Common Law Constitutional Rights

Mark Elliott is Professor of Public Law and Kirsty Hughes is Senior Lecturer in Law, both at the University of Cambridge.

There is a developing body of legal reasoning in the United Kingdom Supreme Court in which members of the senior judiciary have asserted the primary role of common law constitutional rights and critiqued legal arguments based first and foremost on the Human Rights Act 1998. Their calls for a shift in legal reasoning have created a sense amongst both scholars and the judiciary that something significant is happening. Yet despite renewed academic and judicial interest we have limited insight into what common law constitutional rights we have, how they work and what they offer. This book is the first collection of its kind to systematically explore both the content and role of individual common law constitutional rights alongside the constitutional significance and broader implications of these developments. It therefore contributes not only to our understanding of what the common law might be capable of offering in terms of the protection of rights, but also to our understanding of the nature of the constitutional order of which such rights are an integral part.

Of interest to constitutional and human rights lawyers around the world.

1. The Nature and Role of Common Law Constitutional RightsMark Elliott and Kirsty HughesPART ITHE CONTENT OF COMMON LAW CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS2. The Mythology and the Reality of Common Law Constitutional Rights to Bodily IntegrityNatasa Mavronicola3. Access to Justice: From Judicial Empowerment to Public EmpowermentSe-shauna Wheatle4. A Constitutional Right to Property?Tom Allen5. A Common Law Constitutional Right to Privacy - Waiting for Godot?Kirsty Hughes6. Freedom of Expression and the Right to Vote: Political Rights and the Common Law ConstitutionJacob Rowbottom7. Searching for a Chimera? Seeking Common Law Rights of Freedom of Assembly and AssociationGavin Phillipson8. Equality: A Core Common Law Principle, or 'Mere' Rationality?Colm O'CinneidePART IITHE ROLE AND POTENTIAL OF COMMON LAW CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS9. The Fundamentality of Rights at Common LawMark Elliott10. Fundamental Common Law Rights and LegislationAlison L Young11. Common Law Constitutional Rights and Executive ActionJoanna Bell12. Common Law Constitutional Rights at the Devolved LevelBrice Dickson13. The Reach of Common Law RightsThomas Fairclough