Judicial Activism in Common Law Supreme Courts Edited by BRICE DICKSON OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Contents List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Table of Cases Table of Legislation xv xvii xix xli 1. Comparing Supreme Courts 1 1. Introduction 1 2. The Main Institutional Features of Supreme Courts 3 3. The Way in which Supreme Courts Operate 7 4. The'Culture'of Common Law Jurisdictions 11 5. An Outline of Subsequent Chapters 14 2. 'Restrained Activism'in the High Court of Australia 19 1. Introduction 19 2. Institutional Features of the High Court 21 Federal Origins 21 Jurisdiction 21 Appointment and Removal of Judges 23 Caseload and Decision-making Practice 24 Judicial Review, Human Rights and Separation of Powers 26 3. Debate about Judicial Activism in the High Court 27 The Competing Normative Claims of Dixon and Mason 27 Sir Owen Dixon's Approach to the Judicial Function 27 Sir Anthony Mason's Approach to the Judicial Function 29 The Current Debate: Kirby and Heydon 30 4. The Mason Court 32 Overview of the Mason Court 32 Common Law Cases: Mabo, Dietrich, and Wik 34 Mabo v Queensland (No 2) and Native Title to Land 34 Dietrich v The Queen 38 Wik and Capital C Conservatives 41 Constitutional Cases: ACTVand Leeth AA ACTVv Commonwealth and Freedom of Political Communication 46 Leeth v Commonwealth and Equality 50 Constitutional Conclusions 55
x Contents 5. The Gleeson Court 55 A New Species of Legalism? 55 International Law and the Gleeson Court 59 International Law and its Place in Australian Law 60 Justice Kirby: Bangalore, Al-Kateb, and Beyond 61 International Law Conclusions 64 6. Conclusion: Lessons from Antipodean Activism 65 Time, Place, and Personnel 66 Fluidity and Frontiers 66 Action and Reaction 67 3. Judicial Activism in the Supreme Court of Canada 69 1. Introduction 6J 2. The Political Dimensions of the Judicial Activism Debate 72 3. The Jurisprudential Dimensions of the Judicial Activism Debate 76 4. Judicial Activism and Dialogue Between Courts and Legislatures 78 5. Criminal Justice 80 6. National Security 88 7. Gay Rights 91 8. Aboriginal and Treaty Rights 97 9. Political Policies 100 Unwritten Constitutional Principles 100 Electoral Policy 103 10. Social and Economic Policies 104 Sunday Closing and Mandatory Retirement Laws 105 Language and Educational Policy 106 Commercial Advertising 108 Labour Policy 110 Social Welfare Policy 112 Health Care Policy 114 11. Conclusion 117 4. The Supreme Court of India 121 1. Introduction 121 2. Historical Background and Powers of the Supreme Court 123 Jurisdiction 123 3. Judicial Activism: The First Phase 125 The Beginnings 125 The Golak Nath decision 127 The Fundamental Rights Case 130 The First Phase: An Assessment 131
Contents xi 4. Judicial Activism: The Second Phase 133 The 'Supersessions' 133 The Emergency and the Habeas Corpus Case 134 The Second Phase: An Assessment 137 5- Judicial Activism: The Third Phase 138 Post-emergency Assertiveness 138 Public Interest Litigation 141 PIL: Criticisms of Principle 144 PIL: Practical Criticisms 150 Non-PIL Activism 152 The Third Phase: An Assessment 159 6. General Conclusions 163 5. The Supreme Court of Ireland 169 1. Introduction 169 2. The Historical Background 170 The Impact of the 1937 Constitution 171 3. The Function and Role of the Supreme Court 173 The Article 26 Process 174 Precedent 176 4. Lack of Substantiation of Rights 178 5. Use of Comparative Materials 178 6. International Human Rights Instruments 182 The European Convention on Human Rights 183 7. Equality 186 Gender Equality 188 8. Economic and Social Rights 190 9. Religion 194 10. The Family 198 Deference to Family Autonomy 199 The Non-marital Family 202 Nullity of Marriage 203 11. Abortion 205 12. Fair Trial Rights 209 13. The Law of Torts 210 14. Concluding Observations 214 6. Judicial Activism in Israel 217 1. Introduction 217 2. The Sources for Judicial Activism in Israel 219 Aharon Barak's Theory of Law 219 The Israeli Political System 221
xii Contents Judicial Activism and the Israeli Form of Separation ofpowers 223 The Israeli Legal System as a Mixed Legal System 223 The Structure of Israeli Courts 224 The Composition of the Judiciary and Judicial Selection 226 3. Judicial Activism in the Realm of Public Law 231 Historical and Institutional Background 231 Judicial Activism in the Early Days of the State of Israel 233 Judicial Activism in Fotm Access to the High Court of Justice 234 Jurisdiction and Competence of the Court 235 Judicial Review of Legislation 235 The Jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice over the Occupied Territories 238 The Discretionary Powers of the Court 240 Standing 240 Justiciability 242 Judicial Review of the Knesset and the Attorney General 243 The Substantive Public Law Applied by the Supreme Court 246 AJudge-made Bill of Rights Freedom of Expression and Derivative Liberties 247 Judicial Activism in Matters of Security and Defence 250 The New Constitutional Jurisprudence 258 Reasonableness as the Primary Administrative Law Doctrine 260 4. Judicial Activism in the Realm of Private Law 261 The Supreme Court Unchains Itself from English Common Law Precedents 262 The Broad Interpretation of the New Civil Legislation 263 The Development of Unjust Enrichment Law by the Court 266 Judicial Activism in Other Areas of Private Law 267 5. Concluding Remarks 268 7. Judicial Activism and New Zealand's Appellate Courts 273 1. Introduction 273 2. The New Zealand Constitutional Context 274 3. Arguments For and Against Judicial Creativity in New Zealand 276 4. The Retreat of the Privy Council 277 5. The Fledgling Local Supreme Court 279 6. Assessments of Judicial Activism in New Zealand 284 7. Acceptable Judicial Creativity and Unacceptable Judicial Activism 301 8. The Values Implicit in Plugging Constitutional and Legislative Gaps 302 9. Examples of Gap-Filling in Respect of Constitutional Provisions 303
Contents xiii 10. Examples of Gap-Filling in Respect of Non-Constitutional Provisions 307 11. Judges and Supra-National Norms 311 12. Rulings of Other Common Law Supreme Courts 314 13. The Altering of Previous Rulings 314 14. Judicial Developments Where Parliament has Spoken Inadequately 316 15. Opportunities to Develop the Law Declined by the Courts 317 16. Conclusion 322 8. Judicial Activism of a Special Type: South Africa's Top Courts Since 1994 323 1. Constitutional Governance: The Context 324 Court Strucrure and Judicial Attitudes 1910-1994 326 Judicial Activism of a Special Type 328 2. Implementing Civil and Political Rights 331 3. Implementing Social and Economic Rights 341 4. Redefining the Limits of Judicial Authority 345 5. Developing Process and Remedies 351 6. Realigning the Common Law by Importing Constitutional Values 353 The Law of Delict: Defamation 353 The Law of Delict: Wrongfulness 355 The Law of Delict: Strict Liability 357 Contract Law 358 Criminal Law 359 7. Drawing Lessons 360 9. Judicial Activism in the House of Lords 1995-2007 363 1. The Distinguishing Features of the House of Lords 363 2. The Orthodoxy Regarding Judicial Activism in the United Kingdom 366 3. Modelling Judicial Activism 369 4. Constitutional and Administrative Law 371 5. Human Rights and Equality Law 379 Human Rights Law 379 Equality Law 385 6. International Law 387 7. Negligence and Related Claims 390 8. Homicide Law 404 9. Other Decisions and Concluding Remarks 411
xiv Contents 10. The United States of America 415 1. 'Judicial Activism' and the Baseline Problem 416 2. The Avoidance Canon 418 3. Interpreting Statutes that Delegate Interpretive Authority 429 4. Conclusion 436 Index 437