Divergence and convergence in the federal judicial system

Abstract

This thesis ties together my previously published work on Chapter III of the Constitution, and seeks to place that work within a broader constitutional context. It seeks to explain that Ch III principles have developed along two pathways: the first views Ch III as primarily setting out part of the federal architecture of the constitutional system; the second sees Ch III as primarily prescribing a constitutional relationship between the federal body politic and the individual, whereby the state is limited in the exercise of its power to protect the interests of the individual. The thesis then plots these divergent pathways alongside other areas of constitutional law to show: first, that the rights protective view of Ch III has broadly followed the same trajectory as other rights protective constitutional provisions and implications; and, secondly, that the federal aspects of Ch III have been developed in a way that produces a highly centralised and integrated picture of Australian federalism with close similarities to the way in which other federal constitutional controversies have played out. As part of this exercise in reinvigorating the federal dimensions of Ch III, it will also be seen that key Ch III provisions can take on very different complexions if seen through a federal lens, rather than a rights protecting framework. -- provided by Candidate.