Constitutional Reasoning in the High Court of Australia

Abstract

This chapter deals with the methods of constitutional reasoning by the High Court of Australia in 40 “leading cases, identified by the study. It analyses types of arguments and key concepts that characterise the High Court's method in constitutional cases. and discusses the conclusions from a comparative perspective.

Note: This chapter was developed for the CONREASON Project, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg (Germany) and by the Institute for Legal Studies of the Centre for Social Sciences at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest (Hungary), coordinated by András Jakab, Arthur Dyevre and Giulio Itzcovich.

Keywords: constitutional reasoning, constitutional law, High Court of Australia

JEL Classification: K00, K39