The Legal Research Society

I t is with enormous pleasure that I take this opportunity to congratulate our colleague and LRS member Ian Taggart on having his pub lication cited in a House of Lords decision ( Doherty (Fc) and Others V Birmingham City Council , [2008] UKHL 57 , at para. 31 ). The decision concerns Gypsies/ Travellers and their rights under Article 8 European Convention on Human Rights. Ian's Article ' One Scotland Many Cultures?' was published in the SCOLAG Legal Journal, March 2008, pp. 66/ 67 . It is part of his extensive research into Travellers' rights in Scotland. His previous survey ' Moving on - again? ' , compiled in summer 2007 as part of his thesis, is available on the Aberdeenshire Council website. Ian's research related to the Council's community planning processes. Very well done, Ian! PS: Subsequent to our blog entry, the Scottish Legal News also reported the citation of Ian's SCOLAG article. For their news item, please click here .

The ongoing constitutional reform in the UK took an unexpected but welcome turn yesterday when the House of Commons voted to replace the House of Lords with a completely elected second chamber. Britain was a pioneer of democratic reform in centuries past but resistance to change has left this State with an Attorney General who straddles all three branches of government, a legislative chamber that is composed of political appointees and an electoral system that guarantees perverse results to the detriment of any semblance of proportional representation. Although it isn’t clear that yesterday’s Commons vote will bear fruit, it seems like the ball is rolling. The Lords will resist the measure but the transformation of this State looks inevitable. Britain is far from achieving an acceptable constitutional settlement but there is an unprecedented consensus for modernisation. The coming years should be interesting from a constitutional perspective. The current level of public scrutiny may e...