Judicial activism in the UK and Ireland, with particular reference to Apex Courts and human rights

Abstract

This LLD thesis comprises a collection of three monographs, two edited books, ten journal articles and eight book chapters, all published between 2006 and 2020. As explained in the initial Summary document, they represent a body of work on the topic of judicial activism within the United Kingdom and Ireland, particularly in the field of human rights. I define judicial activism as an approach to adjudication which seeks to locate the particular decision in the context of a wider legal framework, pointing out what the consequences of the decision are likely to be for fact situations which are different from those currently before the court and explaining how the reasoning underlying the decision fits with the reasoning underlying other related rules and principles already set down by Parliament or by previous judges. In two of the three monographs the focus is on judicial activism in the field of human rights, while in the third monograph and in the two edited books the focus is on judicial activism more generally. Of the ten journal articles and eight book chapters submitted, seven articles and four chapters focus primarily on activism within the field of human rights, while three articles and four chapters examine judicial activism more generally, although several of these more general articles and chapters do at times allude to issues that could fairly be described as human rights issues.

Date of Award	Dec 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Gordon Anthony (Supervisor)