The language of common European constitutional identity is distinguishable from that of common European constitutional traditions, in that the former does not focus so centrally on the past, and is independent of the legal doctrinal language of the EU law. When discussing constitutional...

This article uses the context of tort reform legislation to trace the impact of legislation on the principles and operation of tort law, and to analyse the continuing role of the common law in an age of statutes. Broad legislative reforms raise a number of questions of statutory interpretation...

The introduction of proportionate liability for claims for purely economic loss and property damage arising out of tortious or contractual negligence, or misleading and deceptive conduct by corporations and others, will change the way litigation will be planned and conducted in Australia, as it...

Over the last decade there have been numerous revelations about the harms suffered by children in a range of institutions in Australia. In 1997 the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission reported on the experiences of the Aboriginal Stolen Generations in Bringing them Home, and a number...

In his keynote address to the annual conference of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia (IPAA), October 2006, Justice Austin reviews the law concerning the fiduciary duties of external administrators, especially voluntary administrators appointed under Part 5.3A of the...

Australian tax drafting is now a small distinctive enclave within the larger realm of legislative drafting because the tax system has been chosen as the site for a novel drafting project. This has been done in the apparent belief that changing the choice and organisation of words within the tax...

This article considers how the current High Court of Australia is approaching the issue of commercial construction of contracts by considering several recent cases. The article argues that the High Court has not taken advantage of opportunities to develop the concept of commercial construction....

This paper, an edited and footnoted transcript of a presentation at a research Centre of Excellence at Hokkaido University, looks at the influence of “responsive regulation” theory on the large-scale “Australian Consumer Law” reforms enacted in 2010. It outlines some frameworks developed...

In 2005, Professor Phillipa Weeks published an insightful chapter entitled ‘Employment Law – A Test of Coherence Between Statute and Common Law' in S Corcoran and S Bottomley (eds) Interpreting Statutes. That chapter examined the emergence, development and ultimate emasculation of an implied...