Constitutional and Administrative Law

Citation

Bradley, A. W., Ewing, K. D., & Knight, C. J. S. (2018). Constitutional and Administrative Law (17th ed.). Pearson Education.

Chapter Summary

Context and Structure

First published in the 1930s, this is among the best-known United Kingdom public law textbooks. The 17th edition is written by Anthony Bradley, Keith Ewing and Christopher Knight, a team of senior academics and a leading public law practitioner. The publisher presents its aim as giving law students a readable, comprehensive grounding in public law, suitable for first-year modules and more advanced courses. It has 26 chapters (832 pages) in four parts: sources, structure and principles; the institutions of government; personal liberty and human rights; and administrative law.

Part I: Sources, Structure and Principles (Chapters 1–6)

Chapter 1, "Constitutional law: its meaning and sources," opens the book by defining the subject and its sources. Chapter 2, "The structure of the United Kingdom," deals with the make-up of the state and its constituent parts. Chapter 3, "Parliamentary supremacy," Chapter 4, "The rule of law," and Chapter 5, "Responsible and accountable government," take the three organising principles of the constitution in turn. Chapter 6, "United Kingdom and the European Union," addresses the relationship with the European Union.

Part II: The Institutions of Government (Chapters 7–13)

Two chapters cover Parliament's composition (Chapter 7) and role (Chapter 8), and one its privileges (Chapter 9). Chapter 10 treats the Crown and the royal prerogative, Chapter 11 the Cabinet, government departments and the civil service, and Chapter 12 public bodies and public appointments. Chapter 13, "Courts and the administration of justice," completes the survey of institutions with the judiciary.

Part III: Personal Liberty and Human Rights (Chapters 14–20)

Chapter 14 introduces the Human Rights Act, which frames the rest of the part. Chapters 15 to 18 then take the right to liberty and police powers, privacy and surveillance powers, freedom of expression, and freedom of association and assembly. Chapter 19 turns to state security and official secrets, and Chapter 20 to special and emergency powers.

Part IV: Administrative Law (Chapters 21–26)

Chapter 21 asks "What is administrative law?" Chapter 22 treats delegated legislation and Chapter 23 administrative justice. Chapters 24 and 25 set out judicial review, the first the grounds of review and the second procedure and remedies. Chapter 26 closes with the liability of public authorities, followed by a bibliography and index.

Key Concepts

Part I: Principles

• Constitutional sources: the statutes, decisions and conventions from which the constitution is drawn.
• Parliamentary supremacy: the principle central to the UK constitution, treated in its own chapter.
• Rule of law and accountable government: the other organising principles, with ministerial responsibility.
• Relationship with the EU: a chapter devoted to it.

Part II: Institutions

• Royal prerogative: powers of the Crown outside statute.
• Executive structure: Cabinet, departments, civil service, public bodies.
• Parliamentary privilege: a distinct chapter.

Parts III and IV: Rights and Administrative Law

• Human Rights Act: the framework for the chapters on specific liberties.
• Police, surveillance and security powers: three chapters on state power and individual liberty.
• Delegated legislation and judicial review: the core of the administrative law part, with a separate chapter on procedure and remedies.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Complete coverage in one volume. The four parts take in principles, institutions, rights and administrative law, so one book can serve a whole course.
• Long record. Since the 1930s the book has been cited by courts, including the UK Supreme Court, according to the publisher, and it is written by academics and a practitioner.
• Clear division. The separation of institutions, liberties and administrative law lets students and teachers select parts.
• Dedicated treatment of security and emergency law. Chapters 16, 19 and 20 treat surveillance, official secrets and emergency powers separately.

Limitations

• Size. At 832 pages it is long for a first encounter, and students may need a shorter text for orientation.
• Rapidly dated topics. The edition is from 2018; the EU relationship and other topics of that period have since moved on and need newer sources.
• Student textbook, not a monograph. It surveys; sustained argument about the foundations of public law is found in other books.

Where It Fits in the Course

It is the broad textbook for the constitutional and administrative law course. Loughlin's The British Constitution: A Very Short Introduction is the quickest orientation, Bingham's The Rule of Law is an accessible introduction to one principle, and Le Sueur and others' Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials is a casebook alternative. Harlow and Rawlings's Law and Administration gives a contextual account of administrative law. Loughlin's The Idea of Public Law and Hickman's Public Law after the Human Rights Act are more advanced works on foundations and rights.

Use Bradley, Ewing and Knight as the main reference, a short introduction before it if necessary, and the more specialised books after it.

How to Use This Book

It is written for law students on first-year public law courses and more advanced modules, and the publisher describes it as readable.

A plan: read Part I first for the principles, then the institutional chapters your course covers, using Part II as reference. Read Chapter 14 before the chapters on specific liberties. In Part IV read Chapters 21 to 25 in order, since procedure and remedies build on the grounds of review. Consult the book alongside lecture topics and use the bibliography for further reading, and check recent developments in current sources, as the text is dated 2018.