Do people want judicial review? Evidence from a survey of UK public opinion

The role of the courts in enforcing constitutional rules and human rights standards is hotly contested. Opposition to strong judicial review has famously become associated with populist rhetoric – that judges are ‘enemies of the people’. But what do the people actually think? New research led by the UCL Constitution Unit casts doubt on the assumption that members of the public are generally hostile to the courts. Findings of a major survey of public opinion across the UK suggest a much more nuanced picture. In this talk, UCL’s Professor Alan Renwick, who leads the research, will present and discuss the findings.

Speaker

Alan Renwick is Professor of Democratic Politics in the UCL Department of Political Science. He is also Deputy Director of the UCL Constitution Unit, and leads the Unit’s research on mechanisms for public involvement in politics, including elections, referendums, and citizens’ assemblies. He is Principal Investigator for the ESRC-funded Democracy in the UK after Brexit research project, which is examining public opinion towards democracy in the UK through surveys and a citizens’ assembly.

Discussant

Helen Mountfield QC joined Mansfield College in 2018. Helen is a renowned practitioner and academic expert in constitutional law, human rights and equality law, with particular experience in the education sector. She has appeared in many cases in the Supreme Court, European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights, and features on the ‘First Hundred Years’ website, which celebrates the history of women in law. Helen is a founder member of Matrix Chambers, an accredited mediator, a Master of the Bench of Gray’s Inn and a part-time judge in several jurisdictions including the High Court of England and Wales and the Channel Islands Courts of Appeal.

Helen also plays an active role in public policy. She has given evidence to a number of Parliamentary committees, and was co-chair, with Tom Watson MP, of the Independent Commission on the Future of Work in the Digital Economy. She is now a trustee of the Institute for the Future of Work and the Equal Rights Trust as well as being an Ambassador for Frontline Aids. She was a member of the Royal Society of Arts’ Commission on Drugs Policy; and has been a trustee of the National Campaign for the Arts, Birthrights and a school governor.