Cambridge Comparative Constitutional Law Discussion Group (CCCLDG) Work-in-Progress Session: ''Common Law Jurisdictional Hooks to Assess Compliance with Unincorporated International Treaties: An Impermissible Approach'

Speaker: Dane Luo (Pembroke, Oxford)

Please note this event is now online-only.

Abstract: In this book chapter, Gabriel and I critically evaluate recent public law developments about unincorporated international treaties. Two recent Court of Appeal decisions held that, where a public authority has committed in a policy to making decisions in accordance with an unincorporated treaty, a court can judicially review the policy to ensure that the public authority has done so correctly. We argued that this raises significant constitutional issues because it is at odds with the principle of dualism which the Supreme Court has held is a corollary of parliamentary sovereignty. We argued that the better approach is one that gives the government a margin of appreciation over the interpretation of treaties on the international plane. In my presentation, I will use this chapter to discuss the broader role of higher constitutional principles.

Bio: Dane Luo is a DPhil in Law candidate and the Farthing Scholar in Administrative Law at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. His doctoral research focuses on the divisibility of the Crown and constitutional developments in the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations in the 1900s. He assisted the Fiji Law Society in a Supreme Court case and contributed to and edited the next edition of Zuckerman on Civil Procedure. He has also contributed several influential blog posts to the UK Constitutional Association Blog.

Participants can join online via Teams.

The Cambridge Comparative Constitutional Law Discussion Group (CCCLDG), co-convened by Zheng Hong See and Even Y. Chao.

CCCLDG is a forum that brings together graduate students interested in comparative constitutional law and public law in general to discuss recent works and developments in comparative constitutional law.

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Convenors of CCCLDG 2026-27: Zheng Hong See (zhs23@cam.ac.uk) and Even Y. Chao (yyc41@cam.ac.uk).