header-logo header-logo

Updated lawmakers' guide now available

24 July 2024
Categories: Legal News , Public , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail
Civil rights group JUSTICE has launched the latest edition of its Law for Lawmakers guide, due to land on MPs' desks this week

Law for Lawmakers provides up-to-date, easy-to-follow and highly relevant assistance to help MPs navigate lawmaking and protect the rule of law, following recent controversies such as the Rwanda policy and proroguing Parliament during the Brexit years.

It explains key legal and constitutional principles in a readable format, with an abundance of references to recent events. The guide covers UK primary and secondary legislation, the process for tabling amendments, the lawmaking journey, EU law, judicial review, international law, constitutional conventions and much more.

The guide was first published in 2015, and has been updated with the support of law firm A&O Shearman.

Andrew Denny, head of UK public law at A&O Shearman, said: ‘51% of MPs are sitting in Parliament for the first time so this guide couldn’t be more relevant.’

JUSTICE will offer training opportunities and clinics on the guide for MPs and their staff over the coming months.

Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of JUSTICE, said: ‘Where the rule of law is badly eroded, the results—rushed, poorly scrutinised new laws, and threats to judicial independence, for example—hurt us all.’

The guide has also been endorsed by the current attorney general, Lord Richard Hermer KC, and former Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk KC. 

Lord Richard said the guide ‘is an incredibly useful resource in introducing some of the key legal and constitutional principles which lawmakers will encounter’.

Alex Chalk said: ‘The rule of law isn’t an airy, quaint, historic notion—it’s the essential underpinning of a modern, safe, prosperous and fair society.

‘It’s what ensures the guilty are convicted and the innocent walk free. It’s what ensures injustices are put right even when the wrongdoer is powerful. And it’s what promotes Britain's international reputation and attracts investment.

‘But the world of the law, of bewigged judges and judicial review, can feel like a secret garden to MPs—to new ones in particular. This excellent guide gives them the key.’

Download the guide here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
back-to-top-scroll