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10 October 2019 / Michael L Nash
Issue: 7859 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law , Brexit
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A realignment of law & power?

Michael L Nash examines the delicate balancing act between the three pillars of power in times of crisis
  • Throughout British history, the balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has always been shifting and realigning. 
  • What role does the monarch play in this balance?

With considerable foresight, Professor Geoffrey Keeton wrote in 1952, in his book The Passing of Parliament: ‘It is in times of difficulty that the dangers from extremists are greatest… it is then that desperate remedies have the best chance of being tried, and when there may be a general disposition to trust a group, or even a single man, with uncontrolled powers, to make far-reaching experiments. Under the present conditions which now exist in Great Britain, this can be quickly and legally achieved by… continuing to exclude or to confine within narrow limits the right of recourse to the ordinary courts.’

This, then, brings into sharp focus the role of the trinity of powers which exist in any country

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Paula Myers to private capital team in Leeds

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

Law firm mfg Solicitors announces five promotions at Birmingham office

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners adds six to partnership in record year for partner promotions

NEWS
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Law firms should use the transition period before the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumes anti-money laundering (AML) supervision to strengthen governance and compliance, experts have warned
Cross-border disputes increasingly demand creative approaches to gathering evidence, with litigators needing to look beyond traditional letters of request
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified the distinction between contracts of 'indefinite' and 'perpetual' duration, with potentially significant implications for commercial drafting
The Court of Appeal was entitled to uphold the government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, according to an analysis of the ruling
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