This chapter explains the meaning of good governance and why it is important to uphold the standards of good governance, first discussing the standards of good governance, which include governing in the public interest; governing transparently; respecting the dignity, rights, and interests of individuals; and governing competently. It then turns to the concept and types of accountability, covering political accountability, legal accountability, and administrative accountability and audit.
12
Chapter
10. Good Governance—An Introduction
Chapter
16. Ombudsmen and Complaints
This chapter examines systems for handling complaints against public bodies. It focuses particularly upon public sector ombudsmen while locating ombudsmen within the wider complaint-handling landscape. Public sector ombudsmen constitute an important mechanism by which the executive (and other public bodies) can be held to account. The relationship between ombudsmen and other accountability mechanisms, together with questions concerning the legal enforceability of ombudsmen’s findings, raise important issues about legal and political forms of constitutionalism. The multilayered nature of the UK’s constitution post-devolution has resulted in a diversity of ombudsman schemes and poses particular challenges in relation to the rationalisation of ombudsmen in England.
Chapter
1. Administration and the principles of the constitution
Administrative law includes a complex variety of processes and doctrines that confer and control public power. This chapter outlines the underlying principles of administrative law. Topics discussed include the core principle of administrative law: opposition to arbitrary use of power. That principle is introduced through the story of habeas corpus from the middle ages to the twenty-first century. The constitutional principles of administrative law also include parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers, the rule of law, comity among constitutional authorities, accountability, and a newly emerging principle of open government. The chapter shows how the common law and legislation can achieve adherence to these principles of administrative law.
Chapter
11. Executive Power and Accountability
Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter examines the nature and extent of the power that the executive uses to run the country and begins by defining executive power, and by explaining where it is derived and who may exercise it. It then discusses the mechanisms by which an executive can be called to account for its exercise of power; the extent to which Parliament may hold the government accountable; and the extent that courts may hold the government accountable.
Chapter
3. Accountability and Parliament
This chapter discusses the interplay between accountability and Parliament. It highlights Parliament’s important role in the interaction between political and legal constitutions, and crucial constitutional functions in creating law and holding the executive to account. The chapter opens by describing the concept of parliamentary privilege, and then looks at the differences between the House of Commons and the House of Lords in terms of holding the executive to account. It also provides an overview of the role of both Houses in the legislative process before turning attention to other ways that government activity is scrutinized, such as through debates and committees.
Chapter
10. Good Governance—An Introduction
This chapter explains the meaning of good governance and why it is important to uphold the standards of good governance, first discussing the standards of good governance, which include governing in the public interest; governing transparently; respecting the dignity, rights, and interests of individuals; and governing competently. While there is no definitive set of standards of good governance upon which everyone agrees, they are a set of core principles that, together, are widely regarded as comprising good governance, although their precise details vary and change over time. The chapter then turns to the concept and types of accountability, covering political accountability, legal accountability, and administrative accountability and audit.
Chapter
15. Ombudsmen and Complaints
This chapter examines systems for handling complaints against public bodies. It focuses particularly upon public sector ombudsmen while locating ombudsmen within the wider complaint-handling landscape. Public sector ombudsmen constitute an important mechanism by which the executive (and other public bodies) can be held to account. The relationship between ombudsmen and other accountability mechanisms, together with questions concerning the legal enforceability of ombudsmen’s findings, raise important issues about legal and political forms of constitutionalism. The multilayered nature of the UK’s constitution post-devolution has resulted in a diversity of ombudsman schemes and poses particular challenges in relation to the rationalisation of ombudsmen in England.
Chapter
17. Inquiries
Mark Elliott and Jason Varuhas
This chapter discusses ex post (after the event) and ex ante (before the event) inquiries. It begins by sketching two of the ex ante inquiry models that are encountered in the planning context. The first model involves an inquiry that takes place before the making of any decision whatever and the second involves inquiries that are taken in advance of any decision on the relevant matter being reached, as well as inquiries that are undertaken in the course of an appeal that is lodged against a decision. The chapter then considers the nature and purpose of ex ante inquiries and the right to know the opposing case, along with participation and procedure as they apply to inquiries. It goes on to examine ex post inquiries and the role of judges in holding such inquiries before concluding with an analysis of government accountability with respect to inquiries.
Chapter
9. Regulatory Strategy
This chapter discusses the meaning and role of regulatory strategy in English and EU environmental law. Regulatory strategy is often thought of as an instrument to achieve certain environmental protection ends but the chapter argues that, despite the availability of a plethora of regulatory tools to implement them, regulators often face significant challenges to act in a strategic manner and to turn environmental regulatory strategy into an effective instrument of behavioural change. Against this background the chapter outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the key regulatory strategies currently adopted by both public and private regulators in a range of jurisdictions.
Chapter
12. Judicial Review—An Introduction
This chapter provides an introduction to the concept of judicial review. It discusses what judicial review is and is not about; the nature of administrative law; the relation of judicial review to three key themes crucial to understanding the modern British constitution—accountability, political and legal constitutionalism, and demarcation disputes in the multilayered constitution; and the constitutional basis of judicial review.
Chapter
3. Ethics, conflicts, and conduct
Chapter 2 sketched a normative model of the criminal process in which the pursuit of a particular end—retributive justice—was constituted and constrained by respect for rights and other values. This chapter examines one way in which the demands of this rather abstract model can be put into practice: through the consideration of ethics. It begins with a brief discussion of the idea of ethical conduct. It then outlines some unethical practices, and is followed by attempts to examine and reconstruct some possible justifications for such practices. Next, it looks at the problems of displacing the occupational cultures and other influences which may lead to resistance against change. It goes on to discuss formal accountability systems and concludes with a consideration of the prospects for bringing about changes in the conduct of practitioners within the system.
Chapter
6. Gatekeeping and diversion from prosecution
This chapter focuses on the decisions taken by the gatekeepers of the criminal process. It first outlines the role of the police, followed by a comparison with the approach of regulatory bodies as agencies that select for official action certain types of person or situation—a selection that may lead either to prosecution and trial or to a form of diversion. The chapter then considers the range of formal responses to those who are believed to be offenders, including police cautions and other out-of-court disposals. It examines the problematic dimensions of diversion, before examining accountability and the values behind some of the differing policies.
Chapter
9. Government and Accountability
This chapter examines the people and processes that comprise government in the UK. It considers the constitutional and legal status and role of the monarchy, ministers, civil servants, as well as holders of appointed public offices. It then turns to one of the central features of a good constitution, namely that it provides opportunities for those who exercise public power to be ‘held to account’ or ‘accountable’ for their decisions and conduct.
Chapter
33. Need for control
This chapter studies mechanisms for controlling trustees or the donees of powers and holding them accountable for their actions. It shows that the prime responsibility for supervising the activities of the trustees falls to the beneficiaries, who are able to complain to the court if they believe the trustees have committed, or are about to commit, a breach of trust. If the beneficiaries are able to apply to the court before the alleged breach has taken place, they may obtain an injunction against the trustees to restrain them from committing the contemplated breach. Trustees are also subject to a number of duties which enable the beneficiaries to keep a better check on their activities by entitling them to obtain information which will inform them of the trustees’ actions and may enable the beneficiaries to detect breaches of trust. This chapter considers those duties.
Chapter
15. Administrative Justice and Accountability
Tribunals, Ombudsmen, and Public Inquiries
This chapter focuses on key methods of administrative justice and accountability: tribunals, ombudsmen, and public inquiries. It explains that the administrative justice system refers to all the processes ensuring that public bodies make decisions lawfully, fairly, and consistently with principles of good government. Regardless of its different definitions, administrative justice ensures the fair and effective operation of public services. It sets out the function of tribunals and public inquiries in monitoring the state’s fulfillment of its responsibilities to the public, and notes that regardless of their differences, tribunals, ombudsmen, and inquiries all provide ways of holding the executive to account for their actions.
Chapter
R (on the application of FDA) v Prime Minister [2021] EWHC 3279 (Admin), Queen’s Bench Divisional Court
Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R (on the application of FDA) v Prime Minister [2021] EWHC 3279 (Admin), Queen’s Bench Divisional Court. This case concerned the justiciability of provisions in the Ministerial Code relating to bullying, harassment, and discrimination, and the decision of the Prime Minister in relation to an alleged breach of that Code by the Home Secretary. The document also includes supporting commentary and questions from the author, Thomas Webb.
Chapter
11. Parliamentary Scrutiny of Central Government
As Parliament’s role is not that of directing, commanding, or obstructing the government; rather, it is there to influence, advise, criticise, and scrutinise the government, this chapter examines the accountability of the central government to Parliament. It addresses questions such as: what is Parliament’s proper role in scrutinising government? What does the constitutional convention of ministerial responsibility mean? And how does it operate in practice? The chapter also considers topics of particular importance to government accountability: freedom of information, accountability and oversight of the security and intelligence services, and financial accountability.
Chapter
12. Judicial Review—An Introduction
This chapter provides an introduction to the concept of judicial review. The law of judicial review sets the legal framework within which decisions affecting the rights, interests, or legitimate expectations of individuals, are taken. As a result, a number of legal requirements apply. This chapter discusses what judicial review is and is not about; the nature of administrative law; the relation of judicial review to three key themes crucial to understanding the modern British constitution—accountability, political and legal constitutionalism, and demarcation disputes in the multilayered constitution; and the constitutional basis of judicial review.
Chapter
R (on the application of FDA) v Prime Minister [2021] EWHC 3279 (Admin), Queen’s Bench Divisional Court
Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R (on the application of FDA) v Prime Minister [2021] EWHC 3279 (Admin), Queen’s Bench Divisional Court. This case concerned the justiciability of provisions in the Ministerial Code relating to bullying, harassment, and discrimination, and the decision of the Prime Minister in relation to an alleged breach of that Code by the Home Secretary. The document also includes supporting commentary and questions from author, Thomas Webb.
Chapter
34. Policing and the police
Trevor Jones, Tim Newburn, and Robert Reiner
This chapter reviews some of the key themes in academic research and writing on the police and policing. It begins by discussing definitions of ‘policing’ and ‘police’, before outlining the development of academic research on policing in the USA and UK. The nature of police discretion is then discussed along with the factors that shape police decision-making and the implications of these for the accountability of policing agents and organizations. The next section reviews contrasting models of policing that have emerged over recent years, including community policing, problem-oriented policing, ‘zero tolerance’ policing and intelligence-led policing. Subsequently, two overarching developments within contemporary policing—pluralization (with a particular focus on private security) and internationalization—are explored. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the future of police and policing. The primary focus is upon policing in Britain, though many of the themes are similar across liberal democratic societies.
12