Overview

Inspired by and honouring the contribution to Australian public law of Dennis Pearce, this collection of essays by some of Australia’s most influential legal thinkers explores how the ascendency of statutes over the past few decades has come to influence the development of Australian public law. A range of current issues relating to statutory interpretation, judicial review, delegated legislation, law reform, and the culture of government are addressed here through an examination of the role of courts, tribunals, inquiries, Ombudsman offices, and freedom of information agencies. \nThe collection provides a thorough and topical study of the role played by statutes in defining the scope of government authority and in holding that authority to account. It will serve as an invaluable resource for legal practitioners, academics, students, and others interested in the challenges confronting Australian public law and the regulation of government in “the age of statutes.” \nContributing authors include Margaret Allars, AJ Brown, Stephen Gageler, Susan Kenny, John McMillan, Linda Pearson, Cheryl Saunders, and Daniel Stewart.

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9781760020392

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Reviews

Most lawyers today spend far more time dealing with statutes than with case law. Despite this, a comparatively small amount of time in university teaching and research is devoted to statutes. Dennis Pearce was one of the first academic lawyers to make a substantial contribution to address this imbalance, with his books on statutory interpretation and delegated legislation. Now a book has been published to recognise his contribution, with a range of articles about statute law. The book is a short one, but rich in content. The contributors are distinguished academics and practitioners who are well qualified to comment on statute law. This book would be of interest to anyone involved with statutes or public law in general. It is a useful reference book regarding several significant issues. I also found it enjoyable to read. Read full review... - Daniel Lovric, InPrint, Law Institute Journal Victoria, May 2016 There are few practising lawyers who would not have drawn assistance at some point from the forty years of pre-eminent writing that Professor Dennis Pearce has contributed to the understanding of statutory interpretation in Australia. In 2014, a conference was held in Professor Pearce's honour, and this book collects fully developed versions of papers given at that conference. In two halves, this collection explores firstly, the relationship between the arms of government as they have been understood historically and some of the challenges that continue to face the courts today, and secondly, some of the more unique ways in which, as a result of statutory bodies, the executive is now held to account. Of particular interest to practitioners in public law will be the papers by the Honourable Justice Stephen Gageler and Professor Margaret Allars. Justice Gageler's paper deals with the exceptionally difficult and fascinating question of whether in Australia, when a set of words confer statutory power and admit a range of potential meanings, it is possible for the decision-maker to have the authority to decide the meaning of those words rather than the court. Professor Allars' essay is a sequel to an essay written by Professor Pearce analysing the conflict between the executive and the judiciary, that traces that conflict further in the context of, amongst other things, the courts' invocation of the rule of law as a basis for holding the executive to account. This collection of scholarship will no doubt, although perhaps without quite the same frequency of Professor Pearce's success, find its way into the judgments of the courts with equally positive reflections. - Queensland Law Reporter - 4 December 2015 - [2015] 47 QLR

There are few practising lawyers who would not have drawn assistance at some point from the forty years of pre-eminent writing that Professor Dennis Pearce has contributed to the understanding of statutory interpretation in Australia. In 2014, a conference was held in Professor Pearce's honour, and this book collects fully developed versions of papers given at that conference. In two halves, this collection explores firstly, the relationship between the arms of government as they have been understood historically and some of the challenges that continue to face the courts today, and secondly, some of the more unique ways in which, as a result of statutory bodies, the executive is now held to account. Of particular interest to practitioners in public law will be the papers by the Honourable Justice Stephen Gageler and Professor Margaret Allars. Justice Gageler's paper deals with the exceptionally difficult and fascinating question of whether in Australia, when a set of words confer statutory power and admit a range of potential meanings, it is possible for the decision-maker to have the authority to decide the meaning of those words rather than the court. Professor Allars' essay is a sequel to an essay written by Professor Pearce analysing the conflict between the executive and the judiciary, that traces that conflict further in the context of, amongst other things, the courts' invocation of the rule of law as a basis for holding the executive to account. This collection of scholarship will no doubt, although perhaps without quite the same frequency of Professor Pearce's success, find its way into the judgments of the courts with equally positive reflections. - Queensland Law Reporter - 4 December 2015 - [2015] 47 QLR

Author Information

Anthony J. Connolly is an Associate Professor at the Law School of the Australian National University. Daniel Stewart is a Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the Australian National University and a consultant to Sparke Helmore Lawyers.

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