Complete Public Law

'Complete Public Law' combines extracts from key primary and secondary materials with jargon-free text to provide a resource for the student new to the study of constitutional and administrative law.

Public Law is concerned with the law governing the institutions of the state and the relationship between the state and the individual, and is a core subject for all students reading for a qualifying law degree. This concise, student-friendly guide will help equip students with an understanding of the key aspects of the UK’s political and legal systems as well as building an understanding of the relationship between the different branches of the state such as the executive, legislature and judiciary. Understanding Public Law provides a consideration of the main themes in a logical, progressive manner, highlighting the broader political and social contexts, and focusing on how and why the law has developed as it has. Throughout the text, key terms are identified and explained from the outset, helping students new to the subject familiarize themselves with the vocabulary of public law; chapter outlines and summaries help to focus the reader on the key topics; and a set of self-test questions at the end of each chapter encourage students to consider and reflect on what has been learnt. Understanding Public Law is the ideal introduction to this essential subject.

Foundations of Public Law offers an account of the formation of the discipline of public law with a view to identifying its essential character, explaining its particular modes of operation, and specifying its unique task. Building on the framework first outlined in The Idea of Public Law (OUP, 2003), the book conceives public law broadly as a type of law that comes into existence as a consequence of the secularization, rationalization and positivization of the medieval idea of fundamental law. Formed as a result of the changes that give birth to the modern state, public law establishes the authority and legitimacy of modern governmental ordering. Public law today is a universal phenomenon, but its origins are European. Part I of the book examines the conditions of its formation, showing how much the concept borrowed from the refined debates of medieval jurists. Part II then examines the nature of public law. Drawing on a line of juristic inquiry that developed from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries-extending from Bodin, Althusius, Lipsius, Grotius, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke and Pufendorf to the later works of Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Fichte, Smith and Hegel-it presents an account of public law as a special type of political reason. The remaining three Parts unpack the core elements of this concept: state, constitution, and government. By taking this broad approach to the subject, Professor Loughlin shows how, rather than being viewed as a limitation on power, law is better conceived as a means by which public power is generated. And by explaining the way that these core elements of state, constitution, and government were shaped respectively by the technological, bourgeois, and disciplinary revolutions of the sixteenth century through to the nineteenth century, he reveals a concept of public law of considerable ambiguity, complexity and resilience.

Public Law is a high quality introductory textbook that comprehensively covers the key topics found on undergraduate public law courses. Three key themes that permeate all of the content allow students to approach the content in a structured and easy to understand way and questions posed throughout the chapters give students the opportunity to provide answers that show how their knowledge has increased as the chapter progresses. The key themes are: -The significance of executive power in the contemporary constitution and the challenge of ensuring that those who wield it are held to account -The shift in recent times from a more political to a more legal constitution and the implications of this change -The increasingly 'multi-layered' character of the British constitution Online Resource Centre Public Law is accompanied by a free, open-access Online Resource Centre (www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/orc/elliott_thomas) which offers the following resources to support students: - Figures from the book reproduced online - A list of useful websites for students - Regularly posted legal and political updates for the book - A testbank of questions for tutors to assess students' progress This book has been highly endorsed by lecturers for level of coverage, accuracy, and the manner in which the three themes provide an excellent backdrop to the book's content. 'I think it will be a very welcome addition to the range of text books available and I suspect that it will become my personal favourite.' - Barbara Mauthe; Lancaster University 'I found the book impressive and likely to be of interest and use to a great many. It is written in a style that is pitched about the right level. It was easy to understand and provides - for me - a good blend of black letter law and socio-political context' - David Mead; University of East Anglia Written by two experienced teachers of the subject, Public Law is an essential new text that focuses on what students need to engage with and understand this challenging subject.

A considered balance of depth, detail, context, and critique, Public Law Directions offers the most student-friendly guide to the subject; empowering students to evaluate the law, understand its practical application, and approach assessments with confidence.

'Complete Public Law' combines extracts from key primary and secondary materials with jargon-free text to provide a resource for the student new to the study of constitutional and administrative law.

'Complete Public Law' combines extracts from key primary and secondary materials with jargon-free text to provide a resource for the student new to the study of constitutional and administrative law.