The 2018 Australian High Court Constitutional Term: Placing the Court in Its Inter-Institutional Context

Abstract

Drawing on the scholarly commentariat tradition now practised across the world, this article provides an overview and analysis of the 2018 Australian High Court’s constitutional term. However, this article approaches this task through a slightly different lens: I consider the 2018 developments by reference to their inter-institutional context. That is, how the High Court’s jurisdictional and doctrinal developments do and should impact the jurisdiction and behaviour of the other branches of government, and in the context of constitutional judicial review, particularly the Australian parliaments. In the article, I consider the High Court’s 2018 constitutional jurisprudence in three areas of law, and how its decisions have and should impact the constitutional responsibilities and practice of parliaments. Placing the High Court’s term in this inter-institutional context will give a better sense of the reach of the impact of the Court’s jurisprudential developments, as well as serve as a reminder that constitutional responsibility will not always lie with the courts for the articulation and prioritisation of constitutional principle.