The High Court, the Constitution and Australian Politics

by Rosalind Dixon (Editor), George Williams

The High Court, the Constitution and Australian Politics is an in-depth exploration of the relationship between decisions of the High Court and broader political currents in Australia. It begins with an investigation of the patterns and effects of constitutional invalidation and dissent on the High Court over time, and their correlation with political trends and attitudes. It also examines the role of constitutional amendment in expressing popular constitutional understandings in the Australian system. Subsequent chapters focus on the eras marked by the tenure of the Court's 12 Chief Justices, examining Court's decisions in the context of the prevailing political conditions and understandings of each. Together, the chapters canvass a rich variety of accounts of the relationship between constitutional law and politics in Australia, and of how this relationship is affected by factors such as the process of appointment for High Court judges and the Court's explicit willingness to consider political and community values.

368 pages, Hardcover

First published March 29, 2015

About the author

Rosalind Dixon is Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

Rosalind Dixon earned her BA in government and economics, and her first law degree (with highest honors) from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, in 2001. She earned her LLM and SJD from Harvard Law School in 2004 and 2008, respectively. While at Harvard, Ms. Dixon served as a Fellow in the Justice, Welfare, and Economics Program, and a Teaching Fellow in Constitutional Law, Constitutional History, Comparative Constitutional Law, and Comparative Constitutional Engineering. Before her time at Harvard, she clerked for the Chief Justice of Australia, the Hon. A. M. Gleeson A.C., taught at the University of New South Wales, and practiced as an associate (or solicitor) in the dispute resolution department at Mallesons Stephen Jaques.

Ms. Dixon's teaching and research interests include constitutional law, comparative constitutional law and design, international human rights, and law and gender.