Professor Greg Weeks and his co-author examined the declining importance of the ultra vires doctrine in Australia in tandem with the rise of constitutional principles in judicial review of administrative action in their newly published book chapter.
This book examines the connections between different jurisdictions in detail to examine whether judicial review is native to each country or has genuinely international themes.
A chapter examining Australian administrative law co-authored by Professor Greg Weeks from The Australian National University (ANU) College of Law appears in a new book published by Cambridge University Press.
‘The Creation of Australian Administrative Law’, co-authored by Professor Weeks and Professor Matthew Groves (Deakin University), is included in Judicial Review of Administrative Action Across the Common Law World: Origins and Adaption co-edited by Assistant Professor Swati Jhaveri (National University of Singapore) and Professor Michael Ramsden (The Chinese University of Hong Kong).
The volume draws together approaches to judicial review from around the common law world including Scotland, Ireland, the US, Canada, Israel, South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, India, Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand.
“Many of these jurisdictions have traditionally been seen as having little in common in dealing with judicial review. This book examines the connections between different jurisdictions in detail to examine whether judicial review is native to each country or has genuinely international themes,” said Professor Weeks.
The chapter marks another milestone in the collaborative scholarship of Professors Weeks and Groves, co-authors of Judicial Review of Administrative Action and Government Liability (Thomson Reuters, 6th ed, 2017 and 7th ed, 2021 [forthcoming]), Administrative Redress In and Out of the Courts: Essays in Honour of Robyn Creyke and John McMillan (Federation Press, 2019), and Legitimate Expectations in the Common Law World, (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2017).
Both scholars also attended a symposium at the National University of Singapore to discuss their conclusions with other contributors to the book.
Research on comparative administrative law, in contrast to comparative constitutional law, remains largely underdeveloped. And while there are many similarities between common law countries in judicial review, Australia’s situation is unique.
In their chapter, the authors examine the declining importance of the ultra vires doctrine in Australia in tandem with the rise of constitutional principles in judicial review of administrative action.
“The biggest influence on Australian judicial review and administrative law more generally is the Constitution. Second is that fact that we have no Commonwealth statutory or constitutional bill of rights.
“New Zealanders, Canadians, the English and others often find our approach to be stubborn in its refusal to accept concepts, familiar abroad, which are inconsistent with our Constitution,” Professor Weeks added.
Purchase your copy of Judicial Review of Administrative Action Across the Common Law World: Origins and Adaptionhere.
