Constitutional Rights in the Irish Home Rule Bill of 1893

Allen, Tom

Abstract

In 1893, Prime Minister Gladstone introduced the second Irish home rule bill in parliament. The bill broke with tradition in Britain and the empire, as it included provisions from the bill of rights of the United States. Its significance was clear at the time: it was debated for nine days in the committee stage and, with one minor amendment, it remained part of the bill that passed the Commons. However, the bill was defeated in the Lords and, at least in the United Kingdom, bills of rights were dismissed as unnecessary or detrimental to sound governance until well after the second world war. This article therefore tries to understand how this early bill of rights was regarded at the time. Who suggested, or demanded, its inclusion? How did they expect it to be applied? And how did the debate reflect and influence thinking about constitutional law in Britain and the empire?

Citation

Allen, T. (2018). Constitutional Rights in the Irish Home Rule Bill of 1893. The Journal of Legal History, 39(2), 187-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/01440365.2018.1484324

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 24, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jun 22, 2018
• Publication Date: Jun 22, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 22, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Legal History
• Print ISSN: 0144-0365
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-0564
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 187-215
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01440365.2018.1484324
• Keywords: Constitutional history, Constitutional rights, Ireland.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1322781