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Constitutional Principle (constitutional + principle)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Law and Criminology	50%
Humanities and Social Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Parliamentary sovereignty and the new constitutional order: legislative freedom, political reality and convention

LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2002
Mark Elliott
Although the constitutional reform programme undertaken by the Blair administration is formally consistent with the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, it is clear that the human rights and devolution legislation, in particular, significantly alter the political and constitutional environment within which Parliament's legislative powers are exercised. This paper considers whether it is meaningfiul, within this new constitutional setting, to adhere to the traditional notion of sovereignty. It is argued that the disparity between a Parliament whose powers are formally unlimited yet increasingly constrained, in political terms, by norms based on fundamental rights and devolved governance may be accommodated, in the short term, by means of constitutional conventions which trace the constitutionally acceptable limits of legislative action by Parliament. However, following examination of the nature of convention and its relationship with law and constitutional principle, it is argued that the possibility arises, in the long term, that conventional limits upon legislative freedom may ultimately evolve into legal limiis, thus ensuring that the fundamental values embraced by the legal order are acknowledged not merely in pragmatic or conventional terms, but as a matter of constitutional law. [source]

Is there a core national doctrine?

NATIONS AND NATIONALISM, Issue 2 2001
Erica Benner
National doctrines are notoriously diverse, and often embody contradictory political values and criteria for membership. This article asks whether there is a ,core' national doctrine that connects republican, cultural, ethnic and liberal concepts of nationality. It considers two attractive candidates: one locating the ,core' in a doctrine about the political and psychological significance of pre-political cultural identities, the other in the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty. After assessing the limitations of both, I sketch a different core national doctrine. This doctrine is constitutive and geopolitical, not constitutional or cultural. It has deep roots in the security concerns specific to the modern, pluralistic system of sovereign states, and prescribes in general terms the form that any community should take in order to survive or distinguish itself in that system. It says very little about the appropriate basis for such communities; the choice of political, cultural, ethnic or even racial criteria is left wide open. More than other versions, this ,core' is able to identify the common ground between cultural, constitutional, and other national doctrines. It also puts a sharp focus on the reasons why, historically, national and liberal values have been so hard to combine. [source]

Gender Implications of Wrongful Dismissal Judgments in Canada, 1994,2002,

CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 1 2004
SANDRA ROLLINGS-MAGNUSSON
l'étude sur laquelle cet article se fonde explore les aboutissements des demandes d'carindemnités pour congédiement injustifié déposées par des hommes et des femmes contre leur ancien employeur. Elle révèle l'existence au sein du système juridique d'carun préjugé en faveur des hommes même si un traitement égal des deux sexes devant la loi est devenu un principe constitutionnel il y a 20 ans. l'analyse suggère que trois facteurs primaires, soit l'âge de l'employé(e), son ancienneté et le poste occupé au moment du congédiement, sont utilisés dans la détermination des jugements en dommages-intérêts, et que les cours tendent à accorder de plus importantes indemnités aux hommes. The study on which this paper is based explored the outcomes of wrongful dismissal claims brought by men and women against their former employers. It revealed that a bias favouring men exists within the legal system, even though equal treatment of men and women under the law became a constitutional principle twenty years ago. Analysis suggests that three primary factors,the age of the employee, his or her job tenure, and the occupation held at the time of dismissal,are used to determine damage awards, and that courts tend to award the highest levels of compensation to men. [source]

Constitutions, Constitutionalism, and the European Union

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2001
Paul Craig
The institutional reforms of the EU, coupled with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, have fuelled the debate about a European Constitution. This paper begins by examining the nature of constitutions and constitutionalism. The focus then turns to the EU itself. It is argued that the Community has indeed been transformed into a constitutional legal order, and that the arguments to the contrary are not convincing. This does not however mean that the EU has, or should have, a European Constitution cognisable as such which draws together the constitutional articles of the Treaties, together with the constitutional principles articulated by the European Court of Justice. The difficulties with this strategy are examined in detail, and the conclusion is that we should not at present pursue this course. It would be better to draw on the valuable work done by the European University Institute in its recent study in order to simplify and consolidate the Treaties. [source]