Zines and Stellios’s The High Court and the Constitution 7th Edition

It has been seven years since the publication of the 6th edition of Professor Zines’s classic book on Australian constitutional law, The High Court and the Constitution. In that time the High Court has handed down a range of important decisions transforming, extending and developing existing constitutional law principles. The 7th edition of the book, by Professor James Stellios, contains analysis and critique of the High Court’s jurisprudence over that period. Revisions have been made to almost all chapters to update the existing law. The most significant revisions relate to:

• The new developments on the implied freedom of political communication, including the adoption of structured proportionality;
• The alignment of the intercourse and trade and commerce limbs of s 92 in the context of border closures to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and the acceptance of structured proportionality in that context;
• The acceptance of a reciprocal intergovernmental immunities doctrine;
• The High Court’s continuing development of Chapter III principles;
• The interpretative method of the Court, including in cases on dual citizenship; and
• The updated analysis of principles of characterisation, particularly in relation to the aliens power and incidental power.