This thesis argues that the ‘rule of law’ was not followed in colonial and post-federation Australia in relation to a fundamental principle of the common law.

Peter Prince and Thomas John examine the extent of the Commonwealth’s power under the Australian Constitution to establish a single national industrial relations system.

In Ame's Case the High Court said that a Papuan man who was an Australian citizen by birth was not a 'real Australian' and could be treated as an 'alien' under the Australian constitution, including for the purpose of taking his citizenship away. The case indicates that citizenship in itself does not confer full membership...

In this research brief, Peter Prince discusses legal issues arising from the mistaken detention of Cornelia Rau, an Australian permanent resident, under the Commonwealth Migration Act for some 10 months between the end of March 2004 and early February 2005.

In August 2004 Australia's High Court declared by 4:3 that failed asylum seekers who have nowhere to go can be kept in immigration detention indefinitely. In the Al-Khateb and Al Khafaji cases, the majority said that provided the Immigration Minister retained the intention of eventually deporting such people, detention would remain valid. These cases will...