group of five Irish politicians, had failed to provide reasonable and convincing evi

The High Court has dismissed a challenge to the constitutionality of the voting system for the Seanad by a graduate of the University of Limerick. The plaintiff claimed that it was unconstitutional that graduates from the University of Dublin (TCD) and the National University of Ireland (NUI) could

Dr Brian Hunt, partner at Ronan Daly Jermyn, responds to the President's comments about the volume of legislation coming through the Oireachtas. Last week the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and Cathaoirleach of the Seanad each received a letter from President Michael D Higgins. While the letters

Michael Gove will be questioned by peers tomorrow as part of an inquiry into the future governance of the UK, exploring topics such as intergovernmental relations, promoting the Union across Government and funding arrangements. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Of

A new draft of the cabinet manual needs to be produced as soon as possible for it to remain useful, according to the House of Lords Constitution Committee. In a report published today, the committee has emphasised that as the cabinet manual is now a decade old, it needs to be updated or risk be

A private member's bill providing for a referendum on enshrining the right to housing in the Constitution cleared second stage in the Dáil last night. The Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Housing) Bill 2020, sponsored by socialist TDs Richard Boyd Barrett, Paul Murphy, Mic

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in a significant ruling relating to the administration of justice in the State. It was held that the WRC process was not unconstitutional due to the lack of an appeal to the courts. Although the cour

A legal case arguing that the Scottish Parliament should be able to pass a law to hold an independence referendum without the consent of the UK government has failed in the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Declarator to this effect was sought by Martin James Keatings. He also argued that no amendment

House of Lords committees have criticised the UK government for its growing use of skeleton legislation and the shift in power from Parliament to the executive. Chairs of three influential select committees, with responsibility for scrutinising all legislation before Parliament, have written to Jaco

Andrew McKeown BL, law lecturer and practising barrister at The Bar of Ireland, considers the procedure for the removal of a judge under the Irish Constitution. As the controversy surrounding Mr Justice Séamus Woulfe continues, Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD, the Ceann Comhairle, ha