In the course of Tonga's political reform, the devolution of executive powers was incomplete due to the retention by the Monarch of several specific powers that have remained defined in the Constitution ever since its promulgation in 1875. Why did this occur? Abstract The subjects of this paper are the Kingdom of Tonga, its Monarchy...

This paper summarises the contentious issue of anti-gang legislation and whether it contravenes the implied freedom of political communication under the Commonwealth Constitution. Introduction On 8 October 2014 the High Court handed down its decision in Tajjour v NSW [2014] HCA 35 ( Tajjour) in which the offence of consorting in s 93X of the...

Introduction: This article presents statistical information about the High Court’s decision making for 2013 at both an institutional and individual level, with an emphasis on constitutional cases as a subset of the total. The results have been compiled using the same methodology employed in studies of earlier years. Likewise, we maintain our customary advice to...

This paper outlines key issues to consider for reforming Australia's Federation. Objectives The Commonwealth Government has committed to produce, working with the States and Territories, a White Paper on the Reform of the Federation. The White Paper will seek to clarify roles and responsibilities to ensure that, as far as possible, the States and Territories...

Fidelity to ‘democracy’ is frequently assumed to be an important evaluative criterion for selecting between competing theories of constitutional interpretation. This article interrogates that assumption by examining a widely deployed argument against progressive judicial interpretation associated with ‘formalist’ theories.