Sir Ivor Jennings and the Development of Public Law
| Date | 01 September 2004 |
| Author | Martin Loughlin |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2004.00508.x |
| Published date | 01 September 2004 |
THE
MODERN LAW REVIEW
Volume 67 September 2004 No 5
Sir Ivor Jennings and the Development of Public Law
The papersthat followare revised versions of papersdelivered ata seminar in June
2003 to mark Sir Ivor Jennings’ centenary. The objective was not celebratory;
rather, it was intended to be an occasion for assessing the signi¢cance of Jennings’
contribution to the development of public law scholarship in the twentieth cen-
tury and, through the a nalysis of hi s work, to re£ect on developments in the dis -
cipline.Since much of his pioneering scholarship was carriedout during the 1930s
while he wasbased at the LSE, the School seemed a suitable location for holding
that seminar. And since Jennings was one of the founding editors ofThe Modern
Law Review, it seems similarly appropriate that the MLR o¡ers an outlet for the
publication of these papers.
The papersdo not cover the entire range of Jennings’ work.The most conspic-
uous gaps concern the major role he played in the development of administrative
law (and especially in the ¢elds of housing, public health and local government)
and his post-war work on the drafting of Commonwealth constitutions. These
matters were touched on during the seminar proceedings, and it should be noted
that talksgiven by JohnGri⁄th on the studyof law at the LSE in the 1930s andby
Chaloka Beyani on Jennings’ role in Commonwealth constitution-making have
not been written up for publication in this collection.
I should like to thank the LSE Law Department for agreeing to host the semi-
nar, the Shimizu Trust for providing ¢nancial support, the speakers for readily
agreeing to undertake their assigned tasks and the seminar participants for help-
ing to make the event what was commonly recognised to be a stimulating occa-
sion. Although the acad emic discipli ne of public law in Brit ain is relatively
young, it is not too early to learn from re-visiting the work of those who have
played a major role in moulding it into adistinctive shape. Their problems might
not be ours, and their proposed solutions might today strike some of us as odd;
but the most basic questions remain with us, and it is not self-evident that their
methods have been surpassed.
Martin Loughlin
rThe Modern LawReview Limited 2004
Published by BlackwellPublishing, 9600 Garsington Road,Oxford OX4 2DQ,UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
(200 4) 67(5) MLR 715
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