Category: Australia
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Sophie Duxson and Greg Weeks: A Constitutional crisis or just the work of a sovereign Parliament?: The case of Hungary
On 1 January 2012, a new Constitution (or Fundamental Law) took effect in the Central European state of Hungary. From even before that date, there has been considerable international comment to the effect that the governing Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has misused its parliamentary majority to pass laws which have laid…
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Grégoire Webber: Australia: Parliamentary review of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities
On 19 April 2011, the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of the Parliament of Victoria was tasked with reviewing the first four years of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006. The joint committee of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly was composed of four government members and three opposition members. On…
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Greg Weeks: Attacking the High Court: a comment on the Malaysian Solution Case and its aftermath.
It is, fortunately, a rare occurrence for Australia’s government to be in conflict with its judiciary but there have been some fairly spectacular examples: In 1996, following the High Court’s decision in Wik Peoples v Queensland (1996) CLR 1 the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party, Tim Fischer, publicly called for…