Arguments from failure - arguments that an institution must expand its powers because another institution is failing in some way 'to do its job' - are commonplace. From structural reform litigation, where courts sometimes assume administrative or legislative functions, to the Uniting for Peace Resolution of the UN General Assembly, to the recent bill quashing British subpostmasters' convictions - such arguments are offered in justification for unorthodox exercises of public power. But in spite of their popularity, we lack a good understanding of these arguments in legal terms. This is partly because failure itself is a highly malleable concept and partly because arguments from failure blur into other more familiar legal doctrines about implied powers or emergencies. We can do better. We should recognize arguments from failure as a distinct concept of public law and understand that contemporary constitutional theory offers us tools to evaluate such arguments in different settings This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
| ISBN: | 9781009646666 |
| Publication date: | 22nd January 2026 |
| Author: | Michaela Hailbronner |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 270 pages |
| Series: | Cambridge Studies in Constitutional Law |
| Genres: |
Constitutional and administrative law: general Administrative law, general Methods, theory and philosophy of law Comparative law Public international law Jurisprudence and general issues |
Arguments from failure - arguments that an institution must expand its powers because another institution is failing in some way 'to do its job' - are commonplace. From structural reform litigation, where courts sometimes assume administrative or legislative functions, to the Uniting for Peace Resolution of the UN General Assembly, to the recent bill quashing British subpostmasters' convictions - such arguments are offered in justification for unorthodox exercises of public power. But in spite of their popularity, we lack a good understanding of these arguments in legal terms. This is partly because failure itself is a highly malleable concept and partly because arguments from failure blur into other more familiar legal doctrines about implied powers or emergencies. We can do better. We should recognize arguments from failure as a distinct concept of public law and understand that contemporary constitutional theory offers us tools to evaluate such arguments in different settings This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
The Failures of Others features in the following genres: Constitutional and administrative law: general, Administrative law, general, Methods, theory and philosophy of law, Comparative law, Public international law, Jurisprudence and general issues
The Failures of Others is available in Hardback
The Failures of Others was written by Michaela Hailbronner and published by Cambridge University Press
The Failures of Others has 270 pages
Yes it is part of Cambridge Studies in Constitutional Law series
£94.50