Guide last updated by Katherine Read, October 2024
This guide was created by Katherine Read, Principal Library Assistant at the IALS Library.
Email katherine.read@sas.ac.uk
We'd love to hear your comments about this Research Guide.
Email ials@sas.ac.uk
This guide aims to give a brief introduction to the Library's holdings on Constitutional and Administrative Law. Please consult the Library Catalogue for complete information on current titles and locations. If you require further assistance please contact us.
Monday-Friday 9:30-17:00
Tel (0)20 7862 5790
Email ials@sas.ac.uk
This Subject Guide only lists a selection of Library resources on Constitutional and Administrative Law. To find additional resources you will need to search the Library Catalogue, which covers the complete holdings of the Library. It is possible to search for books, journals and series of law reports by author, title or keyword. Please note it is not possible to search for individual chapters, journal articles or legislation (e.g. individual Acts or SIs).
IALS Library is mainly open access and readers are able to browse the shelves in the main collection. There are two main exceptions to this:
Please request these at the Library Enquiry Desk.
For more information on understanding the catalogue record and further guidance on the location of materials please refer to our guide Classmarks and the Location of Resources in the Library.
The Library classifies textbooks either by jurisdiction (GO13, GA2 etc.) or according to subject area, examples of which include Comparative Law (SB), Public International Law (SG) and Private International Law/ Conflict of Laws (SH).
All classmark sections have a FOL section for oversize volumes, which is located on the same floor of the Library.
When you are searching the Library Catalogue for books, please note that only the current edition is held on the open shelves or in the Short Loan collection. IALS has a rich collection of previous editions held in the closed basement and these will display a Depository number on the catalogue. Please request previous editions from the Enquiry Desk.
Constitutional material for England and Wales is shelved at GA2.C.1
Administrative material for England and Wales is shelved at GA2.C.6
Local Government material for England and Wales is shelved at GA2.C.9
Comparative material on constitutional and administrative law is shelved at SB25
The following list represents a selection of textbooks on constitutional and administrative law. Please check the catalogue records for further information and location. Titles marked as e-books may also be available in print. Access from home requires your IALS library barcode and your family name. E books with 'open access' status on the catalogue are available to all users of this guide.
Barber, N. The United Kingdom Constitution: An introduction OUP 2021 (e-book)
Barnett, H. Constitutional and administrative law 15th ed. 2024
Bradley, A.W, Ewing, K.D & Knight, C. Constitutional and administrative law 18th ed. 2022
Bailey, S.H. Cases, materials and commentary on administrative law 5th ed. 2018
Bell, J. The Anatomy of Administrative Law 1st ed. 2020 Bloomsbury (e-book)
Craig, P. Administrative law 9th ed. 2021
Doyle, O. and others The Brexit challenge for Ireland and the United Kingdom: constitutions under pressure 2020 CUP (e-book)
Craig, P. UK, EU and global administrative law: foundations and challenges 2015 CUP (e-book)
Elliott, M. & Varuhas, J. Administrative law: text and materials 5th ed. 2017
Elliott, M. & Hughes, K. Common law constitutional rights 2020 Oxford Hart (e-book)
Harlow, C. & Rawlings, R. Law and administration 4th ed. 2022
Hartley, T.C. The foundations of European Union law: an introduction to constitutional and administrative law of the European Union 8th ed. 2014
Hazell, R. Executive power: the prerogative, past, present and future Hart 2022
Jowell, J. & Oliver, D. (eds.) The changing constitution 9th ed. 2019
Masterman, R. & Schütze, R. The Cambridge companion to comparative constitutional law 2019 (e-book)
Oliver, D. et al. The regulatory state: constitutional implications 2010
Thompson, B. and others Cases and materials on constitutional and administrative law 13th ed. 2022
Wade, H.W.R & Forsyth, C. Wade & Forsyth's Administrative law 12th ed. 2023
IALS Library holds a wide selection of current serial titles on constitutional and administrative law from many different jurisdictions. These are located on all floors of the Library. Some titles are only in printed volumes while others or available in both formats. For more detailed help, please refer to the guide on Finding journal articles. The following titles focus particularly on Constitutional and Administrative law but there may be relevant articles in less specialised journals.
Administrative law decisions (Australia)
Archiv des öffentlichen Rechts
Cambridge law journal E-Journal
Civil justice quarterly E-Journal
Constitutional commentary Open Access
Current legal problems E-Journal
Gazette: weekly journal of the Law Society Open Access
International journal of constitutional law E-Journal
Law quarterly review E-Journal
Modern law review E-Journal
Revista Española de derecho constitucional
Statute law review E-Journal
If you are interested in legislation or cases concerning constitutional and administrative law issues in specific countries you will need to consult the legislation or law reports for that jurisdiction.
Consult the Library Catalogue to find the general classmark for the country you require. Consult consolidations of legislation, digests or indexes to trace particular acts or cases.
Academic users may also use databases like Lexis/Westlaw to find UK, US, EU or international decisions. For further information please refer to Law Databases or ask at the Library Enquiry Desk.
Please refer to the serials section of this guide to find relevant law report series.
You may also find it useful to refer to our guides on finding Legislation and Cases or check to see if we have a Jurisdiction Research Guide for the country you are interested in.
Eagle-i is an internet portal maintained and updated by IALS library staff. It allows you to search for quality web resources on constitutional and administrative law
A valuable free source is BAILII, the British and Irish Legal information Institute which is based and maintained at IALS. It provides free access to full text UK judgments and legislation on a wide range of subjects including Constitutional and Administrative Law and also links to other free World Law databases. Jurisdictions covered in these resources include Commonwealth countries eg. AustLII (Australia) and CanLII (Canada), France, Germany, Italy, the USA and South Africa.
The following represent a sample of the available quality individual web resources on constitutional and administrative law.
Constitution Committee of the UK House of Lords (Official site)
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/172/constitution-committee
Current Constitutional Developments in Latin America. Globalex article by Dante Figueroa and Jonathan Arendt. Updated December 2021
https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Constitutional_Developments_Latin_America1.html
Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (English translation which includes amendments up to June 2024)
https://www.btg-bestellservice.de/informationsmaterial/69/anr80201000