Centre for Parliament and Public Law

About us

The Centre for Parliament and Public Law is an interdisciplinary centre that explores legal and political issues surrounding public law, with a particular focus on the role of Parliament.

CPPL is based in the Department of Law, part of the Faculty of Law, Crime and Justice. It works closely with colleagues across the University.

CPPL explores and provides expert commentary on:

• Brexit: the ongoing negotiations, prorogation, how Brexit will be implemented into English law and the implications Brexit will have on the broader constitution.
• The future of the monarchy: exploring the legal, political and social challenges faced by the monarchy
• Parliament: reform of parliamentary procedure, the future of the House of Lords, English Votes for English Laws and the relationship of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 to votes of confidence and the current conservative Minority government. 
• Election and referendum law: the funding of political parties, regulating the role of ‘big data’. The regulation of referenda, including when they are held, under what conditions and the consequences of any vote. 
• The judiciary and legal system: the appropriate place of the judiciary within the constitution, and aspects of civil procedure in light of continuing reform, and the development of online courts.
• Administrative law and judicial review, particularly judicial review but also the work of tribunals and non-legal forms of redress such as the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
• Human rights, in particular the rights of children, the future of the Human Rights Act, and the possibility of a British Bill of Rights.
• Devolution, with a focus on the legal aspects.

The centre regularly engages in public engagement activity by contributing to public debates in legal and political issues in the area of public law, through public talks and expert media commentary. For a recent example, watch the video in which Prof. Anat Scolnicov reflects on King Charles' first major speech as a monarch, in an interview on i24 News (from 9:16).

Prof. Scolnicov’s article on Israel's impending constitutional crisis was the lead story on the website of Israel's most read newspaper, Ynet. Read the article.

The Centre for Parliament and Public Law was formally launched at the Trust, Information and the Law Conference (TRILCon) 2018 on 25 April 2018. TRILCon is a high-profile conference organised annually by the Department of Law's Centre for Information Rights.

For further information, contact the conveners, Dr Thomas Webber or Prof Anat Scolnicov.