tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100579144662493079.post6623501396361782368..comments2021-12-26T14:06:55.625+00:00Comments on Matron: Of peer-reviews, checks and balancesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100579144662493079.post-29670751376448950362009-02-21T18:21:00.000+00:002009-02-21T18:21:00.000+00:00Matron is right, of course. The best we can do is...Matron is right, of course. The best we can do is absurd. But there are two big obstacles to doing better.<BR/><BR/>The first is political - politicians will be loath to have their powers fettered, for that is what entrenched constitutions do. They will call it giving powers to unelected judges; and the fear that the public might favour such a course is one reason why politicians like to see the judges taking the blame for lenient sentences, human rights and whatever else the tabloids inveigh against from time to time.<BR/><BR/>The more interesting obstacle is legal. The legal rule that an Act of Parliament can repeal any prior Act is not a rule that an Act of Parliament can alter. So we cannot by any ordinary legal process entrench a constitution. Only some form of revolution will do it. Our last one (1688) was too early for such an idea to have formed. Are we ready for the next one?<BR/><BR/>I fear Matron should not hold her breath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com