Speaker: Professor Alison Young (University of Cambridge/Law Commission)
19th March 2025, 5pm-7pm, University of Essex (in person and online)
This exciting event, sponsored by Thomson Reuters and Sweet and Maxwell, who publish the journal Public Law, will delve into the fascinating complexities of constitutional law and the limits of parliamentary power.
Abstract: If there is one key feature of the UK constitution, it is that the Westminster Parliament is sovereign. There are no legally enforceable limits over the ability of the Westminster Parliament to pass legislation. Once enacted, Acts of the Westminster Parliament cannot be questioned outside of Parliament, especially not by a court. The only limit is that no one Westminster Parliament may bind its successors.
In this lecture I will argue that these issues do not concern the sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament. Instead, these statements concern parliamentary legislative supremacy. Having set out this distinction, I will explain why, although the Westminster Parliament may have parliamentary legislative supremacy, it is not supreme. I will also explain why, at least as concerns the current understanding of the UK constitution, it is a good thing both that the Westminster Parliament enjoys parliamentary legislative supremacy and that it is not sovereign.
Alison L. Young is a British legal scholar, specialising in public law and constitutional theory. Since January 2018, she has been Sir David Williams Professor of Public Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge. She was previously a tutor in law and Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford (1997–2000) and of Hertford College, Oxford (2000–2017), and a lecturer then Professor of Public Law in the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford.
She studied law and French at the University of Birmingham, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. She then matriculated into Hertford College, Oxford to undertake postgraduate studies in law, and graduated from the University of Oxford with Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degrees.
She was a runner up for the Inner Temple Book Prize 2018 for her monograph Democratic Dialogue and the Constitution (2017). Since March 2024, Young has served as the Law Commissioner for Public Law and the Law in Wales. Key timings
The in person reception starts at 4.30pm, and the lecture begins (in person and online) at 5.00pm.
All are welcome. This event is open to the general public.
- Please book your free place on Eventbrite.
- You can also join the event online via Zoom.
For full details see: https://www.essex.ac.uk/events/2025/03/19/essex-public-law-lecture
