Australian Electoral Law: Building a System for the 21st Century. An effective regime of electoral law and regulation is vital to the integrity of any democratic system. The litigation arising from the recent US Presidential election clearly demonstrates this. But electoral law is a neglected discipline in Australia. This impedes best practice electoral administration and the orderly development and modernisation of electoral law norms and rules. With the involvement and backing of Electoral Cou ....Australian Electoral Law: Building a System for the 21st Century. An effective regime of electoral law and regulation is vital to the integrity of any democratic system. The litigation arising from the recent US Presidential election clearly demonstrates this. But electoral law is a neglected discipline in Australia. This impedes best practice electoral administration and the orderly development and modernisation of electoral law norms and rules. With the involvement and backing of Electoral Council of Australia (representing all Australian electoral authorities), this project will produce leading scholarship that will assist the ongoing development of an appropriate regime of electoral law for Australia in the 21st century.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354730
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Governance and Economic Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Next Steps. This Initiative brings together economists, political scientists, and academic lawyers with a track record of influential policy-oriented research on the design and implementation of economic and governance reforms in the Asia-Pacific region. The reform agenda covers corporate governance, national economic policy and political institutions, and frameworks for international cooperation around the Pacific region. Key issues ....Governance and Economic Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Next Steps. This Initiative brings together economists, political scientists, and academic lawyers with a track record of influential policy-oriented research on the design and implementation of economic and governance reforms in the Asia-Pacific region. The reform agenda covers corporate governance, national economic policy and political institutions, and frameworks for international cooperation around the Pacific region. Key issues are institutional transparency and accountability, economic efficiency and growth, and transnational cooperation. By holding a workshop, building a bibliometric survey, and linking research through a well-designed website, the initiative will propose an international network designed to further research on the problems of economic and governance reform.Read moreRead less
Protecting economic, social and cultural Rights in the ACT: models, methods and impact. This project will generate new thinking on the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. It will develop impact assessment frameworks and protocols for the assessment of compliance with these rights. The project will benefit not only the ACT by informing consideration of the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights in the ACT Human Rights Act, but also other Australian jurisdictions' deli ....Protecting economic, social and cultural Rights in the ACT: models, methods and impact. This project will generate new thinking on the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. It will develop impact assessment frameworks and protocols for the assessment of compliance with these rights. The project will benefit not only the ACT by informing consideration of the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights in the ACT Human Rights Act, but also other Australian jurisdictions' deliberations over bills of rights, including consideration of a national bill. Other benefits include training students and informing Australia's engagement with the UN on an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.Read moreRead less
Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwea ....Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwealth and State levels. It will provide the basis for a more informed debate in this important area and will assess the need for reform of the current system.Read moreRead less
Building Democracy and Justice after Conflict. Weak governance is a cause of terrorism. Australia is increasingly involved in nation-building projects, both in its region and internationally. This project will build Australia's expertise in the ways that international law can promote democracy and justice after conflict. It will develop guidelines for states and organisations involved in peace and nation-building. The project will thus contribute to safeguarding Australia by increasing Austra ....Building Democracy and Justice after Conflict. Weak governance is a cause of terrorism. Australia is increasingly involved in nation-building projects, both in its region and internationally. This project will build Australia's expertise in the ways that international law can promote democracy and justice after conflict. It will develop guidelines for states and organisations involved in peace and nation-building. The project will thus contribute to safeguarding Australia by increasing Australia's capacity to engage with, and interpret itself to, its neighbours and the broader international community, as well as by tackling the threat of terrorism.Read moreRead less
The Helping Court: Examining the Early History of the Family Court of Australia. This project will benefit the many Australian families involved in divorce by analysing the process by which the Family Court of Australia, designed to reduce the acrimony and costs associated with fault-based adversarial processes, so quickly became a focus for criticism and violence. By identifying continuity and change in both the issues underlying disputes in the family law system and the strategies adopted to o ....The Helping Court: Examining the Early History of the Family Court of Australia. This project will benefit the many Australian families involved in divorce by analysing the process by which the Family Court of Australia, designed to reduce the acrimony and costs associated with fault-based adversarial processes, so quickly became a focus for criticism and violence. By identifying continuity and change in both the issues underlying disputes in the family law system and the strategies adopted to overcome them it will help to stabilise dispute resolution policies and reduce the need for review and adjustment in the future.Read moreRead less
Building Democracy and Justice after Conflict. Weak governance is a cause of terrorism. Australia is increasingly involved in nation-building projects, both in its region and internationally. This project will build Australia's expertise in the ways that international law can promote democracy and justice after conflict. It will develop guidelines for states and organisations involved in peace and nation-building. The project will thus contribute to safeguarding Australia by increasing Austra ....Building Democracy and Justice after Conflict. Weak governance is a cause of terrorism. Australia is increasingly involved in nation-building projects, both in its region and internationally. This project will build Australia's expertise in the ways that international law can promote democracy and justice after conflict. It will develop guidelines for states and organisations involved in peace and nation-building. The project will thus contribute to safeguarding Australia by increasing Australia's capacity to engage with, and interpret itself to, its neighbours and the broader international community, as well as by tackling the threat of terrorism.Read moreRead less
The Impact of Hate Speech Laws on Public Discourse in Australia. 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the first Australian laws (NSW) directed at the regulation of hate speech. Although hate speech laws are now firmly embedded in Australia's legal landscape, and have been extended in some jurisdictions to vilification based on religious and sexual orientation, they remain a controversial instrument for supporting Australia's policies on multiculturalism, religious tolerance an ....The Impact of Hate Speech Laws on Public Discourse in Australia. 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the first Australian laws (NSW) directed at the regulation of hate speech. Although hate speech laws are now firmly embedded in Australia's legal landscape, and have been extended in some jurisdictions to vilification based on religious and sexual orientation, they remain a controversial instrument for supporting Australia's policies on multiculturalism, religious tolerance and respect for difference. An examination of the effects of hate speech laws on public discourse - both intended and unintended - will offer valuable insights about the capacity of law to deliver social cohesion in 21st century Australia.Read moreRead less
Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have onl ....Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have only begun to consider such issues, which have been debated in America for decades. This project will involve a comparison of the methodologies of constitutional interpretation in five different countries, and a theoretical inquiry into the underlying normative and linguistic principles.Read moreRead less
Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretica ....Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretical and applied questions of legal interpretation implicit in this argument. It rejects the charge of judicial activism. It proposes a ?value-maximizing? theory of reasoning and interpretation that characterizes adjudication in contentious cases as precisely a process of theorizing about relevant moral and political values.Read moreRead less