Professor Fortin’s book is one of 16 publications nominated by an expert council of constitutional specialists from around the world. The King Can Do No Wrong traces a fascinating history of an antiquated common law tradition that considered the king to be immune from prosecution. While government officials working under the king were, historically, fully liable for their actions, confusion crept in around the loosely defined notion of the “Crown”, or the government itself. Was the “Crown” a collection of civil servants, or was it representative, or even synonymous, with the unimpeachable monarch? Professor Fortin offers the first monograph dedicated to this topic, exploring the history of the king’s personal immunity being stretched to cover the government itself, and how such developments have been reproduced in English legal thinking. She examines the evolution and impact of our understanding of governmental liability on Canadian jurisprudence and engages in comparative analysis with how this idea has been scrutinized in Australia, Ireland and the United States.
Learn more about The King Can Do No Wrong.
Voting for the first round of the Forum’s Book of the Year competition is now open. Further rounds will take place through January and February, with a winner crowned on March 10, 2025.
Visit the Forum’s voting page to cast your vote. Votes are anonymous.
The International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism was founded by Richard Albert, holder of the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also Professor of Government and Director of Constitutional Studies. He previously served as the inaugural Allan Rock Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa in 2021. The Forum seeks to promote dialogue around ideas that are shaping the future of constitutionalism.
Congratulations to Professor Fortin on this great honour!