Friday 26 October 2012

Some notes on Lords reform

The numerous inquiries, reports, white papers and parliamentary votes on Lords reform since the House of Lords Act 1999 (listed here) have produced a consensus on quite a number of points:

British citizenship - Updated post

This post seeks to give an overview of the concept of citizenship in UK law.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Blasphemy in the civil law

England used to have a blasphemy law - or, more precisely, it used to recognise the twin offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel.  Yet it is rarely remembered that the purpose of the blasphemy law was as much political as religious.  It was aimed against perceived subversion of the law, society and the state rather than at preventing individuals from committing sin in the eyes of God.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

The origins of the idea of the mixed constitution

In a previous post, I examined the recurring theme of the mixed and balanced constitution in English constitutional writings.  In this post, I want to look at some of the ancient sources of this theme.