The Codes Of The Constitution

This book describes an astounding feat of constitutional writing and publication. For a number of decades, officials working across different branches of the United Kingdom (UK) constitution have been engaged in a series of separate projects. Taken in their totality, they amount to a vast enterprise. Yet, until now, no-one has fully recognised or critically analysed what has taken place. There has been a proliferation in the UK of publicly available codes, normally lacking a basis in statute, providing official accounts of a variety of different features of UK constitutional rules and principles. They cover institutions ranging from the Cabinet to the Civil Service to the judiciary, and relationships between entities such as central government and the devolved executives; and between the UK executive and the Westminster Parliament. Among them are prominent texts such as the Ministerial Code, the Cabinet Manual, the Guide to Judicial Conduct and the devolution Memorandum of Understanding – as well as more obscure documents that nonetheless contain important stipulations regarding the operation of the system. Similar developments have taken place in countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The author explores the history of this phenomenon in the UK, how it functions today here and elsewhere in the Commonwealth, and its implications for the UK constitution.

"Local Code is a prescription for urban health."-Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Architectural Record

The Constitution as Code links Rudolph von Jhering and Francois Geny to the United States Constitution: Durch das romische Recht, uber das romische Recht hinaus; par la constitution, mais au-dela de la constitution. This provocative paper was presented at the Fourth Worldwide Congress of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists, Montreal, Canada. It voices a thesis: Liberty evolves: judicial interpretation in le sens evolutif. The same day, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced the U.S. Supreme Court s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, the same-sex marriage case, another of Professor Baier s Beweise (proofs). PAUL R. BAIER is the Judge Henry A. Politz Professor of Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University, USA. He holds the J.D., Harvard Law School. Editor, Harvard Legal Commentary; Judicial Fellow, Supreme Court of the United States; Scholar-in-Residence Louisiana Bar Foundation. Constitutional Interpretation: Procedes d Elaboration (with Justice Harry A. Blackmun) (LSU-Aix-Marseille III Summer Study in Law, 1986, 1992); Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law (Tulane Law School, Siena, Italy, 199l, with Justice Antonin Scalia). His play, Father Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White and the Constitution, has been in production for fifteen years, playing most recently on the stage of the Social Law Library, Boston, Massachusetts, featuring four members of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Professor Baier is Secretary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana Historical Society."

Debates over constitutional rights impact you every day as an American citizen. But do you know what the U.S. Constitution actually says? This accessible guide contains the complete text of the Constitution, with short, descriptive margin notes throughout. Articles and amendments are then analyzed in depth to help you comprehend the basis of democracy. This valuable handbook covers: How the articles and amendments were drafted Insight into the intentions of the creators and the sources they used Controversial interpretations and Supreme Court decisions How the Constitution affects citizens every day The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and unratified Constitutional amendments This book walks you through the history of this essential document and shows how it has guided lawmakers and judges for more than 200 years. This unbiased look at the Constitution will help you feel confident in your knowledge of this all-important document, gain a firmer understanding of how our government works, and put context around today's most pressing issues.

The Norwegian Constitution is the oldest functioning constitution in Europe. Its bicentenary in 2014 has inspired the analyses in this volume, where contributors focus on the Constitution as a text to explore new ways of analyzing democratic development. This volume examines the framing of the Norwegian Constitution, its transformations, and its interpretations during the last two centuries. The textual focus enables new understandings of the framers’ negotiations and decisions on a democratic micro level and opens new international and historical contexts to understanding the Norwegian Constitution. By synthesizing knowledge from different realms - law, social sciences, and the humanities – Writing Democracy provides a model for examining the distinct textual qualities of constitutional documents.