New article: Mark Elliott and Nicholas Kilford, "The Relational Principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty" SSRN draft available to download; forthcoming in Public Law publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/07/21/t... @nearlydoctornick.bsky.social

The relational principle of parliamentary sovereignty

In a forthcoming article in Public Law, Nicholas Kilford and I examine three leading UK Supreme Court decisions that have subjected the principle of parliamentary sovereignty to notably unorthodox …

publiclawforeveryone.com

We are proud that Catz Fellow Hend Hanafy (2021) led the coordination of the first official visit by a delegation from the #Egyptian Court of Cassation – the highest court in #Egypt – to the judiciary of England & Wales. Read our report: caths.cam.ac.uk/judi... Faculty of Law

That AI isn't yet "good enough" to mark students' essays ought to be beside the point. Outsourcing such tasks to AI is fundamentally incompatible with the intellectual engagement between student and professor that should be central to higher education. /1 www.cam.ac.uk/stories/ai-u...

AI not yet good enough to mark university essays, rewarding ‘style over substance’

Top AI systems show bias towards rewarding overly complex prose styles and only match human examiners for grade bands around half the time, research finds.

cam.ac.uk

@profmarkelliott.bsky.social Over a century on, precedents such as A Douglas-Home and P Gordon Walker seem like the dying embers of British constitutional history when the Prime Minister was permitted to lead the government from outside the House of Commons publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/26/t...

The Prime Minister as an MP: A postscript on historical precedent and constitutional convention

In an earlier post, I addressed the question whether the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Commons. Here, I reflect briefly on some interesting points that have been raised in respons…

publiclawforeveryone.com

New post The Prime Minister as an MP: A postscript on historical precedent and constitutional convention publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/26/t...

The Prime Minister as an MP: A postscript on historical precedent and constitutional convention

In an earlier post, I addressed the question whether the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Commons. Here, I reflect briefly on some interesting points that have been raised in respons…

publiclawforeveryone.com

🚨Could the Parliament Acts be used to pass assisted dying? As I say in this clip: 🔵 Never previously used on a PMB 🔵 But explicitly intended to apply to PMBs, not just govt bills 🔵 In practice, not straightforward to do, but possible

My blog, www.publiclawforeveryone.com, now features "Not by AI" badging. For more information on the Not by AI initiative, see: notbyai.fyi/not-by-ai-90....

Berkeley's new AI policy is laudable. Its post-plagiarism conception of AI misuse prohibits "conceptualisation" and "outlining". The guiding principle – that thinking remains the sine qua non of good lawyering (and of a quality legal education) – is surely right. www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u...

I think it's really difficult to understate the likely consequences this kind of revisionism will have going forward, for the rule of law in this country. And for some reason our judiciary has decided to dismantle its own power on the cusp of a likely authoritarian Reform government. Maddening.

Excellent piece on the continued judicial gutting of the common law. Can't help but note the apparent radical decline in the constitutional role of the judiciary since I was sat in Professor Elliott's lectures less than a decade ago.

Mark Elliott@profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New post Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/19/i...

Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/19/i... Alarming post from @profmarkelliott.bsky.social on current trends in constitutional law.

Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality

In his judgment in Ismailov v Foreign Secretary, Saini J appears to endorse two incompatible views of the principle of legality. One of those views reconfigures a principle that has traditionally b…

publiclawforeveryone.com

Interesting piece on whether PM must be an MP, partly responding to my analysis (publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/14/d...). Key Q is whether precedent from 1960s remains persuasive. I doubt it, given 60+ years of now consistent practice. Convention flexes as practice & political mores develop.

Does the Prime Minister have to be an MP?

Uncertainty about the position of the Prime Minister has raised the question whether Andy Burnham, currently the Mayor of Greater Manchester, might return to the House of Commons in order to challe…

publiclawforeveryone.com

UK Constitutional Law Association@ukcla.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Dane Luo: Andy Burnham and the Constitution – The Conventions on the Appointment of the Prime Minister ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/05/20/d...

We're in the age of constitutional revisionism, sperheaded by the Reed/Sales court, and we now start seeing the effects trickling down the judicial system. No wonder the Judicial Power Project has gone all but quiet

Highly recommended.

Mark Elliott@profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New post Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/19/i...

New from @profmarkelliott.bsky.social on how the principle of legality is being treated restrictively in the High Court, following positions set by the UKSC justices. On multiple fronts the horizons of the UK judiciary's constitutional role are shrinking: publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/19/i...

On which now see: publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/19/i...

Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality

In his judgment in Ismailov v Foreign Secretary, Saini J appears to endorse two incompatible views of the principle of legality. One of those views reconfigures a principle that has traditionally b…

publiclawforeveryone.com

Mark Elliott@profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The gutting of the principle of legality – part of a much wider trend of constitutional regression in the senior courts' case law – continues apace. www.judiciary.uk/judgments/sa...

New post Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/19/i...

Ismailov v Foreign Secretary: Constitutional revisionism and the principle of legality

In his judgment in Ismailov v Foreign Secretary, Saini J appears to endorse two incompatible views of the principle of legality. One of those views reconfigures a principle that has traditionally b…

publiclawforeveryone.com

The gutting of the principle of legality – part of a much wider trend of constitutional regression in the senior courts' case law – continues apace. www.judiciary.uk/judgments/sa...

Thank goodness Cambridge's Judge Business School might soon be providing “leadership development” and “innovation management” to the Saudi regime. Perhaps the "innovations" will include respect for basic human rights, including due process? www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Sons of jailed Saudi scholars urge Cambridge to drop plans to train Riyadh staff

Exclusive: Families of men facing death penalty join opposition to proposals to run courses for defence ministry

theguardian.com

Private Eye Magazine@privateeyenews.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait prison, 200 Ethiopian men are awaiting execution. Most were sentenced in mass trials without legal representation, according to Ethiopia’s Tigray Youth Affairs Bureau. 🧵1/5

A very helpful analysis of the Chisinau Declaration.

Mark Elliott@profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New post From Chişinău to Makerfield: The Labour Party, populism and the politics of triangulation publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/18/f...

New post From Chişinău to Makerfield: The Labour Party, populism and the politics of triangulation publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/18/f...

From Chişinău to Makerfield: The Labour Party, populism and the politics of triangulation

The Chişinău Declaration, issued by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on 15 May 2026, is an attempt by signatory States to reframe how the European Convention on Human Rights affects n…

publiclawforeveryone.com

New post: Does the Prime Minister have to be an MP? publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/05/14/d...

Does the Prime Minister have to be an MP?

Uncertainty about the position of the Prime Minister has raised the question whether Andy Burnham, currently the Mayor of Greater Manchester, might return to the House of Commons in order to challe…

publiclawforeveryone.com

Admitting students with the greatest academic potential from a broad range of backgrounds is a key part of our new 5-year strategic plan: caths.cam.ac.uk/exce.... Since the plan was published in January 2026, we have engaged ~2,400 students from across the UK: caths.cam.ac.uk/wide... @can.ac.uk

New post – The fall of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: A constitutional outrage? publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/04/24/t...

The fall of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: A constitutional outrage?

As prorogation and a King’s Speech approach, the Terminally Ill Adults Bill cannot now be enacted before the end of the current parliamentary session. By blocking the Bill, has the House of Lords c…

publiclawforeveryone.com

Naturally @profmarkelliott.bsky.social is quite right. There is nothing new or unconstitutional about powers to track EU measures by secondary legislation (s. 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 did that while we were in the EU and ministers of all stripes used it all the time)

Mark Elliott@profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New post Some thoughts on the suggestion by pro-Brexit politicians that the government's proposal for "dynamic alignment" with EU rules would be a constitutional affront or would be an undemocratic subversion of the 2016 referendum. (It wouldn't.) publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/04/13/t...

Typically clear and thorough demolition by @profmarkelliott.bsky.social of the claim that the forthcoming Bill providing for alignment with EU law is constitutionally objectionable. Recommended to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/04/13/t...

“Dynamic alignment” with EU rules: Neither unconstitutional nor undemocratic

The forthcoming King’s Speech, it is reported, will include a Bill to facilitate “dynamic alignment” with some EU rules, attracting criticism from some politicians that sovereignty regained through…

publiclawforeveryone.com

New post Some thoughts on the suggestion by pro-Brexit politicians that the government's proposal for "dynamic alignment" with EU rules would be a constitutional affront or would be an undemocratic subversion of the 2016 referendum. (It wouldn't.) publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/04/13/t...

The constitutional implications of “dynamic alignment” with EU rules

The forthcoming King’s Speech, it is reported, will include a Bill to facilitate “dynamic alignment” with some EU rules, attracting criticism from some politicians that sovereignty regained through…

publiclawforeveryone.com

Out today: The latest edition of The Constitution In Review by the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group. Their latest report covers 1 Jul-1 Dec 2025 and is required reading for all with an in interest the UK's constitutional arrangements. Read it now at: consoc.org.uk/publications...

In this interview with the SCOTUS Blog, which launches its series on global apex courts, I reflect on the role of the UK Supreme Court and consider whether adjudication at this level in the UK is really as apolitical as we often assume it to be. www.scotusblog.com/2026/03/the-...

The UK Supreme Court

Welcome to SCOUTSblog’s newest recurring series, in which we interview experts on different supreme courts around the world and how they compare to our own. For our debut column, we […]

scotusblog.com

The Divisional Court has now issued but immediately suspended a quashing order regarding the proscription of Palestine Action. This results in precisely the situation anticipated by my post below: a proscription order that is unlawful according to the High Court but unquashed for the time being.

Mark Elliott@profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 6mo ago

In a new post on the Palestine Action case, I ask whether, given the High Court's conclusion that proscription was unlawful, the Metropolitan Police is right to say that the organisation remains a proscribed one. publiclawforeveryone.com/2026/02/17/i...