Public Law Adjudication in Common Law Systems: Process and Substance
A new book Public Law Adjudication in Common Law Systems: Process and Substance brings together a selection of papers presented at the inaugural Public Law Conference, providing insight into the interaction of the ideas of 'process' and 'substance' in public law adjudication across common law systems.
Edited by Melbourne Law School Associate Professor Jason N. E. Varuhas, and University of Cambridge academics Professor John Bell, Professor Mark Elliott, and Dr Philip Murray, the book comprises a selection of the papers presented at the inaugural Public Law Conference, held at the University of Cambridge in September 2014. The conference was the first in an ongoing series of major international conferences on public law.
Dr Varuhas also contributed a chapter to the collection, which articulates a public interest theory of public law, as did Melbourne Law School’s Laureate Professor Emeritus Cheryl Saunders, whose chapter offers comparative reflections on public law adjudication and scholarship across common law systems.
The book explores the way in which relationships and distinctions between the notions of 'process' and 'substance' play out in relation to and inform adjudication in public law cases. The collected essays address those issues from a variety of perspectives. While the bulk of the chapters consider topical issues in judicial review, either on common law or human rights grounds, or both, other chapters adopt more theoretical, historical, empirical or contextual approaches.
Concluding chapters reflect generally on the papers in the collection and the value of facilitating cross-jurisdictional dialogue. Like the conference itself, the book reflects the fact that while those from common law jurisdictions share background understandings, significant differences between such systems create opportunities for valuable exchanges of ideas and debate.
From the Foreword by Lord Justice Laws, English Court of Appeal: “This was a conference of very real value, for the depth and range of thought which its contributors brought to Cambridge. Its product— the contents of this book— will interest and stimulate thinking lawyers for a long time to come; an interest which will be renewed by the conference’s successor”.
The second conference in the series is to be held at the University of Cambridge in September 2016. Dr Varuhas is a founder and co-convenor of the series, while Professor Saunders is a member of the conference advisory board. Both will be presenting at the 2016 conference.
The book was published by Hart Publishing Ltd, which also sponsors the Public Law conferences
More information on the Public Law series of conferences can be found here.
More information on public law events and activities at Melbourne Law School can be found on the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies’ website.