The Tory legal bits

Following my post on the “legal bits” of the Labour manifesto, here’s my analysis of the most important Conservative proposals of particular legal interest. I warn you: this is a long one, and needs sub-headings. Constitutional law On the constitution, the Tories promise that A Conservative government will change the law so that never again […]

German Constitutional Court approves Lisbon – with provisos

On Tuesday the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the Lisbon Treaty is fundamentally compatible with the German Constitution – the Grundgesetz or Basic Law. The judgment is vast and verbose (German/English) but here’s a (still quite verbose) summary of it (German/English). The court sees Lisbon as substantially increasing EU competence, but not to such a […]

Ireland’s re-referendum – an absolute scandal

It’s hard to find the words for how I feel about the proposed second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty: cynical, depressed, angry, frustrated, concerned – all those, and more. This suggestion is an absolute scandal, revealing the authoritarian instincts of political leaders in Europe, and endangering the future of the EU. Brian Cowen should […]

Austrian Chancellor’s future referendum promise

Iain Dale picked up this morning on a surprising move from the Austrian Chancellor Gusenbauer: he’s promised a referendum on any new EU Treaty which “affects Austrian interests”. This is a bit more complicated than it sounds. Gusenbauer is in pretty desperate political straits: only the other week he was forced out of his position […]

Wheeler v Prime Minister and others

You’ll know by now that Stuart Wheeler’s judicial review of the government’s refusal to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has failed: here’s the judgment. This is hardly a surprise: it was always a hopeless case. The real surprise will be if he decides to waste his wealth appealing. And of course the wrath […]

Lisbon Treaty: where is all this going?

David Miliband’s statement in the Commons yesterday was quite revealing, and confirms the accuracy of the story leaked to the Sunday Times suggesting that, privately, the government believes Lisbon is dead. Most of the statement and reactions to it was predictable; the one thing that stood out was David Miliband’s clear statement that he’s opposed […]

Ireland’s No: the reaction

The two opinion pieces that have most closely reflected my views are those by John Rentoul in the “Sindy“ yesterday and Hugo Brady at Comment is Free. I think John Rentoul is right that When the voters of France and the Netherlands threw out the constitution in the summer of 2005, that should have been […]

Charon QC podcast: the Irish No and the Lisbon Treaty

Big public law issues have come thick and fast this week, so today Charon QC and I talk about what happens now to the Lisbon Treaty, after the Irish “No”: what the options are, and what I think should happen. You can listen here.

Lisbon Treaty: Europe’s future is at stake

It is No, then. I’m pleased, I must say. It’s not that I’m a Eurospectic: I’m not. Actually I think most of the content of the Treaty is perfectly reasonable. Why I would have voted no, and why I’m glad this has happened, is because I’m deeply frustrated by the arrogance of the leaders of […]

It looks like NO…

If this is right, it’s astonishing news, and Europe will be pitched into crisis again. I can understand how Irish voters came to say No: as Michael Portillo said on telly last night, simply the knowledge that the French, Dutch and British had been denied a vote is enough to make you vote No. Europhiles […]