The Courts and the People: Friend or Foe?

The Putney Debates 2019

DJ Galligan

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781509940042
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Derecho
• Subtopic: Derecho público

Are the courts our friend or our foe? This book has three parts:
Part I considers the case for judicial independence
Part II looks at the question 'Is judicial independence under threat?'
Part III reflects on whether judicial independence be defended and protected. Prompted by the constitutional crisis following the referendum of 2016, the Foundation for Law Justice and Society convened the second Putney Debates. Now convened on an annual basis, they provide a forum each year for the discussion of matters of constitutional importance. The original Putney Debates were held in St Mary's Church, Putney in 1647. The Civil War had been won, the King was held prisoner, the New Model Army was in control. In late October of that year, the weekly meeting of the High Council of the New Model Army, under the chairmanship of Oliver Cromwell, together with several civilians, turned into a debate about the constitution. This is perhaps the only occasion in modern history that a constitutional convention has been held on the English constitution.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• The People and the Courts: An Introduction
• 1. The Case for Judicial Independence in the Age of Populism
• 2. Judicial Independence and Perceptions of Legitimacy
• 3. The Judicialisation of Politics and Threats to Judicial Independence: When Should We ‘Cry Wolf’?
• 4. Judicial Independence and Transformative Constitutionalism: Squaring the Circle of Legitimacy
• 5. Self-fulfilling Prophecies: ‘Populism’ and ‘Judicial Independence’ in Europe
• 6. Judicial Independence – The View from Israel
• 7. The Nature of Judicial Review in America
• 8. Under Pressure: Building Judicial Resistance to Political Interferences
• 9. Transparency in the ‘Fairyland Duchy of Luxembourg’
• 10. From Mystery to Transparency: How Judges Promote Public Understanding of the Judicial Role
• 11. Legal Elites, Lord Chancellors and Judicial Independence
• 12. Ally or Enemy, Friend or Foe
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright Page