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i
D E M O C R AT I C D I A L O G U E A N D
THE CONSTITUTION
320
iii
1
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v
Acknowledgements
The research for this book was most generously funded by The Leverhulme Trust, to
whom I owe my largest debt of gratitude. Without their Research Fellowship award,
this book may never have come to fruition. I was able to use their funding to teach
part-time for two years from 2013 to 2015, which enabled me to complete a first draft
of the book. The fact that it took me a further year to finalize this draft, whilst teaching
full-time, provides a clear exemplification of how this book would have taken consid-
erably longer to complete without their generosity. Being able to take part-time leave
would also not have been possible without the support of my colleagues at Hertford
College. I owe particular thanks to Stephen Dimelow, who tirelessly took over my
undergraduate tutorial teaching in both constitutional and administrative law for two
years. I also owe special thanks to my esteemed colleague Alan Bogg for his unceasing
support, especially in the second year of my part-time leave. He was, is, and I’m sure
will ever remain the epitome of civic virtues.
I have been extremely fortunate to benefit from a supportive academic community,
who have listened to my vague ramblings, encouraged my search for new ideas, and
read many a badly written draft. Foremost in this regard, I owe an extremely large
debt of gratitude to Paul Craig. Space really does preclude a proportionate expression
of my thanks, so I’m afraid that Paul will have to make do, for now, with words that
barely scrape through an application of the Wednesbury unreasonableness standard of
scrutiny. I will limit myself to two points. Not only did he read the entire book in
draft form, graciously pointing out errors and hostages to fortune, but also he has
been a constant source of support and encouragement. I am also grateful to Graham
Gee, Hayley Hooper, and Menelaos Markakis for their comments on earlier drafts. It
is always problematic to provide a list of all who have listened to arguments or acted
as a sounding board for my, often strange, ideas on public law which then somehow
made their way into this book, or were rightly rejected. I can only endeavour to try my
best (and hope anyone I miss off the list realizes that this is due to exhaustion and my
own forgetfulness). With that note of disclaimer, I would like to thank: Farrah Ahmed,
Trevor Allan, Merris Amos, Nicholas Bamforth, Nick Barber, Sophie Boyron, Paul
Craig, Richard Danbury, Stephen Dimelow, Mark Elliott, Carolyn Evans, Liz Fisher,
Stephen Gardbaum, Andrew Geddis, Graham Gee, Les Green, Carol Harlow, Janet
Hiebert, Hayley Hooper, Grant Huscroft, Aileen Kavanagh, Tarunabh Khaitan, Jeff
King, Roger Masterman, Danny Nicol, Jane Norton, Sebastian Payne, Adam Perry,
Gavin Phillipson, Rick Rawlings, Kent Roach, Ewan Smith, Adrienne Stone, Stephen
Tierney, and Grégoire Webber.
I am also fortunate to benefit from working with extremely bright and enthusiastic
students, many of whom have suffered these ideas sneaking into tutorials and BCL
seminars. To that extent, I would like simultaneously to thank, and apologize to, the
undergraduate law students at Hertford, Merton, Balliol, and Keble, in addition to
anyone attending the comparative public law seminars. Whenever I mentioned ‘it’s
all about the dialogue …’, or muttered darkly about being a ‘dialogue theorist’, this is
what I meant.
There are also those who have supplied tea, coffee, and a friendly face to help
me through what have been some dark and difficult times whilst writing this book.
Without their support, I’d not have made it to the end of the book. My thanks go to
Alan Bogg, Oliver Butler, Richard Danbury, Stephen Dimelow, Hayley Hooper, Jieun
viii
viii Acknowledgements
Kiaer, James Lazarus, Graham May, Dana Mills, Rebecca Sitsapesan, and Felix Wardle.
I would also like to thank ‘the mothership’—Grace, Jill, Laura, Shelly, and Tina—
Hannah, and the rest of my Springboard group. I also need to thank my family—
Duncan, Imogen, Bagheera, and Roo.
Alison L Young
Oxford
July 2016
ix
Table of Contents
Table of Authorities xiii
Introduction 1
I. A Brief Introduction to Democratic Dialogue: Panacea
or Placebo? 2
II. Prisoner Voting: A Franchise too Far? 11
III. Defining Dialogue—A Distinct Constitutional Model? 16
IV. Inevitable Collapse? 22
A. Unstable democratic dialogue 23
B. Unstable legal and political constitutionalism 27
V. Outline of the Argument 30
x Table of Contents
Table of Contents xi
Conclusion 295
I. The British Bill of Rights 296
II. Brexit 301
III. Conclusion 305
Index 307
xii
xiii
Table of Authorities
UNITED KINGDOM
Al Rawi v Security Service [2011] UKSC 34, [2012] 1 AC 531 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Ashby v White (1705) 2 Ld Raym 938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223 . . . . . . . 59, 215
Attorney General’s Reference (No 60 of 2013), R v McLoughlin; R v Newell [2014]
EWCA Crim 188, [2014] 3 All ER 73 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272, 273, 298
Attorney-General for New South Wales v Trethowan [1932] AC 526 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181, 198
AXA General Insurance v Lord Advocate [2011] UKSC 46 [2012]
1 AC 868 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198, 220, 252, 300, 304
Bank Mellat v Her Majesty’s Treasury (No 1) [2013] UKSC 38, [2014]
AC 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250, 251
Bate’s Case (1608) 2 St Tr 371 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Bellinger v Bellinger [2003] UKHL 21, [2003] 2 AC 267 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Benkharbouche v Embassy of the Republic of Sudan [2015] EWCA Civ 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194, 219
Burmah Oil Company Ltd v Lord Advocate [1965] AC 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94, 137
Davis v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 1185,
[2016] 1 CMLR 1515 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194, 195, 219, 249
Derbyshire County Council v Times [1993] AC 534 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213, 214
Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza [2004] UKHL 30, [2004] 2 AC 557 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Google v Vidal-Hall [2015] EWCA Civ 311, [2016] 2 All ER 337 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195, 219, 220
Hirst v Attorney General [2001] EHWC (Admin) 239, [2001] EHRR 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
HMRC v Aimia Coalition Loyalty Limited [2013] UKSC 15, [2013] 2 All ER 719 . . . . . . . 292, 291
Huang v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] UKHL 11, [2007]
2 AC 167 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Kennedy v Charity Commission [2014] UKSC 20, [2014] 2 All ER 847 . . . . . . . . . . . 214, 215, 216
Manchester City Council v Pinnock [2010] UKSC 45, [2010] 3 WLR 1441 . . . . . . . . . . 255, 261, 268
Miss Behavin’ Ltd v Belfast City Council [2007] UKHL 19, [2007] NI 89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215, 229
Moohan v Lord Advocate [2014] UKSC 67, [2015] AC 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247, 261, 303, 304
Osborn v Parole Board [2013] UKSC 61, [2014] AC 1115 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203, 215
Pepper v Hart [1992] UKHL 3, [1993] AC 593 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Pham v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKSC 19, [2015] 1 WLR 1591 . . . . . . 216
Prohibitions del Roy (1607) 12 Co Rep 63, 77 ER 1342 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38, 39
R (Ahmed) v Her Majesty’s Treasury [2010] UKSC 2, [2010] 2 AC 534 . . . . 138, 192, 213, 249, 253
R (Al Skeini) v Minister of Defence [2007] UKHL 26, [2008] 1 AC 153 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
R (Animal Defenders International) v Secretary of State for Culture, Media
and Sport [2008] UKHL 15, [2008] 1 AC 1312 . . . . . . . . . 202, 203, 227, 265, 266, 267, 269
R (Chester) v Secretary of State for Justice [2013] UKSC 63,
[2014] AC 271 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232, 233, 234, 235, 261, 269, 270, 274, 291
R (Hicks) v Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2014] EWCA Civ 3,
[2014] 1 WLR 2152 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
R (HS2) v Secretary of State for Transport [2014] UKSC 3,
[2014] 1 WLR 324 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134, 277, 280, 288, 289, 290, 291, 303
R (Jackson) v Attorney General [2005] UKHL 56, [2006]
1 AC 262 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134, 199, 200, 220, 252, 300, 304
R (Keyu) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2015]
UKSC 69, [2015] 3 WLR 1665 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214, 217, 246
R (Lord Carlile of Berriew QC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
[2014] UKSC 60, [2015] AC 945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215, 229
R (M) v Secretary of State for Health [2003] EWHC 1094 (Admin), [2003]
3 All ER 672n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223, 225
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin) . . . . . 301
R (Miranda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
xiv
AUSTRALIA
Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth (1992) 177 C LR 106 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Roach v Electoral Commissioner (2007) 233 CLR 162 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CANADA
Ford v Quebec (Attorney General) [1998] 2 SCR 712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Sauvé v Canada (Attorney General) (Sauvé I) [1993] 2 SCR 438 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 18, 24, 25, 26
Sauvé v the Attorney General of Canada (Sauvé II) [2002] 3 SCR 519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 18, 25
Table of Authorities xv
Hirst v UK (No 2) (Application Number 74025/01), (2005) 42 EHRR 849 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14
Hutchinson v UK [2015] ECHR 57592/08 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273, 298
JT v United Kingdom (Application Number 26494/95), [2000] 1 FLR 909,
[2000] Fam Law 533 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Pretty v United Kingdom (Application 2346/02), [2002] ECHR 2346/02, 35 EHRR 1 . . . . . . . . 77
Scoppola v Italy (No 3) [2012] ECHR 126/05; 33 BHRC 126 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Smith and Grady v United Kingdom [2000] ECHR 33985/96, (2000) 31 EHRR 620 . . . . . . . . 215
Verein gegen Tierfabriken (VgT) v Switzerland Application Number 24699/94,
(2001) 10 BHRC 473 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202, 203, 265, 266, 267
Vinter v UK [2013] ECHR 66069/09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272, 273, 298
EUROPEAN UNION
C-617/10 Åklagaren v Hans Åkerberg Fransson [2013] 2 CMLT 1273 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217, 218
C-106/77 Amminstrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Simmenthal SpA
[1978] ECR 629 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276, 280
C-283/81 CILFIT v Ministry of Health [1982] ECR 3415 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
C-260/89 ERT [1991] ECR I-2925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
C-318/85 Foto-Frost v Hauptzollamt Lübeck-Ost [1987] ECR 2811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
C-117/14 Grima Janet Nisttahuz Poclava v Jose Maria Ariza Toldedano
[2015] All ER (D) 104 (Feb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
C-11/70 Internationale Handelsgesellschaft v Einfuhr-und Vorratstelle für Getreide und
Futtermittel [1970] ECR 1125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
C-224/01 Gerhard Köbler v Republik Österreich [2003] ECR I-10239, [2004] QB 848 . . . . . . . 259
C-434/08 International Transport Workers Federation v Viking Line ABP [2007]
I-ECR 10779 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284, 285
C-555/07 Kücükdeveci v Swedex GMbH & Co KG [2010] ECR I-365 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
C-341/05 Laval un Partneri Ltd v Svenskabyggnadsarbetareförbundet [2007]
ECR I-11767 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284, 285
C-144/04 Mangold v Helm [2005] ECR I-9981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
C-36/02 Omega Spielhallen under Automatenaufstellungs-GmbH v
Oberbürgermeisterin der Bundesstadt Bonn [2004] I ECR-9609 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282, 283, 287
C-63/83 R v Kent Kirk [1984] ECR 2689 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
C-112/00 Schmidberger v Austria [2000] ECR I-5694 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
C-29/69 Stauder v City of Ulm [1969] ECR 419 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
C-399/11 Stefano Melloni v Ministerio Fiscal [2013] QB 1067 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 10, 286, 287
C-26/62 Van Gen den Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen
[1963] ECR 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276, 280
GERMANY
Case 2 BvR 2134, 2159/92 Maastricht [1993] BVerfGE 89, [1994] 1 CMLR 57 . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
SOUTH AFRICA
August v The Electoral Commission (CCT 8/99) [1999] ZACC 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 18, 28, 155
Harris v Minister for the Interior [1952] (2) SA 428 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181, 198
Minister for Home Affairs v National Institute for Crime Prevention and
the Re-integration of Offenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 18, 155
xvi
Introduction
1 See, for example, L Fisher, Constitutional Dialogues: Interpretation as Political Process (Princeton
University Press 1988) and RA Burt, The Constitution in Conflict (Belknap, Harvard University
Press 1992).
2 See, for example, B Friedman, ‘Dialogue and Judicial Review’ (1993) 91 Michigan Law
Review 577.
3 P Hogg and A Bushell, ‘The Charter Dialogue between Courts and Legislatures (Or Perhaps The
Charter of Rights Isn’t Such a Bad Thing After All)’ (1997) 35 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 75.
4 See, for example, N MacCormick, Questioning Sovereignty (Oxford University Press 1999) and
MP Maduro, ‘Contrapunctual Law: Europe’s Constitutional Pluralism in Action’ in N Walker (ed),
Sovereignty in Transition (Oxford, Hart 2003) 532.
5 See S Gardbaum, The New Commonwealth Model of Constitutionalism: Theory and Practice
(Cambridge University Press 2013) 32–35.
Democratic Dialogue and the Constitution. First Edition. Alison L Young. © Alison L Young 2017.
Published 2017 by Oxford University Press.
2
which also recognize the need for the legislature and the judiciary to work together to
protect human rights and control the executive.
As with every popular phrase, however, the more it is used, the more we begin to
doubt its utility. In particular, there are concerns as to what dialogue actually means
and whether it can deliver on its promises. What does it mean for courts and legis-
latures to talk to each other about human rights? How can national, supranational,
and international courts interact with each other when it comes to protecting human
rights? Is it possible to provide a theory that can combine the strengths of legal and
political protections of human rights whilst negating their weaknesses? Can you pro-
vide an account of a midway theory of constitutional law without this collapsing into
a more refined theory of either legal or political constitutionalism?
This book is concerned with answering these questions. To do so it needs to first
define dialogue before assessing its claims to provide a better account of constitutional
law and of the manner in which we should protect human rights. The purpose of this
introduction is to provide a guide to the reader coming across these claims for the first
time, and to provide a context within which to assess this theory. To define and defend
dialogue is no easy task. It is easy to dismiss the theory as making overly general claims
that cannot be defended, or of providing an account of constitutional law that it is
impossible to define or to distinguish from other accounts of the constitution or other
means of protecting human rights. This book aims to answer these criticisms.
Introduction 3
11 For the most comprehensive account of this model of constitutionalism, see Gardbaum (n 5).
12 Canadian Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (n 7).
13 New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1992. 14 The Human Rights Act 1998.
15 The Australian Capital Territories Human Rights Act 2004 and the Victorian Charter of Human
Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.
4
Introduction 5
22 D Nicol, ‘Law and Politics after the Human Rights Act’ [2006] Public Law 722.
23 ibid, 746.
24 T Hickman, ‘Constitutional Dialogue, Constitutional Theories and the Human Rights Act
1998’ [2005] Public Law 306, 327.
25 ibid, 322–26. 26 ibid, 327.
6
democratic dialogue models of human rights protections would appear be, at best, a
broad church and, at worst, no different from traditional models of rights protections.
These fears are exacerbated by concerns that these models, in practice, will inevitably
collapse into legal or parliamentary protections of rights and would appear to be real-
ized in the range of commonwealth models of human rights protections analysed in
Gardbaum’s work. They are also replicated in academic commentary advocating differ-
ent ways in which constitutional powers given to the courts and the legislature should
be exercised. The more we realize these problems, the more difficult it is to determine
whether democratic dialogue can deliver its proposed resolution of the democratic
deficit problem.
These concerns escalate when we examine the other areas in which democratic dia-
logue has developed. Hogg and Bushell’s seminal work gave rise to a plethora of articles
advocating the values of democratic dialogue. However, it is important to recognize
that Hogg and Bushell’s analysis did not purport to provide a normative justifica-
tion for a novel mechanism of protecting human rights. It was descriptive, analys-
ing decisions of the Canadian Supreme Court and responses to these decisions by
the Canadian legislature. Hogg and Bushell concluded that this evidence of legislative
responses to judicial decisions weakened the democratic deficit criticism of strong legal
protections of human rights. They did not advocate democratic dialogue as a better
means of protecting human rights. Nor did they provide a theory as to how dialogue
should operate under the Canadian Charter to ensure that the Charter provides the best
protection of human rights. To provide this normative justification, theorists draw on
the traditional arguments used to justify why either the courts or the legislature should
play a predominant role in the protection of human rights. In drawing on these theo-
ries, the claims of democratic dialogue are escalated. Not only can democratic dialogue
provide for a better way of protecting human rights, it also provides a better account
of constitutions as a whole, advocating a middle way between accounts of legal and
political constitutionalism.
Democratic dialogue appears to advocate a midway position between a legal and a
parliamentary protection of human rights, or a position which aims to combine the
relative strengths and weaknesses of legal and political protections of rights, giving the
legislature and the courts a more equal role than might be found in theories of legal or
political constitutionalism. However, arguments for legal or parliamentary protections
of rights are not made in a vacuum. They derive from normative theories which justify
why human rights are better protected by the legislature or by the courts. These theo-
ries, in turn, rely on different understandings of rights and on perceived institutional
and constitutional differences between the legislature and the courts. Those advocating
a strong legal protection of human rights do so because of normative arguments sup-
porting the claim that the judiciary is best-placed to decide these issues. Some advocate
that rights are considered to be objective principles discernible through a process of
moral reasoning and that the judiciary is better suited to carrying out this task, legal
reasoning being closely related to the moral reasoning used to discern the content of
human rights. The judiciary are also regarded as better at protecting human rights
because they can discern when general provisions inadvertently harm human rights. By
focusing on the individual, the judiciary can check whether legislation that provides a
good protection of human rights in general also provides a good protection of human
rights when applied to specific individuals. It is also argued courts are the best institu-
tion to regulate human rights disputes as such disputes normally occur between the
state and the individual. The judiciary, as an independent arbitrator, is best suited to
resolving these complaints, being able to hear both sides and discern the right answer
7
Introduction 7
from a neutral perspective. It is also argued that human rights are those principles that
emerge from judicial decision. As such, by definition they can only be defined by the
judiciary.
Those who propose a parliamentary protection of rights may argue that rights are
best determined by democratically accountable bodies as rights are not objective, but
are merely another example of a policy argument to protect a particular interest.
If the resolution of rights does not require moral reasoning, but the balancing of
competing interest groups and the negotiation of an acceptable compromise, this is
best performed by a democratically accountable legislative body than by a court. In a
similar manner, others argue that human rights are contestable. It can be reasonable
to disagree about the range of human rights a society should protect, the way in which
rights should be defined, or how rights should be applied to a particular situation.
This contestability also means that moral reasoning about rights is insufficient. If it
is reasonable to disagree about rights, then it may be reasonable to disagree with the
conclusions reached by courts when applying legal or moral reasoning in a particular
human rights decision. Legislatures are better at solving these issues; not because
they are more likely to reach the right conclusion but because they will reach the
conclusion in a more legitimate manner. More groups and individuals will be able
to contribute to the debate, either directly or indirectly. In addition, the democratic
accountability of the legislature enables legislatures to be better held to account for
their decisions than the judiciary. It is also argued that legislatures are better at pro-
tecting individual rights. To see the legislature as formed of large majorities empow-
ered to restrict the rights of minorities is to misunderstand its composition. Rather,
the legislature is made up of groups representing divergent minority interests who
need to group together to form a majority. As such, legislatures are just as likely, if not
more likely, to protect the rights of minority groups than the judiciary.
These arguments are connected to a broader tension between legal and political
constitutionalism. Those advocating a strong legal protection of human rights rely on
arguments similar to those underpinning legal constitutionalism whereas those advo-
cating a parliamentary protection of rights, in turn, rely on arguments similar to those
underpinning political constitutionalism. Advocates of legal constitutionalism argue
for the need for a strong legal protection of rights, but also for a larger role for the
judiciary in other areas of the constitution. Legal constitutionalists, for example, are
likely to advocate a written constitution, with the judiciary possessing the final say on
the interpretation of all constitutional provisions, not just those protecting human
rights—courts for example would be called in to resolve issues concerning the legal
powers of the Queen when enacting legislation, the powers of the executive to declare
war, form Treaties, or even to form a government and dissolve Parliament. Advocates
of political constitutionalism do not merely advocate a greater role for the legislature in
the protection of human rights, but also with regard to other areas of the constitution.
They would argue that it is for the legislature and not the courts to govern ministerial
misconduct, the dissolution of Parliament, and the exercise of prerogative powers by
the Queen or by Ministers acting on her behalf. Broadly speaking, legal constitution-
alism advocates legal regulation of the constitution, regarding this as the best means
of ensuring the protection of the rule of law and the separation of powers. Political
constitutionalism advocates greater political regulation of the constitution, motivated
by concerns of the anti-democratic nature of legal regulation by a non-democratically
accountable and non-democratically representative judiciary.
Although not expressed in terms of a tension between legal and political consti-
tutionalism, similar arguments are found in legal systems that have an entrenched
8
Constitution. As we saw in our brief account of two competing views as to the appli-
cation of the Human Rights Act 1998, constitutional provisions can be interpreted
differently. The more constitutional provisions are interpreted according to the original
intentions of the authors, the smaller the relative power given to the courts to interpret
constitutional provisions. The same argument operates in the opposite direction. The
less attention courts pay to the original intentions of the author, the greater the power
of the court to develop its own interpretation of constitutional provisions. This is not
to argue that those advocating a form of originalism, where greater attention is to be
paid to the intention of the authors of constitutional documents, are drawing on the
same arguments as political constitutionalists. However, the effect of different theories
of constitutional interpretation is similar to the consequences of political and legal
constitutionalism. It redistributes relative power between the legislature and the judi-
ciary to authoritatively determine the content of constitutional provisions, including
constitutional provisions including human rights.
Democratic dialogue, therefore, can lay claims not only to provide a different model
of human rights protections, but also to pave the way for a novel theory of constitu-
tionalism. It aims to combine the advantages of legal and political constitutionalism,
whilst minimizing the weaknesses of these protections. However, with this broadening
of the normative claims of democratic dialogue come even greater difficulties of defin-
ing a clear, stable account of democratic dialogue that does not collapse into a theory of
legal or political constitutionalism in practice. The difficulty of defining and defending
dialogue as a new theory of constitutionalism may explain the second, more modest
development of democratic dialogue when applied to protections of human rights.
Democratic dialogue advocates dialogue as opposed to conflict. Instead of granting
powers to the legislature or the judiciary to provide the final authoritative determina-
tion of the content of human or constitutional rights, the two institutions are encour-
aged to interact and work together to provide a solution.
This preference for interaction and discussion is also suggested as a possible solution
to other tensions that arise in the protection of rights. Tensions can arise in particular
between domestic and international protections of human rights. This is particularly
true in the United Kingdom, where the Human Rights Act 1998 does not provide a
separate domestic list of British human rights incorporating instead the provisions of
the European Convention of Human Rights. In addition, directly effective European
Union law may also protect human rights, applying to UK legal provisions which are
in the scope of European Union law.27 This tension often takes place between domestic
and international or supranational constitutional courts designed to protect human
rights. Democratic dialogue, therefore, may appear to go beyond resolving tensions
between legislatures and courts, being capable of providing a framework of relieving
potential tensions between different courts, albeit one where the focus is more on
dialogue and the purpose is no longer one of providing a remedy for the potential
democratic deficit which occurs when courts strike down legislative provisions.
27 Although the United Kingdom voted on 23 June 2016 in favour of leaving the European Union,
European Union law will continue to apply in the United Kingdom unless and until a withdrawal
agreement between the United Kingdom and the rest of the EU is concluded, or until the negotiation
period (two years, with the possibility of agreed extensions) has passed and no agreement has been
reached (article 50 TFEU). At the time of writing, the United Kingdom had still not triggered article
50 by notifying the European Council of its intention to leave the European Union. This book will
discuss the law is it currently stands, drawing attention to the possible future repercussions of the
Referendum decision.
9
Introduction 9
With regard to European Union law, tensions arise when the Court of Justice of the
European Union and national constitutional courts reach divergent conclusions over
human rights issues. One recent example of this conflict arose in Melloni, concerning
the application of the European Arrest Warrant.28 The Spanish Constitutional Court
concluded that it would be contrary to its constitutional protection of rights to execute
the arrest warrant for Mr Melloni. Mr Melloni had been tried in absentia. The Spanish
constitution, as interpreted by the court, required that those tried in absentia should
be able to demand a retrial. However, Italian law precluded a retrial. Moreover, the
Framework Directive regulating the European Arrest Warrant did not require a retrial
as, although Mr Melloni had been tried in absentia he had been represented by legal
counsel at the trial.29 Difficulties arise in this case given different conclusions reached
on the same issue by two constitutional courts. The Spanish Constitutional Court pro-
vided Mr Melloni with a stronger protection of rights than that found in the European
Arrest Warrant as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In Melloni, the Court of Justice resolved this conflict by focusing on the supremacy
of European Union law, with the provisions of the European Arrest Warrant overriding
the procedural protections found in the Spanish Constitution.30 However, to resolve
the case in this manner may create potential problems. First, problems arise for the
legitimacy of European Union law which appears to prefer the weaker protection of
rights found in the Framework Decision establishing the European Arrest Warrant as
opposed to the stronger human rights protections found in the Spanish Constitution.
Second, problems arise with regard to the relationships between the Court of Justice
of the European Union and national constitutional courts. The European Union relies
on national courts to implement directly effective provisions of European Union law.
However, difficulties arise for national constitutional courts when directly effective
European Union law clashes with the constitutional protection of rights found in their
national constitutions. Is it legitimate for a national constitutional court to have its
stronger protection of human rights overridden by the weaker protection of human
rights found in European Union law?
Dialogue between the national constitutional courts and the Court of Justice of
the European Union is seen as a potential resolution to this conflict. National con-
stitutional courts can alert the Court of Justice of the European Union to potential
conflicts, empowering the court to determine whether European Union law can be
re-interpreted so as to avoid these potential clashes. Dialogue between the courts can
help to reduce instances of potential conflicts as well as enhancing the legitimacy of
European Union law, helping it to provide a protection of human rights that respects
the strong protection of human rights found in national constitutions. Clashes and
conflicts are replaced with dialogue and compromise. This need not mean, however,
that dialogue will resolve all problems. Melloni itself can be interpreted as a situa-
tion where the Court of Justice of the European Union ignored dialogue, refusing to
respond to the concerns raised by the Spanish Constitutional Court by allowing for
a compromise, enabling the Spanish to provide a stronger protection of rights than
that found in European Union law.31 Alternatively, it could be argued that dialogue
had taken place earlier, with a series of criticisms of the European Arrest Warrant
Introduction 11
An overview of the law relating to prison voting in the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa easily demon-
strates that prisoner voting rights is a contestable rights-issue. Not only is there a range
of solutions to this rights-issue across the spectrum, but, particularly in the United
Kingdom and in New Zealand, the law has either recently changed or is currently in
the process of change. The strongest protection of prisoner voting rights is found in
Canada, Ireland, and South Africa, where all prisoners are entitled to vote. The oppo-
site extreme is found in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, which currently have
a blanket ban on prisoner voting. The middle ground is exemplified by the United
States and Australia. The US Constitution allows states to remove the franchise from
prisoners, empowering each state to determine whether it wishes to remove the vote
from prisoners. Australia delineates between categories of prisoners who are allowed to
vote and those removed from the franchise.
The blanket ban on prisoner voting in the United Kingdom is found in section
3(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983. This provides that ‘[a]convicted
person during the time that he is detained in a penal institution in pursuance of
his sentence … is legally incapable of voting at any parliamentary or local election’.
However, this blanket ban has been subject to challenge before the European Court
of Human Rights for contravening article 3 of the First Protocol of the European
Convention on Human Rights, which provides that ‘[t]he High Contracting Parties
undertake to hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under condi-
tions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice
of the legislature’. In the joined cases of R (Pearson and Martinez) v Secretary of State
for the Home Department and Hirst v Attorney General, the UK courts concluded that
there was no breach of article 3 of the First Protocol, recognizing that the European
Court of Human Rights provided for a wide margin of appreciation with regard to the
interpretation of the right, as well as recognizing both that Parliament had continued
to approve legislation that removed the franchise from prisoners and that this was a
matter more suited for legislative as opposed to judicial resolution.33 Hirst appealed
to the European Court of Human Rights. In Hirst v UK (No 2) the fourth section of
the European Court of Human Rights concluded that the absolute ban was a dispro-
portionate restriction of article 3 of the First Protocol.34 The court recognized that
there was a wide margin of appreciation granted to the signatory states. In particular,
states have a wide margin of appreciation to determine whether distinctions as to the
categories of prisoners entitled to vote should depend upon the length of sentence
served, or on the serious nature of the offence. States also had a wide margin of
appreciation to determine whether voting rights should be determined by the court
when sentencing is passed or by the executive either at the time of sentencing or at a
later time. Nevertheless a blanket ban removing all prisoners from the franchise was a
disproportionate restriction on the right to vote.35
The UK Government appealed the decision before the Grand Chamber of the
European Court of Human Rights, which confirmed the breach of the Convention on
6 April 2005.36 Again, the Court emphasized that although states had a large margin
of appreciation, it was for the European Court of Human Rights to determine when
a Convention right would be breached and the court concluded that it was contrary
to the Convention for a prisoner to forfeit his or her right to vote merely because they
ARTICLE 83.
According to the intention of Article 82 the following shall
be considered "Head Officials": The State Attorney, Treasurer,
Auditor, Superintendent of Education, Orphan-Master, Registrar
of Deeds, Surveyor-General, Postmaster-General, Head of the
Mining Department, Chief Director of the Telegraph Service,
and Chief of Public Works.
ARTICLE 84.
The President shall be Chairman of the Executive Council, and
in case of an equal division of votes have a casting vote. For
the ratification of sentences of death, or declarations of
war, the unanimous vote of the Executive Council shall be
requisite for a decision. …
ARTICLE 87.
All resolutions of the Executive Council and official letters
of the President must, besides being signed by him, also be
signed by the Secretary of State. The latter is at the same
time responsible that the contents of the resolution, or the
letter, is not in conflict with the existing laws.
ARTICLE 88.
The two enfranchised burghers or members of the Executive
Council contemplated by Article 82 are chosen by the Volksraad
for the period of three years, the Commandant-General for ten
years; they must be members of a Protestant Church, have had
no sentence in a criminal court to their discredit, and have
reached the age of thirty years.
ARTICLE 89.
The Secretary of State is chosen also by the Volksraad, but is
appointed for the period of four years. On resignation or
expiration of his term he is re-eligible. He must be a member
of a Protestant Church, have had no sentence in a criminal
court to his discredit, possess fixed property in the
Republic, and have reached the age of thirty years. …
ARTICLE 93.
The military force consists of all the men of this Republic
capable of bearing arms, and if necessary of all those of the
natives within its boundaries whose chiefs are subject to it.
ARTICLE 94.
Besides the armed force of burghers to be called up in times
of disturbance or war, there exists a general police and corps
of artillery, for which each year a fixed sum is drawn upon
the estimates.
ARTICLE 95.
The men of the white people capable of bearing arms are all
men between the ages of sixteen and sixty years; and of the
natives, only those which are capable of being made
serviceable in the war.
ARTICLE 96.
For the subdivision of the military force the territory of
this Republic is divided into field-cornetcies and districts.
…
ARTICLE 97.
The men are under the orders of the following officers,
ascending in rank: Assistant Field-Cornets, Field-Cornets,
Commandants, and a Commandant-General.
CONSTITUTION OF SWITZERLAND:
Amendments.
{170}
CONSTITUTION OF UTAH.
COOMASSIE,
KUMASSI:
Occupation by the British.
Siege and relief.
COPTIC CHURCH:
Authority of the Pope re-established.
COREA.
COSTA RICA.
CRETE:
Recent archæological explorations.
Supposed discovery of the Palace of Minos and
the Cretan Labyrinth.
Fresh light on the origin of the Alphabet.
CRETE: A. D. 1896.
Conflict between Christians and Mussulmans,
and its preceding causes.
CRETE: A. D. 1897.
Fresh conflicts.
Reports of the British Consul-General and others.
Greek interference and demands for annexation to Greece.
Action of the Great Powers.
Blockade of the island.
CRETE: A. D. 1897.
Withdrawal of Greek troops.
Acceptance of autonomy by the Greek government.
CRETE: A. D. 1897-1898.
Prolonged anarchy, and blockade by the Powers.
Final departure of Turkish troops and officials.
Government established under Prince George of Greece.
CRETE: A. D. 1901.
Successful administration of Prince George of Greece.
CRISPI, Signor:
Ministry.
CRISPI, Signor:
Parliamentary investigation of charges against.
See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1898 (MARCH-JUNE).
CROKER, "Boss."
CROMER, Viscount:
Administration in Egypt.
----------CUBA: Start--------
Map of Cuba and West Indies.
CUBA: A. D. 1868-1885.
Ten years of insurrection.
The United States and Spain.
The Affair of the Virginius.
End of Slavery.
"In February, 1873, when King Amadeus resigned his crown and a
republic was proclaimed in Spain, the United States made haste to
give the new government recognition and support, which led to
friendly relations between the two countries for a time, and
promised happy results. The Spanish republicans were being
urged to give the Cubans self-government and end slavery in
the whole Spanish domain, and they were lending, at least, a
considerate ear to the advice. But negotiation on that topic
was soon disturbed. On October 31, 1873, the steamer
'Virginius,' sailing under American colors and carrying a
United States registry, was captured on the high seas by the
'Tornado,' a Spanish war vessel, and on the afternoon of the
first of November taken into the port of Santiago de Cuba. The
men and supplies she bore were bound for the insurgents, but
the capture did not occur in Cuban waters. General Burriel,
the commandant of the city, summoned a court-martial, and, in
spite of the protests of the American consul, condemned to
death—at the first sitting—four of the passengers—General W.
A. C. Ryan, an Irish patriot, and three Cubans. They were shot
on the morning of November 4. On the 7th twelve other
passengers were executed, and on the 8th Captain Fry and his
entire crew, numbering 36, making the total number of
executions 53." This barbarous procedure caused hot excitement
in the United States, and demands for reparation were made so
sharply that the two countries came near to war. In the end it
was shown that the "Virginius" was sailing under the American
flag without right, being owned by Cubans and controlled by
them. The vessel was surrendered, however, but foundered off
Cape Fear, while being conveyed to the United States. Her
surviving passengers were released, and an indemnity was paid
for all who were put to death. The brutal officer who took
their lives was never brought to justice, though his
punishment was promised again and again. On the settlement of
the Virginius question, the government of the United States
resumed its efforts to wring concessions to the Cubans from
Spain, and sought to have its efforts supported by Great
Britain and other European powers. Cold replies came from all
the cabinets that were approached. At the same time, the
Spanish government met the demand from America with promises
so lavish (April, 1876), going so far in appearance towards
all that had been asked, that no ground for intervention
seemed left. The act of Secretary Fish, in proposing
intervention to foreign powers, was sharply criticised as a
breach of the Monroe doctrine; but he made no defense.
J. H. Latané,
The Diplomatic Relations of the United States
and Spanish America,
chapter 3.
CUBA: A. D. 1895.
Insurrection renewed.
Early in 1895 a new uprising of the oppressed Cubans was
begun, and on the 7th of December, in that year, T. Estrada
Palma, writing as their authorized representative, presented
to the State Department at Washington a statement setting
forth the causes of the revolt and describing its state of
organization at that time. The causes, he wrote, "are
substantially the same as those of the former revolution,
lasting from 1868 to 1878, and terminating only on the
representation of the Spanish Government that Cuba would be
granted such reforms as would remove the grounds of complaint
on the part of the Cuban people. Unfortunately the hopes thus
held out have never been realized. The representation which
was to be given the Cubans has proved to be absolutely without
character; taxes have been levied anew on everything
conceivable; the offices in the island have increased, but the
officers are all Spaniards; the native Cubans have been left
with no public duties whatsoever to perform, except the
payment of taxes to the Government and blackmail to the
officials, without privilege even to move from place to place
in the island except on the permission of the governmental
authority. Spain has framed laws so that the natives have
substantially been deprived of the right of suffrage. The
taxes levied have been almost entirely devoted to support the
army and navy in Cuba, to pay interest on the debt that Spain
has saddled on the island, and to pay the salaries of the vast
number of Spanish officeholders, devoting only $746,000 for
internal improvements out of the $26,000,000 collected by tax.
No public schools are within reach of the masses for their
education. All the principal industries of the island are
hampered by excessive imposts. Her commerce with every country
but Spain has been crippled in every possible manner, as can
readily be seen by the frequent protests of shipowners and
merchants. The Cubans have no security of person or property.
The judiciary are instruments of the military authorities.
Trial by military tribunals can be ordered at any time at the
will of the Captain-General. There is, beside, no freedom of
speech, press, or religion. In point of fact, the causes of
the Revolution of 1775 in this country were not nearly as
grave as those that have driven the Cuban people to the
various insurrections which culminated in the present
revolution. …
{172}
{173}
CUBA: A. D. 1896-1897.
Captain-General Campos succeeded by General Weyler.
Weyler's Concentration Order and other edicts.
Death of Antonio Maceo.
Weyler succeeded by Blanco.
"Article 1.
All inhabitants of the district of Sancti Spiritus and the
provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba will have to
concentrate in places which are the headquarters of a
division, a brigade, a column, or a troop, and will have to be
provided with documentary proof of identity, within eight days
of the publication of this proclamation in the municipalities.
"Article 2.
To travel in the country in the radius covered by the columns
in operation, it is absolutely indispensable to have a pass
from the mayor, military commandants, or chiefs of
detachments. Anyone lacking this will be detained and sent to
headquarters of divisions or brigades, and thence to Havana,
at my disposition, by the first possible means. Even if a pass
is exhibited, which is suspected to be not authentic or granted
by authority to person with known sympathy toward the
rebellion, or who show favor thereto, rigorous measures will
result to those responsible.
"Article 3.
All owners of commercial establishments in the country
districts will vacate them, and the chiefs of columns will
take such measures as the success of their operations dictates
regarding such places which, while useless for the country's
wealth, serve the enemy as hiding places in the woods and in
the interior.
"Article 4.
All passes hitherto issued hereby become null and void."