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...

Federalism needs to be reinvented to end buck passing and duplication, argues George Williams.

Papers and audio from the 2005 Constitutional Law Conference and Dinner, held on 18 February, are now available online. Speakers include Anne Twomey, John Uhr, Senator George Brandis, Andrew Lynch, Arthur Glass and George Williams.

Andrew Lynch and George Williams present basic information about the High Court's decision-making for 2004 at both an institutional and individual level, with an emphasis on constitutional cases as a subset of the total.

In the Behrooz case, the High Court held that Commonwealth legislation providing for detention of non-citizens was within the legislative power conferred by the Australian Constitution, even if the detention possibly involved harsh or inhumane treatment of detainees. The result of this decision is that the High Court has decided that the Commonwealth has power...