International Law and the High Court of Australia

This comprehensive work examines for the first time the decisions of the High Court of Australia since 1903 that deal with matters of public international law. It traces the development of the Court’s approach from initial uncertainty to a modern, more coherent, understanding of the place and relevance of international law in a dualist system which also recognises the role played by all superior courts to ensure that international law does not suffer from fragmentation by individualised interpretation.

The cases considered cover a wide range of subjects, including constitutional foundations, the limits of territory, human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples, commercial and trade law, criminal and international criminal law, citizenship and the protection of refugees and the immunities of foreign States. The result is a detailed picture of the role of international law as an essential component of modern domestic legal analysis.

About the author Dr Christopher Ward SC is a Senior Counsel of the New South Wales Bar, Australia at 6 St James Hall Chambers, and an Associate Member of 3 Verulam Buildings Barristers in London. He is Vice-Chair of the International Law Association and an Honorary Professor of the Australian National University in Canberra. He has an extensive practice in public international law and holds a BSc and LLB from the University of Sydney, an LLM from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD from the Australian National University.