Judicial Assistance: The Support Needs of the Higher Courts

Dates: April 1999 - March 2001

Principal Investigator: Andrea Loux

About this project

This project is a comparative study of higher courts in Scotland and the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the ECJ and the ECHR. It examines the different use the courts make of three devices: amicus curae (friends of the court), third party intervenors and judicial clerks, which assist judges in making decisions. It analyses the pros and cons of each device, makes recommendations on the balance between these different sources of support, and offers best practice on how to use them.

Outputs

• A.Loux, 'Losing the Battle, Winning the War: Litigation Strategy and Pressure Group Organisation in the Era of Incorporation', Kings College Law Journal, June 2000.
• A. Loux, 'Hearing a "different voice": Third-party Interventions in criminal proceedings', Current Legal Problems, Oct 2000.
• A. Loux, 'Writing Wrongs: Third-party interventions and the Human Rights Act' in A.Loux, ed. Human Rights and Scots Law: Comparative Perspectives on the Incorporation of the ECHR (Oxford: Hart, 2000)