Stare Decisis In Commonwealth Appellate Courts

" There have been times when Australian court judgments have held enormous weight in courts throughout the world, certainly throughout the Commonwealth. Owen Dixon's High Court in the 1950s and Anthony Mason's High Court in the 1980s are examples. If there were an Olympic record for teams of judges - and why not since they have Olympic medals for tae kwon do and beach volleyball - the Mason court would have won gold year after year. The quality of its jurisprudence was the best in the world" - Geoffrey Robertson QC, Sydney Morning Herald, 30th August 2007.This book comprises a selection of articles and speeches by Sir Anthony Mason written and delivered when he was a Justice and later Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and after his retirement from that Court in 1995. It demonstrates his long standing interest in the judicial process and his desire to communicate to the legal world and the public a more enlightened understanding of the proper scope of judicial law-making and the responsibility of judges for adapting the law to the changing conditions in society. It also displays his acknowledged mastery of public and private law and his belief in the growing significance of international and comparative law in the development of Australian law. The book contains some important speeches and articles on constitutional and administrative law, international law, human rights, equity and contract, the High Court, judicial administration, advocacy, a significant media interview, a State of the Judicature report delivered as the Chief Justice of Australia and his swearing in speeches when appointed as a Justice and later Chief Justice of the High Court. Some of the selected speeches display Sir Anthony's characteristic wit. The book deals with highly topical subjects such as whether Australia should adopt a bill of rights, the health of Australia's democratic institutions, the establishment of an Australian republic, globalization and the decline of parliamentary and national sovereignty. The articles and speeches were chosen and edited by Professor Geoffrey Lindell in consultation with Sir Anthony.

Fully updated and revised to fit in with the new laws and structure in the Commonwealth Caribbean law and legal systems, this new edition examines the institutions, structures and processes of the law in the Commonwealth Caribbean. The author explores: - the court system and the new Caribbean Court of Justice which replaces appeals to the Privy Council - the offshore financial legal sector - Caribbean customary law and the rights of indigenous peoples - the Constitutions of Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions and Human Rights - the impact of the historical continuum to the region's jurisprudence including the question of reparations - the complexities of judicial precedent for Caribbean peoples - international law as a source of law - alternative dispute mechanisms and the Ombudsman Effortlessy combining discussions of traditional subjects with those on more innovative subject areas, this book is an exciting exposition of Caribbean law and legal systems for those studying comparative law.

Hong Kong has a curious mixture of laws old and new, written and unwritten, home-grown and imported. Made by various bodies in various ways with various results, these laws constitute a reasonably coherent body of rules, principles, practices, procedures, assumptions, and attitudes. How are these differing sources of law best described and explained? How are they mobilized and employed? How do they achieve the coherence they seem to display, and can that coherence be maintained? Such are the questions which this book seeks to illuminate. They are vital questions for a legal system undergoing significant change at a crucial time in the political development of Hong Kong.

This book examines the Australian High Court's enormously controversial and politically explosive transformation during the 1990s. Led by Chief Justice Anthony Mason, the Court embarked on a concerted effort to recast its role within Australia's legal and political systems. The Court moved to the storm center of Australian politics as it became a catalyst for reforms that appeared unobtainable through parliamentary means, including rights for Australia's indigenous population and free speech protections. Securing unprecedented access to Australia's High Court and senior appellate judges, Pierce describes how the transformation unfolded, identifies the conditions that encouraged it, and explores how the Mason Court reforms have attenuated in recent years in the face of a hostile conservative government and in the absence of formal support structures, such as a bill of rights. The book situates the High Court's transformation in the wider context of similar changes that occurred in other common law judicial systems during recent decades, including the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. "Inside the Mason Court Revolution is the 'go to' book for a solid, accessible analysis of recent jurisprudential changes on Australia's High Court, an informative explanation of why these changes occurred, and thoughtful commentary on how permanent they may be." -- Law & Politics Book Review "Pierce intelligently analyses the reasons for the Court's activism during this period, such as the passage of the Australia Act 1986 and Australia's growing legal independence, the introduction of compulsory retirement for High Court judges, and the requirement for leave to appeal in virtually all cases. This excellent work cogently analyses the criticisms made of the Court during this period that it was too 'activist' and political' for an unelected body." -- Law Institute Journal "The book is based on more than eighty in-depth interviews with the senior judiciary in Australia in the late 1990s... Pierce quotes at length from the interviews, and it is extremely valuable to hear these judges in their own words... the quotes are enormous fun, and can be very thought provoking." -- Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal "Herein lies the book's great importance, Pierce so convincingly argues--utilising the remarks of the very echelon of the Australian profession as support--that how courts function is dependent upon a complex interplay of legal, individual, institutional and political variables that neither camp--lawyer or political scientist--can remain happily in their comfort zone." -- Federal Law Review "Against what sorts of political standards do we assess claims of the use and abuse of judicial powers? The relevance of Pierce's fascinating book is that it provides a fresh answer to this quite fundamental question... Pierce deserves many non-Australian readers." -- The American Review of Politics "Pierce has thoroughly researched his subject and, for that reason, this book is a worthwhile addition to any library." -- Precedent Magazine "[T]he judicial comments recorded in this book are in many cases both thoughtful and thought-provoking. They provide great insight into the judicial role and method from those who practise it. Both the divergences and similarities in views are instructive and this material could well prove useful for future studies on the judiciary." -- Melbourne University Law Review

This work contains the General Reports presented at the XVIIth Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL), which was held in July 2006 in Utrecht. A wide variety of topics is covered in this collection, ranging from liability of judges to competition law. The book provides an interesting assessment of the development of comparative law in recent decades and shows the growing importance of comparative law in various disciplines of law.

Daved Muttart has made a systematic study encompassing every judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada between 1950 and 2003. Muttart uses the results of this systematic examination to test the validity of extant jurisprudential theories.

Commonwealth Caribbean Law and Procedure: The Referral Procedure under Article 214 RTC in the Light of EU and International Law is about the referral procedure set out in Article 214 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC), which Treaty established the Caribbean Community Single Market and Economy (CSME). Article 214 RTC bears clear parallels to Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the most important being that that both articles pursue the same objective, i.e. they seek to ensure that CSME law and EU law, respectively, are uniformly applied in all Member States. Although Article 214 RTC was inspired by, and modelled on, Article 267 TFEU, it is not its exact replica. The similarities and differences between Article 214 RTC and Article 267 TFEU are critically assessed in this book. Also, the book: Examines how Article 214 RTC operates in the Caribbean context, how it interacts with other provisions of the RTC, and how it fits into the various national legal systems of the Member States of the CSME. Explores possible reasons why, so far, national courts of the Member States of the CSME have not made any referrals to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Puts Article 214 RTC in a comparative perspective; in particular, the book compares and contrasts it with Article 267 TFEU. Examines some of the aspects of Article 214 RTC in the light of public international law, bearing in mind that under Article 217(1) RTC, the CCJ is required, when exercising its original jurisdiction under Article 211 RTC, to "apply such rules of international law as may be applicable." This is to ensure that the CCJ will not bring in a finding of non liquet on the ground of silence or obscurity of CSME law, which Article 217(2) RTC expressly prohibits. This book will be of interest to academics and students studying CSME law, EU law, and comparative law, as well as judges, lawyers, and governmental and non-governmental organizations from the Caribbean region.