The recent High Court decision regarding native title rights in Western Australia has reminded governments that accepting coexistence might be wiser than insisting on extinguishment, writes Sean Brennan.
The High Court’s approach to decision-making underwent a major change in 2013, with a move away from the high levels of dissent seen in recent years to a more consensus outlook, an analysis has found. OPINION
Australia's low key response to the judicial crisis in Nauru is untenable and could mean that asylum seekers will not have access to an independent justice system, writes George Williams.
The Coalition's plan for processing asylum seekers will be challenged in the courts and will likely fail, putting a future Coaliton government back at square one on asylum policy, argues George Williams.
The Federal Government can remove the legal risks facing the PNG plan by amending the Migration Act and legislating in breach of the refugee convention. But this may be a step too far for Parliament, writes George Williams.
Dyson Heydon insisted that "compromise is alien to the process of doing justice according to law". However, it would be surprising if this judicial individualism catches on, writes Andrew Lynch.
The period of unanimous decision making in Australia's highest court is well and truly over with Justice Dyson Heydon cementing his place as the new Great Dissenter, a review of the High Court's 2012 record shows.
The print media doesn't have a higher claim to freedom of speech than radio and television, which suggests that News Limited's challenge to new print media regulation has little chance of success, writes George Williams.
