The Law-Making Process

Description

As a critical, in-depth analysis of the law-making process, this book has no equal. It deals with all the stages and forms of law-making: - the preparation of legislation; - its passage through Parliament; - statutory interpretation; - the operation of the rules of precedent in judicial decision-making; - the many facets of judicial law-making; - the machinery of law reform. The new eighth edition covers the operation of EU law in the UK after Brexit. It also covers pre-Brexit events such as the unprecedented legislation by backbench MPs to stop a No Deal Exit from the EU and the two great Supreme Court decisions over the triggering of Brexit and the prorogation of Parliament. The books draws on a wide range of sources including important new empirical research such as Lord Sumption's 2019 Reith lectures (Trials of the State - Law and the Decline of Politics) and the work of Sir Geoffrey Palmer, former Prime Minister and Justice Minister of New Zealand on The Law Reform Enterprise. There are new sections on the attempt to control the size of the House of Lords, on whether Parliament should have a role in the selection of senior judges and on the topical question whether decisions of the courts on constitutional questions are 'legal' or 'political'.

Michael Zander KC is Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. For 25 years he was also Legal Correspondent at The Guardian. He is acknowledged to be one of the foremost authorities on the workings of the legal system.

REVIEW OF THE SEVENTH EDITION Like all Professor Zander's written works, this new edition provides us with a readable, illuminating study of the issues... this is a substantial work, and appropriate to do justice both to the importance and the subtle refinements of the processes by which our laws are made. -- The Rt Hon the Lord Judge, former Lord Chief Justice * New Law Journal * REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION The Law-Making Process is a book which has developed out of the author's Cases and Materials on the English Legal System. The result lies somewhere between a collection of cases and materials and a text-book, the author illustrating a lively text by well-chosen extracts from a wide variety of sources. * Law Quarterly Review * The materials are well chosen, well grouped, varied and usually of a sensible length. They raise a series of consistently fascinating questions about the contemporary evolving and imperfect system. * Journal of the Society of Public Teachers of Law * Michael Zander has got together a most interesting collection of cases and materials, extracts and excerpts from all kinds of sources, with a light lucid linking commentary ... The student who absorbs this book will have a good grounding, he will be on the right road. The more mature lawyer will have a better understanding of his craft. The law-maker who addresses himself to the institutional problems raised in this book, and genuinely seeks to overcome them, will be worthy of his responsibilities. * New Law Journal * This book shows that by using a full-range of source materials enlivened by critical comment it is possible to achieve a high level of knowledge about the mysteries of the law. The work is highly recommended. * The Legal Executive * It should be read by anyone whose elected or vocational office requires him to understand the law making process in this country. * Justice of the Peace * Then there are the two groups of students whose needs inspired Professor Zander to compile this volume. Taking the non-law students first, they should find this book a boon and a blessing, if they are grappling with a specialised part of an unfamiliar subject. As for the law students, there is something familiar and something fresh for them, with plenty of indications for future reading. The Zander approach has given them a new way of looking at the law library shelves. * Statute Law Review * This is a most readable, stimulating book containing many extracts and excerpts which the ordinary law student would not find and might not search out, even if he were given the references. While no attempt has been made to deal with Scots law or Scottish conditions much of the book is generally relevant to study in Scotland and could be read with profit by Scottish students. -- Professor David Walker * Juridical Review * A veritable treasure chest of information about the legal system and how it works. It is also amazingly accessible...and deserves a place on every law student's shelf. -- Per Laleng * University of Kent *