Alexander Horne and Gavin Drewry (ed), Parliament and the Law
| Author | |
| Published date | 01 May 2019 |
| Pages | 291-293 |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2019.0564 |
| Date | 01 May 2019 |
The book under review is an edited collection of essays written by leading experts in the field, which seeks to explore the impact of the law on the development of the Westminster Parliament. Ever since the 2016 referendum on British membership of the European Union (“EU”), Brexit has dominated public law discourse, and will no doubt continue to do so long after the UK formally leaves the EU. The Westminster Parliament has often found itself at the centre of this discourse, in no small part due to the disagreement across the UK on what its role is or should be within the Brexit process. As a consequence of this, one might have expected Brexit to feature heavily in this new edition of the book. However, although Brexit will no doubt form a significant part of any future edition, the book's editors, Alexander Horne and Gavin Drewry, made the bold decision to forego any detailed analysis of the implications of Brexit on the Westminster Parliament in this edition (3). The book instead balances its historical overview of the development of key parliamentary principles and procedures with much needed coverage of contemporary constitutional developments which have occurred since the first edition in 2013 but which have otherwise been overshadowed by Brexit.
The book is divided thematically into four parts. Part one, as with the first edition, examines “Privilege, Exclusive Cognisance and Conduct”. Although up-to-date, it is a shorter but more succinct section than in the first edition, reflective of the relatively fewer developments in this area since the MPs' expenses scandal which immediately preceded the first edition. Paul Evans accordingly provides a detailed yet accessible account of parliamentary privilege, the
Part two looks at “Parliament: Select Committees and Internal Arrangements”, and is the book's second largest section. It is framed well by Ben Young's opening chapter (chapter four) which, in outlining the complex internal arrangements of Parliament, reminds readers that Parliament is not a single entity as it is often portrayed, but instead a gestalt one with many moving parts and, in some respects, internal conflict (80–81). Young also provides a novel overview and critique of the decision-making processes...
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