Guide last updated by Balqees Khan, September 2025.
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 Library Search 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 on Library Search, 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.
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 on Library Search 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 follow the links to Library Search for further information and location. Titles are available in both print and electronic formats, unless indicated otherwise on the list below.
Barber, N. The United Kingdom Constitution: An introduction. 1st ed. 2021 OUP (online only)
Barnett, H. Constitutional and administrative law. 16th ed. 2025 Routledge (print only)
Bailey, S. Cases, materials and commentary on administrative law. 5th ed. 2018 Sweet & Maxwell (print only)
Bell, J. The Anatomy of Administrative Law. 1st ed. 2020 Bloomsbury (online only)
Bellamy, R., & King, J (eds). Cambridge handbook of constitutional theory. 1st ed. 2025 CUP (online only)
Bradley, A., et al. Constitutional and administrative law. 18th ed. 2022 Pearson Education Limited
Craig, P. Administrative law. 10th ed. 2025 Sweet & Maxwell
Craig, P. UK, EU and global administrative law: foundations and challenges. 1st ed. 2015 CUP
Doyle, O., et al (eds). The Brexit challenge for Ireland and the United Kingdom: constitutions under pressure. 1st ed. 2021 CUP (online only)
Elliott, M., & Varuhas, J. Administrative law: text and materials. 5th ed. 2017 OUP (print only)
Elliott, M., & Hughes, K (eds). Common law constitutional rights. 1st ed. 2020 Hart (online only)
Harlow, C., & Rawlings, R. Law and administration. 4th ed. 2022 CUP
Hartley, T. The foundations of European Union law. 8th ed. 2014 OUP (print only)
Hazell, R., and Foot, T. Executive power: the prerogative, past, present and future. 1st ed. 2022 Hart
Jowell, J., & Oliver, D (eds). The changing constitution. 9th ed. 2019 OUP (print only)
Masterman, R., & Schütze, R (eds). The Cambridge companion to comparative constitutional law. 1st ed. 2019 CUP (online only)
Murphy, S. The human right to resist in international and constitutional law. 1st ed. 2025 CUP
Oliver, D., et al. The regulatory state: constitutional implications. 1st ed. 2010 OUP
Thompson, B., et al. Cases and materials on constitutional and administrative law. 13th ed. 2022 OUP (print only)
Wade, H., & Forsyth, C. Wade & Forsyth's Administrative law. 12th ed. 2023 OUP (print only)
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. Titles are available in both print and electronic formats, unless indicated otherwise on the list below. The following titles focus particularly on Constitutional and Administrative law but there may be relevant articles in less specialised journals.
Administrative law decisions (Australia) (online only)
Archiv des öffentlichen Rechts
Gazette: weekly journal of the Law Society
International journal of constitutional law
Quaderni costituzionali (print only)
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 Library Search 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.
Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (English translation includes amendments up to June 2024)
Constitution Committee of the UK House of Lords (Official site)
Current Constitutional Developments in Latin America. Globalex article by Dante Figueroa and Jonathan Arendt. Updated December 2021.
ICL Project Provides English translations of constitutional documents from countries all over the world.