Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretica ....Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretical and applied questions of legal interpretation implicit in this argument. It rejects the charge of judicial activism. It proposes a ?value-maximizing? theory of reasoning and interpretation that characterizes adjudication in contentious cases as precisely a process of theorizing about relevant moral and political values.Read moreRead less
Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwea ....Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwealth and State levels. It will provide the basis for a more informed debate in this important area and will assess the need for reform of the current system.Read moreRead less
Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have onl ....Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have only begun to consider such issues, which have been debated in America for decades. This project will involve a comparison of the methodologies of constitutional interpretation in five different countries, and a theoretical inquiry into the underlying normative and linguistic principles.Read moreRead less
Executive Power under the Australian Constitution: definition, delimitation and accountability. The executive branch of government is the central actor in protecting Australia from terrorism and crime, as it is in other countries. The executive is also central to defence, immigration control as well as critical domestic policy domains. Understanding the nature and scope of executive power, and how it is regulated and rendered accountable, is therefore vital to good governance and successful prot ....Executive Power under the Australian Constitution: definition, delimitation and accountability. The executive branch of government is the central actor in protecting Australia from terrorism and crime, as it is in other countries. The executive is also central to defence, immigration control as well as critical domestic policy domains. Understanding the nature and scope of executive power, and how it is regulated and rendered accountable, is therefore vital to good governance and successful protection of Australian interests. This project will provide the first integrated, broadly-based and comparatively-informed analysis of executive government under the Constitution since the emergence of Australian constitutional nationalism in the High Court in the 1990s and since the executive assumed expanded powers in the post 9/11 world.Read moreRead less
Freedom of Expression in Democratic States: A New Theoretical Direction. Modern democratic states must protect freedom of expression while also responding to the harms caused by hateful, violent and dangerous form of speech - a problem accentuated by increasing racial, religious and ethnic conflict and the threat of (and responses to) terrorism.
The project is important because it aims to develop a theory of freedom of expression that - free from the distorting influence of the United States ....Freedom of Expression in Democratic States: A New Theoretical Direction. Modern democratic states must protect freedom of expression while also responding to the harms caused by hateful, violent and dangerous form of speech - a problem accentuated by increasing racial, religious and ethnic conflict and the threat of (and responses to) terrorism.
The project is important because it aims to develop a theory of freedom of expression that - free from the distorting influence of the United States jurisprudence - can explain and guide the courts in other democratic countries. Its comparative and theoretical innovation will place Australian scholarship at the forefront of a central problem in modern political life and enrich scholarly and public debate.Read moreRead less