Constitutional Rights, Civility and Artifice
The Bonavero Institute and the Jurisprudence Discussion Group are co-hosting a presentation by the distinguished legal philosopher, Nigel Simmonds, of his paper, 'Constitutional Rights, Civility and Artifice'. He argues that the value of civility is grounded upon acceptance of the legitimacy of moral disagreement and the need for mutual respect and cooperation in the face of such disagreement. The distinction between rights and goods plays a fundamental role in the form of civility espoused by liberal society. Current models of constitutional rights and proportionality, in a variety of ways, erode that distinction and thereby place the liberal model of civility in jeopardy.
Professor Kate O'Regan, Director of the Bonavero Institute, is the respondent.
Nigel Simmonds is Emeritus Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He is the author of many books, including Central Issues in Jurisprudence (5th ed. 2018), The Decline of Juridical Reason: Doctrine and Theory in the Legal Order (1986), Law as a Moral Idea (2008) and is the co-author of A Debate Over Rights (2000).