New and Notables Titles.

• Date: 22 March 2018

A selection of recent publications relating to parliamentary studies prepared with the assistance of the Library of Parliament (November 2017-February 2018)

"Cracking the whips--Parliament's whips have lost their edge, just as their role becomes vital." Economist 425 (9066), November 9, 2017, pp. 40-1.

* The backroom fixers of Westminster are not as powerful as they used to be.

Feldman, Stephanie. "The blouse of Commons as a court of parliamentary privilege." Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law / Revue de droit parlementaire et politique 11 (3), November/novembre 2017: pp. 571-87.

* Although the House of Commons does not function as a judiciary per se in the way that the British House of Lords once did, the method in which the House responds to breaches of parliamentary privilege can be effectively compared to the manner in which courts of law in the rest of the country adjudicate wrongdoing in fields other than parliamentary law. The House's court of parliamentary privilege represents a way in which Members' fundamental rights are protected, with the Speaker serving a role similar to that of a judge.

Grammond, Sebastien. "The protective function of the constitutional amending formula." Review of Constitutional Studies--Revue d'etudes constitutionnelles 22 (2), September/septembre 2017, pp. 171-209.

* The Reference re Supreme Court Act and the Reference re Senate Reform have often been interpreted as widening the body of norms that form part of the Constitution. The author submits that in those two references, the Supreme Court of Canada has instead given effect to the protective function of the constitutional amending formula. This means that the amending formula limits the action of Parliament and the provincial...