UK Public Law and European Law: The Dynamics of Legal Integration

Description

Academic attention has, in recent years, increasingly focused upon the Europeanization of national legal orders. The interaction of domestic and supranational standards, while often presented as problematic, enables national courts to use European law as a reference point against which to develop domestic principle and practice. The effects of such borrowing can be far-reaching. Courts may assume an enhanced institutional role relative to other branches of the State and individuals may benefit from the introduction of new remedies and principles of judicial review. This book examines the dynamics of the process whereby UK courts borrow principle and practice from European law. It argues that recent internal developments in UK law, notably the passage of the Human Rights Act, present new possibilities for legal integration. Although UK courts have already demonstrated a willingness to use European law creatively, the book suggests that integration has been unduly constrained by the previously unincorporated status of the ECHR and by the courts' justification for the reception of EU law.

Gordon Anthony is a Lecturer in Law at the Queen's University of Belfast.

...the notable clarity of organization and writing style render it accesible to the non-expert. Moreover, the thorough and systematic treatment of the separate underlying histories and theories, including detracting viewpoints, allows even a casual reader to quickly develop a good sense of the impact of legal integration on domestic legal standards in the UK. -- Jean Chen * Columbia Journal of European Law * The book covers the usual suspects: proportionality, legitimate expectation and administrative liability. The range of suggestive insights is limited. Instead we have a very competent and readable account of recent developments, a summary of the state of issues. * European Public Law *