CPL Seminar: 'Reflections on the Evans case'

Speakers: Trevor Allan and Mark Elliott, University of Cambridge
Location: Moot Court Room

Evans v Attorney General is a fascinating case, probing a series of interrelated questions of constitutional law and theory. The Supreme Court Justices disagreed about the legality of the Attorney General’s veto—purportedly under the Freedom of Information Act—of the Upper Tribunal’s decision in favour of disclosure of the ‘black spider memos’. There are important questions here about the relationship between basic principles of parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, and the separation of powers. There are also questions about the relationship between law and convention: the Upper Tribunal drew on its own understanding of the ‘education convention’ (regarding the heir to the throne) to support its conclusion about the balance of public interests. There are arguably further questions arising about the nature of law and adjudication—the Justices implicitly invoking competing theories. We will seek to unravel some of these issues, indicating our preferred solutions.

Faculty Members and Visitors, PhD students and LLM Public Law students are welcome.

For more information contact Mark Elliott (mce1000@cam.ac.uk)