Constituent power in federal constitutions. The concept of constituent power is fundamental to public law. This project aims to provide the first systematic and theoretical examination of the concept as it manifests in federations. The idea of constituent power was first developed in unitary states. Consequently, its role in federations has rarely been explored. Expected outcomes include a systematic comparative analysis of constituent power in federations and the development of a theory of plur ....Constituent power in federal constitutions. The concept of constituent power is fundamental to public law. This project aims to provide the first systematic and theoretical examination of the concept as it manifests in federations. The idea of constituent power was first developed in unitary states. Consequently, its role in federations has rarely been explored. Expected outcomes include a systematic comparative analysis of constituent power in federations and the development of a theory of pluralised constituent power. Expected benefits include the generation of insights into the constitutional foundations of federal systems (including Australia), new approaches to the interpretation of federal constitutions and mapping of pathways for legitimate constitutional reform.Read moreRead less
Judges' work, place and psychological health - a national view. This project aims to address the human, juridical and financial costs of judicial officers’ work-related psychological harm. This harm is implicated in early retirement, sick leave and suicide. It threatens appropriate courtroom conduct, procedural fairness and impartial adjudication. The project seeks to generate new knowledge of the stress judicial officers experience and the individual and institutional mechanisms for managing st ....Judges' work, place and psychological health - a national view. This project aims to address the human, juridical and financial costs of judicial officers’ work-related psychological harm. This harm is implicated in early retirement, sick leave and suicide. It threatens appropriate courtroom conduct, procedural fairness and impartial adjudication. The project seeks to generate new knowledge of the stress judicial officers experience and the individual and institutional mechanisms for managing stressors, combining socio-legal and psychological approaches. Expected outcomes include evidence-based understandings to inform recruitment and retention strategies specific to this highly specialized workforce. This should provide significant benefits for judges’ work capacities and courts' delivery of justice.Read moreRead less
Contemporary populism and constitutional democracy. This project aims to explain and evaluate constitutional populism, or regimes that have come to power in a global wave of ‘populist’ parties challenging traditional ones. The project will identify, reconstruct, and evaluate legal and constitutional aims of, and institutional solutions adopted by, such regimes. It will examine whether they respect the forms of democracy, or just pay lip service to, for example, principles of the rule of law and ....Contemporary populism and constitutional democracy. This project aims to explain and evaluate constitutional populism, or regimes that have come to power in a global wave of ‘populist’ parties challenging traditional ones. The project will identify, reconstruct, and evaluate legal and constitutional aims of, and institutional solutions adopted by, such regimes. It will examine whether they respect the forms of democracy, or just pay lip service to, for example, principles of the rule of law and constitutionalism, while working to subvert such principles. The project will focus on what ‘new populists’ do with power once they have it, what the consequences are for a global view of democracy, and on informing Australia’s geopolitical engagement with such regimes.Read moreRead less
Changing Judicial Performance: Emotion and Legitimacy. This project examines emotion and emotional expression in judicial performance. Although judging is understood as unemotional, changing norms demand judicial emotional awareness and impose greater scrutiny of in-court judicial behaviour, creating practical tension for the judiciary and conceptual tension in understanding judging. Using surveys, interviews and observations of the Australian judiciary, and judicial performance evaluation data ....Changing Judicial Performance: Emotion and Legitimacy. This project examines emotion and emotional expression in judicial performance. Although judging is understood as unemotional, changing norms demand judicial emotional awareness and impose greater scrutiny of in-court judicial behaviour, creating practical tension for the judiciary and conceptual tension in understanding judging. Using surveys, interviews and observations of the Australian judiciary, and judicial performance evaluation data from the United States of America, this research examines whether judicial emotion and emotional display enhance or detract from judicial performance, considering impartiality and legitimacy of judicial authority. It aims to generate substantial new knowledge about judicial decision making and judicial behaviour.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101055
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$334,775.00
Summary
Public law accountability of outsourced government services. When government officials make decisions that affect a person's interests - eg whether to grant a social security payment or visa - the official must act lawfully, fairly and rationally. If they do not, there are means of review and redress for the affected individual via administrative law. But increasingly, government service delivery is outsourced and review mechanisms are lost. This project will analyse best practice approaches to ....Public law accountability of outsourced government services. When government officials make decisions that affect a person's interests - eg whether to grant a social security payment or visa - the official must act lawfully, fairly and rationally. If they do not, there are means of review and redress for the affected individual via administrative law. But increasingly, government service delivery is outsourced and review mechanisms are lost. This project will analyse best practice approaches to administrative review and redress in different outsourcing contexts. It will generate new knowledge about the operation and effectiveness of redress mechanisms. This will benefit policy-makers and the community by enhancing transparency, fairness and accountability in outsourced decision-making.Read moreRead less
Australian human rights complaints: Litigation, mediation or conciliation. This project will assess the effectiveness of the mechanisms used to resolve human rights complaints in Australia – conciliation, mediation and litigation. It will be the first project to evaluate the effectiveness of these mechanisms in a human rights context. Working with industry partners from the legal sector and four human rights commissions, this project will generate new knowledge on human rights complaints and on ....Australian human rights complaints: Litigation, mediation or conciliation. This project will assess the effectiveness of the mechanisms used to resolve human rights complaints in Australia – conciliation, mediation and litigation. It will be the first project to evaluate the effectiveness of these mechanisms in a human rights context. Working with industry partners from the legal sector and four human rights commissions, this project will generate new knowledge on human rights complaints and on the views of key stakeholders about the effectiveness of the mechanisms used to resolve human rights complaints. This new information will inform legal and policy reform throughout Australia. The expected outcomes include developing a robust evidence-based model for human rights dispute resolution in the Australian context.Read moreRead less
The potential and limits of international adjudication. This project aims to analyse the place of adjudication in international affairs, using a case study of Australia’s extensive engagement with the International Court of Justice. The project will provide a detailed account of the context and impact of the cases in which Australia has been involved before the Court, and will assess the complex roles that adjudication and advisory opinions can play in the resolution of international disputes mo ....The potential and limits of international adjudication. This project aims to analyse the place of adjudication in international affairs, using a case study of Australia’s extensive engagement with the International Court of Justice. The project will provide a detailed account of the context and impact of the cases in which Australia has been involved before the Court, and will assess the complex roles that adjudication and advisory opinions can play in the resolution of international disputes more generally. This project will document an historic set of engagements spanning 70 years and provide guidance on when international adjudication may be productive for Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and the international legal order. This will provide deeper knowledge of the capacities of international judicial institutions to resolve disputes relating to economic, health, social, cultural and environmental issues.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101594
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$335,983.00
Summary
The ideal judge. This project aims to interrogate how one significant and under-utilised resource, the speeches made at judicial swearing-in ceremonies, demonstrates changing perceptions of the essential attributes of judges and of judging in Australian Supreme Courts. The project’s expected outcomes include revealing the different ways governments, lawyers and judges perceive these attributes; the gendered ramifications of these perceptions; and variations over time and geography. It will infor ....The ideal judge. This project aims to interrogate how one significant and under-utilised resource, the speeches made at judicial swearing-in ceremonies, demonstrates changing perceptions of the essential attributes of judges and of judging in Australian Supreme Courts. The project’s expected outcomes include revealing the different ways governments, lawyers and judges perceive these attributes; the gendered ramifications of these perceptions; and variations over time and geography. It will inform public debate regarding the ideal attributes of judges and judging, qualities that are essential to maintaining and building public confidence.Read moreRead less
Violence, Risk and Safety: The Changing Face of Australian Criminal Laws . Criminal laws have been radically transformed to keep Australians safe from violence. This project aims to complete the first national study of how and why criminal laws have proliferated and diversified so significantly. It will employ novel conceptual tools for investigating the 'drivers', ‘processes’ and ‘modalities’ of criminalisation, and complete socio-legal studies of sexual and domestic violence, homicide, alcohol ....Violence, Risk and Safety: The Changing Face of Australian Criminal Laws . Criminal laws have been radically transformed to keep Australians safe from violence. This project aims to complete the first national study of how and why criminal laws have proliferated and diversified so significantly. It will employ novel conceptual tools for investigating the 'drivers', ‘processes’ and ‘modalities’ of criminalisation, and complete socio-legal studies of sexual and domestic violence, homicide, alcohol-related violence, public disorder and the activities of criminal groups. The intended outcome is new knowledge about the causes and effects of innovation in criminal law-making. This research can benefit future public debate, policy development and law reform decisions about the role of criminalisation in enhancing safety.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100633
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,125.00
Summary
The Australian Preventive Justice Project . This project aims to generate the first account of Australian preventive justice. Through original legal, historical and critical research, the project will create new knowledge by mapping, for the first time, the legal architecture of preventive justice in the Australian Federation since colonisation, and analysing these laws and their impacts through settler colonial and coloniality theories. Outcomes include the first legal history of preventive ju ....The Australian Preventive Justice Project . This project aims to generate the first account of Australian preventive justice. Through original legal, historical and critical research, the project will create new knowledge by mapping, for the first time, the legal architecture of preventive justice in the Australian Federation since colonisation, and analysing these laws and their impacts through settler colonial and coloniality theories. Outcomes include the first legal history of preventive justice in the Australian settler colonial context, and enhanced understanding of the role of race in preventive injustice. Benefits include publications and guidelines to inform preventive policy and lawmaking, research training and increased capacity for Australian preventive justice research.Read moreRead less