The constitution of law : legality in a time of emergency / David Dyzenhaus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyzenhaus, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War and emergency legislation.

War and emergency powers.

Rule of law.

Physical Description:

xv, 250 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Summary:

Dyzenhaus deals with the urgent question of how governments should respond to emergencies and terrorism by exploring the idea that there is an unwritten constitution of law, exemplified in the common law constitution of Commonwealth countries. He looks mainly to cases decided in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada to demonstrate that even in the absence of an entrenched bill of rights, the law provides a moral resource that can inform a rule-of-law project capable of responding to situations which place legal and political order under great stress. Those cases are discussed against a backdrop of recent writing and judicial decisions in the United States of America in order to show that the issues are not confined to the Commonwealth. The author argues that the rule-of-law project is one in which judges play an important role, but which also requires the participation of the legislature and the executive.

Contents:

Legality in a time of emergency

Constituting the legislature

Taking the administrative state seriously

Unity of public law.

Notes:

"The book is a revised version of a manuscript the author prepared as a basis for the J.C. Smuts Memorial Lectures, four lectures delivered to the faculty of law of the University of Cambridge in November 2004" -- p. ix.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 234-241) and index.

ISBN:

052186075X

9780521860758

0521677955

9780521677950

OCLC:

70399636

Publisher Number:

9780521860758

9780521677950