The state: a sine qua non of public law? A critique of Martin Loughlin’s state-centred approach to public law
The state: a sine qua non of public law? A critique of Martin Loughlin’s state-centred approach to public law
This article critically considers a state-centred approach to public law that has been epitomised in Martin Loughlin’s claim that the concept of the state is the sine qua non of public law. More precisely, the article argues against two theoretical tenets that underlie this state-centred approach. The first tenet is the consideration of state authority as absolute authority. The second tenet claims that public law has a deep distinctness from all other fields of law, which are contrasted to it by being described as constituting the realm of ordinary law. The article also challenges the ability of the aforementioned state-centred approach to fully account for the status and role of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the UK constitutional order. This challenge is discussed in light of a distinction between state sovereignty and parliamentary sovereignty.
Authority, legal system, parliamentary sovereignty, public law, state, the UK constitution
39-53
Psarras, Haris
09a970ac-0e94-46f3-b19b-f74e6a9974b0
1 March 2019
Psarras, Haris
09a970ac-0e94-46f3-b19b-f74e6a9974b0
Psarras, Haris
(2019)
The state: a sine qua non of public law? A critique of Martin Loughlin’s state-centred approach to public law.
Jurisprudence, 10 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/20403313.2018.1468164).
Abstract
This article critically considers a state-centred approach to public law that has been epitomised in Martin Loughlin’s claim that the concept of the state is the sine qua non of public law. More precisely, the article argues against two theoretical tenets that underlie this state-centred approach. The first tenet is the consideration of state authority as absolute authority. The second tenet claims that public law has a deep distinctness from all other fields of law, which are contrasted to it by being described as constituting the realm of ordinary law. The article also challenges the ability of the aforementioned state-centred approach to fully account for the status and role of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the UK constitutional order. This challenge is discussed in light of a distinction between state sovereignty and parliamentary sovereignty.
Text
HP TSASQNOPL 15.04.18
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 5 June 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 June 2018
Published date: 1 March 2019
Keywords:
Authority, legal system, parliamentary sovereignty, public law, state, the UK constitution
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 423829
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/423829
ISSN: 2040-3313
PURE UUID: 87890f62-a884-4105-a8ff-1a5d7c510482
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Date deposited: 02 Oct 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:04
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