Handbook

The role of the High Court of Australia as a legal, political and social institution in the framework of the Australian Government. Topics include: the relationship of the High Court to other institutions of government; the relationship of the Court to other courts within the judicial system; the historical development of the Court and the distinctive features through different periods of that development; the Court's composition and internal workings; its style of legal reasoning; its contribution to the development of distinctively Australian law in selected areas and the place of its individual members in the Australian judicial tradition.

Main Topics

• The history of the Court and its justices
• Appointment and removal of justices
• The jurisdiction and operation of the Court
• the Court's role and record in private and public law
• the Court's relationship with the political branches of Government, including its public accountability