The High Court, the Constitution and Australian Politics

Rosalind Dixon,George Williams

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781316277188
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Public Law
• Index: Law

The High Court, the Constitution and Australian Politics is an in-depth exploration of the relationship between decisions of the High Court and broader political currents in Australia. It begins with an investigation of the patterns and effects of constitutional invalidation and dissent on the High Court over time, and their correlation with political trends and attitudes. It also examines the role of constitutional amendment in expressing popular constitutional understandings in the Australian system. Subsequent chapters focus on the eras marked by the tenure of the Court's 12 Chief Justices, examining Court's decisions in the context of the prevailing political conditions and understandings of each. Together, the chapters canvass a rich variety of accounts of the relationship between constitutional law and politics in Australia, and of how this relationship is affected by factors such as the process of appointment for High Court judges and the Court's explicit willingness to consider political and community values.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Foreword
• Contents
• About the editors and authors
• Acknowledgements
• Table of cases
• Table of statutes
• Table of international instruments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Judicial review, invalidation and electoral politics: A quantitative survey
• 3 Judicial review and the politics of constitutional amendment
• 4 Judicial dissent and the politics of the High Court
• 5 The Griffith Court
• 6 The Knox Court
• 7 The Isaacs Court
• 8 The Gavan Duffy Court
• 9 The Latham Court
• 10 The Dixon Court
• 11 The Barwick Court
• 12 The Gibbs Court
• 13 The Mason Court
• 14 The Brennan Court
• 15 The Gleeson Court
• 16 The French Court
• Index