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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 March 2021
The UK is currently experiencing what can only be described as a political crisis. As faith in politics declines amongst citizens, there is an increasing trend to turn to the courts for answers – this is the thesis of Jonathan Sumption's Trial of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics. Based on the 2019 Reith Lectures, two recurring themes emerge throughout the book: the decline of politics; and the rise of law to compensate.
I am grateful to Dr Alan Greene, Dr Natasa Mavronicola and Adam Pendlebury for their insightful comments on earlier drafts.
1 See website available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00057m8.
2 Sumption, J Trials of the State (London: Profile Books Ltd, 2019) p 6Google Scholar.
3 [2017] 4 WLUK 260.
4 Sumption, above n 2, p 11.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Sumption, above n 2, p 13.
8 Ibid, p 58.
9 For example Griffith, JAG ‘The political constitution’ (1979) 42(1) The Modern Law Review 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10 I would like to thank Dr Alan Greene (Birmingham Law School) for his initial comments on this point.
11 Sumption, above n 2, p 49.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid, pp 58–59.
14 Ibid.
15 Indeed, in recent surveys, judges are considered more trustworthy than politicians. See website available at https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/its-fact-scientists-are-most-trusted-people-world.
16 For instance, the legalisation of euthanasia as discussed by Sumption, above n 2, pp 63–66.
17 Ibid, p 34.
18 Ibid, p 35.
19 [2015] AC 1787.
20 Freedom of Information Act 2000, s 53.
21 Sumption, above n 2, p 40.
22 [1965] AC 75.
23 410 US 113 (1973).
24 Sumption, above n 2, p 86.
25 Ibid, p 81.
26 Ibid, p 89.
27 Russo, NF and Denious, JE ‘Why is abortion such a controversial issue the United States?’ in Beckman, LJ and Harvey, SM (eds) The New Civil War: The Psychology, Culture, and Politics of Abortion (Massachusetts: American Psychological Association, 1998) pp 25–59Google Scholar.
28 Throughout the book, Sumption refers to the Constitution of the UK as the British Constitution.
29 A better term here would be ‘uncodified constitution’. The use of the phrase ‘unwritten’ implies that the Constitution of the UK is not physically contained within legal provisions. However, the Constitution of the UK is located in a variety of legal provisions but unlike that of the USA, it is not contained in one coherent document.
30 Sumption, above n 2, pp 99–100.
31 Ibid, p 41.
32 Ibid, p 111.
33 Ibid, p 112.