A Common Law Theory of Judicial Review: The Living Tree (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law) - Hardcover

Waluchow, W. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521864763 ISBN 13: 9780521864763

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2006

Synopsis

In this study, W. J. Waluchow argues that debates between defenders and critics of constitutional bills of rights presuppose that constitutions are more or less rigid entities. Within such a conception, constitutions aspire to establish stable, fixed points of agreement and pre-commitment, which defenders consider to be possible and desirable, while critics deem impossible and undesirable. Drawing on reflections about the nature of law, constitutions, the common law, and what it is to be a democratic representative, Waluchow urges a different theory of bills of rights that is flexible and adaptable. Adopting such a theory enables one not only to answer to critics' most serious challenges, but also to appreciate the role that a bill of rights, interpreted and enforced by unelected judges, can sensibly play in a constitutional democracy.

About this title

Book Description

Drawing on reflections about the nature of law, constitutions, the common law, and what it is to be a democratic representative, Waluchow urges a different theory of bills of rights that is flexible and adaptable.

About the Author

W.J. Waluchow is professor of philosophy at McMaster University in Canada. He is the author of Inclusive Legal Positivism, Free Expressions: Essays in Law and Philosophy, and The Dimensions of Ethics: An Introduction to Ethical Theory, among other titles.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521864763
• ISBN 13: 9780521864763
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296