Ruptures and Continuities in the Westminster Model

Event date
29 - 30 November
Event time
08:45 - 16:15
Oxford week
MT 7

organised by

Professor Timothy Endicott and Dr. Dominic Burbidge

Conference Description

More than 50 British colonies and former colonies in many parts of the world adopted the Westminster model of parliamentary government when they became Dominions, or when they gained independence.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tweedsmuir_speech.jpg?uselang=en#Licensing

This conference will address what happened next. The Westminster model was adapted and transformed to fit new realities in diverse political and social conditions, and in some countries it was abandoned altogether. Commonalities can be found among these various developments. But national variations and differences of interpretation provide opportunities for conversation on how the model has worked and how it has failed, and on its significance today for constitutionalism and comparative legal theory.

We will focus on the most striking common features in this constitutional model: a parliament modelled on Parliament in Westminster, and a parliamentary executive (that is, a Prime Minister is appointed by reference to party representation in the parliament; the Prime Minister selects other ministers and can dismiss them; and the whole government is accountable to the parliament).

Venues

Day one of the conference will be held at All Souls College.

08:45 - 16:00

All Souls College | Access Guide (ox.ac.uk)

Day two of the conference will be held at the St Cross Building.

8:30 - 16:15

St Cross Building | Access Guide (ox.ac.uk)

Programme day 1

Friday 29th November – The Old Library, All Souls College

 

08:45-09:00 Welcome & opening remarks - Professor Timothy Endicott (University of Oxford)

 

09:00-10:50 Session 1: East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa

Dr Daisy Ogembo (University of Birmingham)

Professor Hugh Corder (University of Cape Town)

Dr Maame Mensa-Bonsu (Ashesi University)

Chaired by Dominic Burbidge (University of Oxford)

 

10:50-11:20 Coffee break – Wharton Room

 

11:20-13:10 Session 2: The Caribbean

Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles (University of the West Indies)

Dr Derek O’Brien (Oxford Brookes University)

Dr Kate Quinn (University College London)

Chaired by Dr Charlotte Smith (National Archives)

 

13:10-14:00 Sandwich lunch for all participants – Wharton Room

 

14:00-16:00 Session 3: Canada, Australia, New Zealand

Professor Philippe Lagassé (Carleton University)

Dr Benjamin Spagnolo (University of Cambridge)

Dr Mark Hickford (Thorndon Chambers, Wellington)

Chaired by Professor Annalise Acorn (University of Alberta)

 

16:00-16:30 Tea – Wharton Room

Programme day 2

Saturday 30th November – The Cube, Faculty of Law

 

08:30-09:00 Welcome coffee

 

09:00-11:00 Session 4: South Asia – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Professor Arun Thiruvengadam (National Law School of India University, Bangalore)

Dr Yasser Kureshi (University of Oxford)

Dr Asanga Welikala (University of Edinburgh)

Chaired by Rupavardhini Balakrishnan Raju (University of Oxford)

 

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

 

11:30-13:00 Session 5: Continuities

Panel discussion on continuities in the structure and operation of the model

Professor John Allison (University of Cambridge)

Dr Moiz Tundawala (University of Oxford)

Dr Paul Yowell (University of Oxford)

Chaired by Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy (National Law School of India University, Bangalore)

 

13:00-13:45 Sandwich lunch for all participants

 

13:45-15:15 Session 6: Ruptures

Panel discussion on major changes in the model

Professor Tarun Khaitan (London School of Economics)

Dr Harshan Kumarasingham (University of Edinburgh)

Professor Kate O’Regan (University of Oxford)

Chaired by Professor Catharine MacMillan (King’s College London)

 

15:15-16:15 Refreshments

 

 

 

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