Full Description
In this book, Aileen Kavanagh offers a fresh account of how we should protect rights in a democracy. Departing from leading theoretical accounts which present the courts and legislature as rivals for constitutional supremacy, Kavanagh argues that protecting rights is a collaborative enterprise between all three branches of government - the Executive, the legislature, and the courts. On a collaborative vision of constitutionalism, protecting rights is neither the solitary task of a Herculean super-judge, nor the dignified pronouncements of an enlightened legislature. Instead, it is a complex, dynamic, and collaborative endeavour, where each branch has a distinct but complementary role to play, whilst engaging with each other in a spirit of comity and mutual respect. Connecting constitutional theory with the practice of protecting rights in a democracy, this book offers an innovative understanding of the separation of powers, grounded in the values and virtues of constitutional collaboration.
Contents
Introduction: the Call for Collaboration; Part I. Institutions and Interactions: 1. Constitutionalism beyond manicheanism; 2. The promise and perils of dialogue; 3. The case for collaboration; Part II. Rights in Politics: 4. Governing with rights; 5. Legislating for rights; 6. Legislated rights: from domination to collaboration; Part III. Judge as Partner: 7. Judge as partner; 8. The HRA as partnership in progress; 9. Calibrated constitutional review; 10. Courting collaborative constitutionalism; Part IV. Legislatures in Response: 11. Underuse of the override; 12. Declarations, obligations, collaborations; Conclusion: the currency of collaboration.
