Indonesia's Constitutional Court: safeguarding democratic transition? This project analyses the Indonesian Constitutional Court's decisions in election-related cases. It examines the Court's role in maintaining democracy and, ultimately, the national unity of Indonesia. By explaining how Indonesian democracy 'works', this project will enhance Australia's economic, political and cultural engagement with Indonesia.
The legal framework of public administration: a comparative study. This project explores the relationship between administrative law and public administration in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It's main aim is to give Australians generally and Australian public administrators in particular a clearer understanding of the way law frames and regulates the day-to-day implementation of public policy and programmes.
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
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
What is a Document? Evidentiary Challenges in the Digital Age. This project plans to investigate the changing nature and role of documentary evidence in modern Australian litigation. The transformation driven by digital technologies presents challenges to traditional distinctions in the law of evidence. Using case studies, interviews with court officials and legal professionals and observational fieldwork, the project plans to explore methods developed in the fields of information science and th ....What is a Document? Evidentiary Challenges in the Digital Age. This project plans to investigate the changing nature and role of documentary evidence in modern Australian litigation. The transformation driven by digital technologies presents challenges to traditional distinctions in the law of evidence. Using case studies, interviews with court officials and legal professionals and observational fieldwork, the project plans to explore methods developed in the fields of information science and the humanities, where understandings of material cultural in the digital age have advanced rapidly, to examine their potential for law. The project is expected to inform policy development in evidence law so that it remains relevant in the information and cultural economies of the digital age.Read moreRead less
Islam, Law and the State in the Philippines. Using the Philippines as a case study, the project plans to offer insights into a question that is of global significance but also of direct relevance to Australia: how Muslim minorities use sharî’a in their search for legitimacy and identity and the role of conflict in that process. It also plans to explore their opposition to the legal systems of modern nation states. The project aims to provide a thorough contemporary description of both the state ....Islam, Law and the State in the Philippines. Using the Philippines as a case study, the project plans to offer insights into a question that is of global significance but also of direct relevance to Australia: how Muslim minorities use sharî’a in their search for legitimacy and identity and the role of conflict in that process. It also plans to explore their opposition to the legal systems of modern nation states. The project aims to provide a thorough contemporary description of both the state system for the application of Islamic law in the Philippines and alternative systems developed by Muslim minorities who have used violence in their efforts to secede from that state, and have threatened regional security.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
Fairness and equity for victims of crime: what do victims want, and why don't they get it? The goal of the research is to assist justice and crime victims services agencies to understand their role in relation to crime victims and to develop more effective and responsive ways to meet this important social and justice challenge. The research will contribute to a better understanding how traditional legal and justice processes can be made consistent with victims' needs for procedural fairness and ....Fairness and equity for victims of crime: what do victims want, and why don't they get it? The goal of the research is to assist justice and crime victims services agencies to understand their role in relation to crime victims and to develop more effective and responsive ways to meet this important social and justice challenge. The research will contribute to a better understanding how traditional legal and justice processes can be made consistent with victims' needs for procedural fairness and equity of outcomes. The project will establish a strong theoretical and policy framework for a principled, fair and responsive justice system that is informed by the diverse interests of its constituents and consumers. This research has the support of Victims Support Australasia and in-principle agreement from four member services.Read moreRead less
Law, order and federalism in Australia. In a series of recent cases the High Court has emphasised the constitutional imperatives of judicial independence and impartiality in State court systems. These developments provide minimum human rights protections to individuals confronting criminal justice in the States. But what has not been considered is the cost of these developments. This project will investigate the uncertainty of the constitutional restrictions confronting State governments when re ....Law, order and federalism in Australia. In a series of recent cases the High Court has emphasised the constitutional imperatives of judicial independence and impartiality in State court systems. These developments provide minimum human rights protections to individuals confronting criminal justice in the States. But what has not been considered is the cost of these developments. This project will investigate the uncertainty of the constitutional restrictions confronting State governments when responding to law and order priorities, and the extent to which these have led to the frustration of policy development and experimentation across the Australian federation.Read moreRead less
Meeting the challenges of constitutional comparison. This project offers a more genuinely global approach to comparative constitutional law. It will deepen understanding of the operation and underlying assumptions of systems of government in countries around the world, assisting Australia in its dealings with neighbours and strategic partners and in developing its own constitutional arrangements.