This insightful and discerning book offers a fresh discourse on the functioning of national courts as decentralised EU courts and a new thematic for revising some older understandings of how national judges apply EU law. Organised into three key sections, the interdisciplinary chapters combine approaches and theories originating from law, political science, sociology and economics. The first section addresses issues relating to judicial dialogue and EU legal mandates, the second looks at the topic of EU law in national courts and the third considers national courts' roles in protecting fundamental rights in the area of freedom, security and justice. The analysis of each is enriched through diverse research methods such as case-law analysis, citation network analysis, interviews, surveys and statistics. With its new legal and empirical assessment covering the newest member states of the EU, National Courts and EU Law will hold strong appeal for scholars and students in the fields of EU law, social sciences and humanities. It will also be of use to legal practitioners interested in the issue of judicial application of EU law. Contributors include: M. Claes, M. de Visser, M. de Werd, M. Wind, B. de Witte, T. Evas, M. Gorski, C. Hermanin, U. Jaremba, J.A. Mayoral, D. Piqani, K. Podstawa, R. Raffaelli, U. Sadl, A. Tatham, A. Torres Perez

In his widely acclaimed volume Our Undemocratic Constitution, Sanford Levinson boldly argued that our Constitution should not be treated with "sanctimonious reverence," but as a badly flawed document deserving revision. Now Levinson takes us deeper, asking what were the original assumptions underlying our institutions, and whether we accept those assumptions 225 years later. In Framed, Levinson challenges our belief that the most important features of our constitutions concern what rights they protect. Instead, he focuses on the fundamental procedures of governance such as congressional bicameralism; the selection of the President by the electoral college, or the dimensions of the President's veto power-not to mention the near impossibility of amending the United States Constitution. These seemingly "settled" and "hardwired" structures contribute to the now almost universally recognized "dysfunctionality" of American politics. Levinson argues that we should stop treating the United States Constitution as uniquely exemplifying the American constitutional tradition. We should be aware of the 50 state constitutions, often interestingly different-and perhaps better-than the national model. Many states have updated their constitutions by frequent amendment or by complete replacement via state constitutional conventions. California's ungovernable condition has prompted serious calls for a constitutional convention. This constant churn indicates that basic law often reaches the point where it fails and becomes obsolete. Given the experience of so many states, he writes, surely it is reasonable to believe that the U.S. Constitution merits its own updating. Whether we are concerned about making America more genuinely democratic or only about creating a system of government that can more effectively respond to contemporary challenges, we must confront the ways our constitutions, especially the United States Constitution, must be changed in fundamental ways.

In the first interdisciplinary work focused on the European Ombudsman, expert observers of EU institutional affairs provide a thorough evaluation of the Ombudsman and its constitutional role, powers, activities and future potential. The book addresses the Ombudsman's impact on accountability in the EU's executive branch and offers new suggestions for the further development of the practice of 'ombuds review'. The contributions to the discussion within this book come from law, political science, administrative science and economics. Looking at comparative developments in EU law and policy they critically review, from a variety of perspectives and methodologies, the Ombudsman's role in the review of activity of EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. They then evaluate this role, and its achievements, against the original objectives for creating an Ombudsman some 20 years ago. This timely book will appeal to scholars and advanced students of the EU political and legal system. It is a also must-read for policy advisors and practitioners looking to enhance their understanding of alternative modes of dispute settlement and anyone interested in the future of administration in the EU. Contributors include: P.N. Diamandouros, D. Dragos, I. Harden, H.C.H. Hofmann, R. Mastroianni, J. Mendes, B. Neamtu, C. Neuhold, G. Tridimas, T. Tridimas, J. Trondal, A. Wille, J. Ziller

The status of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the contemporary UK Constitution is much contested. Changes in the architecture of the UK Constitution, diminishing academic reverence for the doctrine, and a more expansive vision of the judicial role, all present challenges to the relevance, coherence and desirability of this constitutional fundamental. At a time when the future of the sovereignty of Parliament may look less than assured, this book develops an account of the continuing significance of the doctrine. It argues that a rejuvenation of the manner and form theory is required to understand the present status of parliamentary sovereignty. Addressing the critical challenges to the doctrine, it contends that this conception of legally unlimited legislative power provides the best explanation of contemporary developments in UK constitutional practice, while also possessing a normative appeal that has previously been unrecognised. This modern shift to the manner and form theory is located in an account of the democratic virtue of parliamentary sovereignty, with the book seeking to demonstrate the potential that exists for Parliament - through legislating about the legislative process - to revitalise the UK's political constitution.

In 2009 and 2010, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights underwent significant reforms to their respective judicial appointments processes. Though very different judicial institutions, they adopted very similar - and rather remarkable - reforms: each would now make use of an expert panel of judicial notables to vet the candidates proposed to sit in Luxembourg or Strasbourg. Once established, these two vetting panels then followed with actions no less extraordinary: they each immediately took to rejecting a sizable percentage of the judicial candidates proposed by the Member State governments. What had happened? Why would the Member States of the European Union and of the Council of Europe, which had established judicial appointments processes that all but ensured themselves the unfettered power to designate their preferred judges to the European courts, and who had zealously maintained and exercised that power over the course of some fifty years, suddenly decide to undermine their own capacity to continue to do so? This book sets out to solve this mystery. Its point of departure is that it would be a mistake to view the 2009-2010 establishment of the two vetting panels in isolation from other European judicial developments. Though these acts of institutional creation are certainly the most notable recent developments, they actually represent but the crowning achievement of a process of European judicial appointments reform that has been running unremittingly since the 1990's. This longstanding and tenacious movement has actually triggered a broad set of interrelated debates and reforms, encompassing not only judicial appointments per se, but also a much wider set of issues, including judicial independence, judicial quality, judicial councils, the separation of powers, judicial gender equity, and more.

This work discusses the major court decisions that answer the important questions affecting freedom of the press, providing illustrations and examples that give insight into this complex body of law. The clear and concise style of the book makes it an essential guide for all those interested in freedom of the press. The book begins with an analysis of the text of the First Amendment and demonstrates how the seemingly simple text has given rise to complicated issues and interpretations. It also discusses the historical evolution of our current understanding of the justifications offered to protect freedom of expression. A number of important questions that have arisen in First Amendment law are discussed in detail.

The Real World of EU Accountability reports the findings of a major empirical study into patterns and practices of accountability in European governance. The product of a 4-year, path-breaking project, this book assesses to what extent and how the people that populate the key arenas where European public policy is made or implemented are held accountable. Using a systematic analytical framework, it examines not just the formal accountability arrangements but also documents and compares how these operate in practice. In doing so, it provides a unique, empirically grounded contribution to the pivotal but often remarkably fact-free debate about democracy and accountability in European governance.
With four empirical chapters covering the Commission and its agencies, the European Council, and Comitology committees, it shows that a web of formal accountability arrangements has been woven around most of them, but that the extent to which the relevant accountability forums actually use the oversight possibilities offered to them varies markedly: some forums lack the institutional resources, others the willingness. But in those cases where both are on the increase, as in the European Parliament's efforts vis a vis the European Commission, fundamentally healthy accountability relationships are developing. Although ex-post accountability is only part of the larger equation determining the democratic quality of European governance, this study suggests that at least in this area, the EU is slowly but surely reducing its 'democratic deficit'.

This edited volume is the first to focus on how concepts of citizenship diversify and stimulate the long-standing field of law and literature, and vice versa. Building on existing research in law and literature as well as literature and citizenship studies, the collection approaches the triangular relationship between citizenship, law and literature from a variety of disciplinary, conceptual and political perspectives, with particular emphasis on the performative aspect inherent in any type of social expression and cultural artefact. The sixteen chapters in this volume present literature as carrying multifarious, at times opposing energies and impulses in relation to citizenship. These range from providing discursive arenas for consolidating, challenging and re-negotiating citizenship to directly interfering with or inspiring processes of law-making and governance. The volume opens up new possibilities for the scholarly understanding of citizenship along two axes: Citizenship-as-Literature: Enacting Citizenship and Citizenship-in-Literature: Conceptualising Citizenship.

This new edition of Norgren and Nanda's classic updates their examination of the intersection of American cultural pluralism and law. They document and analyze legal challenges to the existing social order raised by many cultural groups, among them, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians, homeless persons, immigrants, disabled persons, and Rastafarians. In addition, they examine such current controversies as the culture wars in American schools and the impact of post-9/11 security measures on Arab and Muslim individuals and communities. The book also discusses more traditional challenges to the American legal system by women, homosexuals, African Americans, Latinos, Japanese Americans, and the Mormons and the Amish. The new chapters and updated analyses in this Third Edition reflect recent, relevant court cases dealing with culture, race, gender, religion, and personal status. Drawing on court materials, state and federal legislation, and legal ethnographies, the text analyzes the ongoing tension between, on the one hand, the need of different groups for cultural autonomy and equal rights, and on the other, the necessity of national unity and security. The text integrates the authors' commentary with case descriptions set in historical, cultural, political, and economic context. While the authors' thesis is that law is an instrument of social policy that has generally furthered an assimilationist agenda in American society, they also point out how in different periods, under different circumstances, and with regard to different groups, law has also some opportunity for cultural autonomy.

Paul Cavill offers a major reinterpretation of early Tudor constitutional history. In the grand "Whig" tradition, the parliaments of Henry VII were a disappointing retreat from the onward march towards parliamentary democracy. The king was at best indifferent and at worst hostile to parliament; its meetings were cowed and quiescent, subservient to the royal will. Yet little research has tested these assumptions.
Drawing on extensive archival research, Cavill challenges existing accounts and revises our understanding of the period. Neither to the king nor to his subjects did parliament appear to be a waning institution, fading before the waxing power of the crown. For a ruler in Henry's vulnerable position, parliament helped to restore royal authority by securing the good governance that legitimated his regime. For his subjects, parliament served as a medium through which to communicate with the government and to shape--and, on occasion, criticize--its policies. Because of the demands parliament made, its impact was felt throughout the kingdom, among ordinary people as well as among the elite. Cooperation between subjects and the crown, rather than conflict, characterized these parliaments.
While for many scholars parliament did not truly come of age until the 1530s, when-freed from its medieval shackles-the modern institution came to embody the sovereign nation state, in this study Henry's reign emerges as a constitutionally innovative period. Ideas of parliamentary sovereignty were already beginning to be articulated. It was here that the foundations of the "Tudor revolution in government" were being laid.

In 2007 the International Association of Constitutional Law established an Interest Group on 'The Use of Foreign Precedents by Constitutional Judges' to conduct a survey of the use of foreign precedents by Supreme and Constitutional Courts in deciding constitutional cases. Its purpose was to determine - through empirical analysis employing both quantitative and qualitative indicators - the extent to which foreign case law is cited. The survey aimed to test the reliability of studies describing and reporting instances of transjudicial communication between Courts. The research also provides useful insights into the extent to which a progressive constitutional convergence may be taking place between common law and civil law traditions. The present work includes studies by scholars from African, American, Asian, European, Latin American and Oceania countries, representing jurisdictions belonging to both common law and civil law traditions, and countries employing both centralised and decentralised systems of judicial review. The results, published here for the first time, give us the best evidence yet of the existence and limits of a transnational constitutional communication between courts.

This multidisciplinary book introduces readers to original perspectives on crimmigration that foster holistic, contextual, and critical appreciation of the concept in Australia and its individual consequences and broader effects. This collection draws together contributions from nationally and internationally respected legal scholars and social scientists united by common and overlapping interests, who identify, critique, and reimagine crimmigration law and practice in Australia, and thereby advance understanding of this important field of inquiry. Specifically, crimmigration is addressed and analysed from a variety of standpoints, including: criminal law/justice; administrative law/justice; immigration law; international law; sociology of law; legal history feminist theory, settler colonialism, and political sociology. The book aims to: explore the historical antecedents of contemporary crimmigration and continuities with the past in Australia reveal the forces driving crimmigration and explain its relationship to border securitisation in Australia identify and examine the different facets of crimmigration, comprising: the substantive overlaps between criminal and immigration law; crimmigration processes; investigative techniques, surveillance strategies, and law enforcement agents, institutions and practices uncover the impacts of crimmigration law and practice upon the human rights and interests of non-citizens and their families. analyse crimmigration from assorted critical standpoints; including settler colonialism, race and feminist perspectives By focusing upon these issues, the book provides an interconnected collection of chapters with a cohesive narrative, notwithstanding that contributors approach the themes and specific issues from different theoretical and critical standpoints, and employ a range of research methods.

Macroprudential policy focuses on the financial system as a whole, as distinct from individual institutions, and its objective is to limit the costs to the real economy from system-wide distress of the financial sector. This book offers a critical, contextual and comparative examination of the nature of macroprudential policy as an emerging legal domain. It explores why macroprudential policy is necessary and how best to design tailored legal, institutional and governance frameworks that support the various supervisory stages in macroprudential regimes. Questions addressed relate to the design of the macroprudential mandate and institutional structures, independence, transparency and accountability arrangements, the nature and limitations of macroprudential authorities' supervisory powers, as well as the challenges that are likely to be encountered during the generation, collection and analysis of data and the use of macroprudential tools. The book extends well beyond being a 'one-stop-shop' introduction on all aspects of macroprudential policy. It digs deeper and does the heavy lifting by analysing the unique features of macroprudential policy that set it apart from other policy areas; examining the pulling (and at times, contradicting) forces which affect it and surfacing its complex and evolutionary nature and the unique challenges confronting macroprudential authorities. In order to derive and capture the theoretical foundations of macroprudential policy and support the high-level suggestions made on how to operationalise it, the book draws on established scholarships from international law as well as theories developed in the Organisational Behaviour field. It presents and explains the law within the context of the most recent empirical research in economics, including research on the prevalent governance structure of macroprudential policy, its interaction with other policy areas and the effectiveness of macroprudential tools. The normative discussion in the book is also grounded in practical specificities through detailed critical analysis of macroprudential policy frameworks at the national level (UK and US), regional level (EU) and global level (FSB, IMF and BIS).

In today's globalized society, the war on terror has negatively affected privacy rights not just in the United States, but everywhere. When privacy rights are curtailed around the world, American efforts to spread freedom and democracy are hindered, and as a consequence, Americans are less secure in the world. Ironically, the erosion of individual privacy rights, here and abroad, has been happening in the name of enhancing national security. This book sheds light on this apparent contradiction, and argues that governments must do more to preserve privacy rights while endeavoring to protect their citizens against future terrorist attacks. It is easy to forget that prior to 9/11, privacy rights were on the march. Plans were in the works, in the areas of legislation and regulation, to protect personal privacy from both governmental intrusion and corporate penetration. The need for such protections arose from the swift advances in information technology of the 1990s. But the attacks of 9/11, and the responses of governments to this new level of the terrorist threat, put an end to all that. Not only is privacy no longer emphasized in legislation, it is being eroded steadily, raising significant questions about the handling of personal information, surveillance, and other invasions into the private lives of ordinary citizens.

This book brings together past and present law commissioners, judges, practitioners, academics and law reformers to analyse the past, present and future of the Law Commissions in the United Kingdom and beyond. Its internationally recognised authors bring a wealth of experience and insight into how and why law reform does and should take place, covering statutory and non-statutory reform from national and international perspectives. The chapters of the book developed from papers given at a conference to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Law Commissions Act 1965.

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aFinally, an unflinching response to immigration alarmists! This brilliant, challenging book outlines an immigration proposal based on the reality that migration flows are not regulated by border enforcement but by social, economic, and political pressures.a
--Mary Romero, author of "Maid in the USA"

Seeking to re-imagine the meaning and significance of the international border, Opening the Floodgates makes a case for eliminating the border as a legal construct that impedes the movement of people into this country.

Open migration policies deserve fuller analysis, particularly on the eve of a presidential election. Kevin R. Johnson offers an alternative vision of how U.S. borders might be reconfigured, grounded in moral, economic, and policy arguments for open borders. Importantly, liberalizing migration through an open borders policy would recognize that the enforcement of closed borders cannot stifle the strong, perhaps irresistible, economic, social, and political pressures that fuel international migration.

Controversially, Johnson suggests that open borders are entirely consistent with efforts to prevent terrorism that have dominated immigration enforcement since the events of September 11, 2001. More liberal migration, he suggests, would allow for full attention to be paid to the true dangers to public safety and national security.