the seventh edition, of the Law of the Constitution first published in 1885. It is, however, accompanied by a new Introduction. This Introduction is written with two objects. The first object is to trace and comment upon the way in which the main principles of our constitution as expounded by me may have been affected either by changes of law or by changes of the working of the constitution which have occurred during the last thirty years (1884-1914). The second object of this Introduction is to state and analyse the main constitutional ideas which may fairly be called new, either because they have come into existence during the last thirty years, or because (what is much more frequently the case) they have in England during that period begun to exert a new and noticeable influence.
It has been my good fortune to receive in the composition of this Introduction, as in the writing of every book which I have published, untold aid from suggestions made to me by a large number both of English and of foreign friends. To all these helpers I return my most sincere thanks. It is at once a duty and a pleasure to mention my special obligation to two friends, who can both be numbered as high authorities among writers, who have investigated the constitution of England from different points of view. To the friendship of the late Sir William Anson I owe a debt the amount of which it is impossible to exaggerate. He was better acquainted, as his books show, with the
[print edition page xxx]
details and the working of the whole constitution of England than any contemporary authority. Since I first endeavoured to lay down the few general principles which in my judgment lie at the basis of our constitution, I have, whilst engaged in that attempt, always enjoyed his sympathy and encouragement, and, especially in the later editions of my work, I have received from him corrections and suggestions given by one who had explored not only the principles but also all the minute rules of our constitutional law and practice. To my friend Professor A. Berriedale Keith I am under obligations of a somewhat different kind. He has become already, by the publication of his Responsible Government in the Dominions, an acknowledged authority on all matters connected with the relation between England and her Colonies. I have enjoyed the great advantage of his having read over the parts of my Introduction which refer to our Colonial Empire. His knowledge of and experience in Colonial affairs has certainly saved me from many errors into which I might otherwise have fallen.
It is fair to all the friends who have aided me that I should state explicitly that for any opinions expressed in this Introduction no one is responsible except myself. The care with which many persons have given me sound information was the more valued by me because I have known that with some of the inferences drawn by me from the facts on which I commented my informants probably did not agree.
A. V. DICEY
Oxford, 1914
[print edition page xxxi]
| Aim | xxxv |
| The Sovereignty of Parliament | xxxvi |
| Possible change in constitution of parliamentary sovereign (Parliament Act, 1911) | xxxvi |
| State of things before passing Act | xxxviii |
| Direct effects of Parliament Act | xxxix |
| (1) Money Bill—House of Lords no veto | xxxix |
| (2) Other public Bills—House of Lords has only suspensive veto | xl |
| (3) House of Commons has unlimited legislative power | xli |
| Practical change in area of parliamentary sovereignty (Relation of the Imperial Parliament to Dominions) | xlii |
| First question—What is the difference between such relation in 1884 and 1914? | xlii |
| Second question—What changes of opinion caused the change of relation? | l |
| The Rule of Law | lx |
| Decline in reverence for rule of law | lv |
| Comparison between present official law of England and present droit administratif of France | lxi |
| Conventions of the Constitution | lxvi |
| First question—What changes? | lxvi |
[print edition page xxxii]
| Second question—What is the tendency of new conventions? | lxxii |
| Third question—Does experience of last thirty years confirm principles laid down as to connection between conventions and rule of law? | lxxv |
| Development during the last Thirty Years of New Constitutional Ideas | lxxvi |
| Two general observations on new constitutional ideas | lxxvi |
| First observation—Slow growth of political or constitutional inventiveness | lxxvi |
| Second observation—These new ideas take no account of one of the ends which good legislation ought to attain | lxxvii |
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Criticism
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