Yale Law Library - Reference Blog : Bill of Rights

The English Bill of Rights - a bill of responsibilities!

Tom Boone — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:23:00 GMT

This is really interesting. The proposed new British Bill of Rights looks increasingly like a bill of responsibilities. Responsibilities that are enforceable in court!

More from The Guardian:

A new British bill of rights and duties may include duties of behaviour between fellow citizens that are enforceable by judges, the justice secretary Jack Straw indicated yesterday. Straw, also lord chancellor, is planning a British bill of rights to complement the European convention on human rights. The exercise is separate from a possible 20-year plan to introduce a potential British written constitution.
Straw made his remarks in a speech at George Washington University, Washington DC, where he also indicated that a written constitution was 20 years away. He said he was looking at a US-style sentencing commission that might take into account the size of the prison population in making broad decisions on sentencing.

The Guardian gets into the constitutional conversation

Tom Boone — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:25:00 GMT

The constitutional conversation is getting interesting. Here The Guardian gets in its two cents (is that pence?):

Evolution not revolution is the way for constitutions to develop - except, perhaps, at times in history when a real revolution is under way. That was the message of justice secretary Jack Straw yesterday, as he spoke to a Washington audience. The tumultuous circumstances of American independence allowed the founding fathers to build up enduring rules from first principles; in more ordinary times a constitution written on a blank sheet will provide only a paper barrier against the abuse of power.

Fall-Out from Straw's constitutional comments

Tom Boone — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:47:00 GMT

That didn't take long. Responses to Straw's comments are coming fast and furious. This will be interesting to watch. Here is an article in The Times:

What a difference a few hours make. In the morning, Jack Straw’s heavily qualified hints about working towards a written constitution were welcomed by Unlock Democracy, a leading reform group. Then, in the afternoon, Mr Straw’s full speech, entitled “Modernising the Magna Carta”, received a more hostile response: “what a load of cobblers,” as the OurKingdom website put it.

Jack Straw discusses a written constitution for Britain

Tom Boone — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:28:00 GMT

Jack Straw discussed the future of the British constitution and bill of rights and responsibilities on BBC yesterday. The Guardian picks it up:

Britain is unlikely to have a full written constitution for at least 10 or 20 years, the justice secretary, Jack Straw, said today.
He confirmed that he is drawing up plans for a draft bill of rights and responsibilities, which would set down in one document the rights that citizens have, and also their civic duties.
But he stressed that this would not be the same as a new written constitution, such as America's.