A. V. Dicey

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Albert Venn Dicey (born February 4, 1835 – died April 7, 1922) was a British jurist and constitutional theorist who wrote An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885), which is considered part of British constitution. He argued for the impartiality of the courts and insisted that not even those in the highest positions of power were exempt from law.

Life

Albert Venn Dicey was born near Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England, the son of T.E. Dicey. He was the younger brother of Edward Dicey, distinguished English writer and journalist.

Dicey graduated from Balliol College, University of Oxford and became a fellow of Trinity College in 1860. He was called to the bar in 1863, becoming one of the most distinguishing lawyers of his day. He combined law and political journalism, and wrote several smaller works in this early part of his life.

Dicey was appointed to the Vinerian Chair of English Law at Oxford in 1882, and became a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. There he published his famed An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885). With this work Dicey’s name became known beyond British isles, and he was cited in the Parliament in the Irish Home Rule question during the 1880s. Between 1886 and 1913 he wrote four books opposing Home Rule in Ireland.

In 1896 Dicey became one of the first Professors of Law at the then new London School of Economics. He stayed at LSE lecturing from 1896 to 1899. There he published in 1896 his Conflict of Laws. Dicey also served as principal of the Working Men's College, London (1899–1912).

Dicey remained connected with Oxford, continuing to lecture until his retirement in 1909. He died on April 7, 1922 in Oxford.

Work

In his early career Dicey was in favor of the liberalism of John Stuart Mill, and was rather influenced by his work. However, already by the 1880s he started to drift apart from liberal thinking, and began to warn against the dangers of liberalism.

In his first major work, the seminal An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885), Dicey warned that political freedom was under attack by modern incursions against the Rule of Law. He believed that the freedom British subjects enjoyed was dependent on two pillars - the sovereignty of Parliament and the supremacy of Common Law, through the means of courts freedom from governmental interference. Dicey believed that with such organized social system political freedom can be preserved and the democratic society could function harmoniously. The Rule of Law ensures that leaders, who were elected by people and whom were given the power and authority by people, always act in the best interest of those people. Dicey however warned that the law must be followed by all, as people in power often think that they were “above the law”. Dicey argued that the inner tendency of all people in power is to satisfy their personal needs out of public resources. He thus insisted that “no person is above the law and it is law that rules all.” He said:

"... every official, from the Prime Minister down to a constable or a collector of taxes, is under the same responsibility for every act done without legal justification as any other citizen. The Reports abound with cases in which officials have been brought before the courts, and made, in their personal capacity, liable to punishment, or to the payment of damages, for acts done in their official character but in excess of their lawful authority. [Appointed government officials and politicians, alike] ... and all subordinates, though carrying out the commands of their official superiors, are as responsible for any act which the law does not authorise as is any private and unofficial person." (Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, 1885).

Dicey believed that the Rule of Law is among the most important pillars of the civil society. He however also emphasized the character of the leader, who conducts the functioning of the whole social system. Dicey said:

"The actual exercise of authority by any sovereign whatever, and notably by Parliament, is bounded or controlled by two limitations. Of these the one is an external, and the other is an internal limitation. The external limit to the real power of a sovereign consists in the possibility or certainty that his subjects or a large number of them will disobey or resist his laws….. The internal limit to the exercise of sovereignty arises from the nature of the sovereign power itself. Even a despot exercises his powers in accordance with his character, which is itself molded by the circumstance under which he lives, including under that head the moral feelings of the time and the society to which he belongs. The Sultan could not, if he would, change the religion of the Mohammedan world, but even if he could do so, it is in the very highest degree improbable that the head of Mohammedanism should wish to overthrow the religion of Mohammed; the internal check on the exercise of the Sultan's power is at least as strong as the external limitation. People sometimes ask the idle question, why the Pope does not introduce this or that reform? The true answer is that a revolutionist is not the kind of man who becomes a Pope and that a man who becomes a Pope has no wish to be a revolutionist" (Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, 1885).

By the end of his career Dicey became a strong supporter of British imperial colonialism. He vigorously opposed the Irish Home Rule and spoke against it extensively from 1886 until shortly before his death, advocating that no concessions made to Irish nationalism in relation to the government of any part of Ireland as an integral part of the United Kingdom. He believed that British rule “worked well” for Ireland, as well as other British colonies. He was thus bitterly disillusioned by the agreement in 1920 in which Southern Ireland became a self-governing dominion (the Irish Free State), separate from the United Kingdom.

Dicey’s other notable works include: The Law of Domicil (1879), England's Case Against Home Rule (1886), The Privy Council (1887), Conflict of Laws (1896), Law and Public Opinion in England (1905).

Legacy

Dicey’s analysis of the British constitution was highly influential in shaping British political atmosphere on the turn of the century. Many of the principles expressed in his book An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution have been used as the part of the British constitution, and have been taught in law schools ever since. His ideas resonated in British political language up until World War I.

Publications

  • Dicey, A.V. 1879. The law of domicil as a branch of the law of England stated in the form of rules. London : Stevens and Sons
  • Dicey, A.V. 1887. Letters on unionist delusions. London: Macmillan
  • Dicey, A.V. 1910. Woman suffrage: An appeal to members of Parliament. Times Office
  • Dicey, A.V. 1949 (original published in 1896). Conflict of Laws. Sweet & Maxwell
  • Dicey, A.V. 1971 (original published in 1920). Thoughts on the union between England & Scotland. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0837147859
  • Dicey, A.V. 1979. (original published in 1860). The Privy Council. Hyperion Press. ISBN 0883559307
  • Dicey, A.V. 2001 (original published in 1911). The Statesmanship of Wordsworth: An Essay. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421256495
  • Dicey, A.V. 2002 (original published in 1905). Lectures on the Relation Between Law and Public Opinion in England During the Nineteenth Century. University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 1410201252
  • Dicey, A.V. 2006 (original published in 1886). England's Case Against Home Rule. Hard Press. ISBN 1406912980
  • Dicey, A.V. 2006 (original published in 1885). An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1402185553
  • Dicey, A.V. 2006 (original published in 1911). A Leap in the Dark A Criticism of the Principles of Home Rule as Illustrated by the Bill of 1893. Hard Press. ISBN 1406915092

References
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External links

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