Santow, Edward --- "Australian Constitutional Law: Commentary and Cases, by Suri Ratnapala, Thomas John, Vanitha Karean & Cornelia Koch" [2007] ALRCRefJl 17; (2007) 91 Australian Law Reform Commission Reform Journal 64

• Australian Constitutional Law: Commentary and Cases

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_Reviews

Australian Constitutional Law: Commentary and Cases

By Suri Ratnapala, Thomas John, Vanitha Karean & Cornelia Koch, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition,

2007

$85.00

Australian Constitutional Law: Commentary and Cases

The authors of this text set out to ‘combine the virtues of treatises and of source books’ to create a reference text on the Australian Constitution. At its core, this is mainly a ‘cases and materials’ text and the authors have done a good job of selecting important passages from key cases.

In keeping with their goals, the authors focus especially on the orthodox views of constitutional doctrine, though they often provide references to alternative views. The text is pitched at undergraduate law students and does not assume detailed knowledge of constitutional law or theory. With this in mind, the authors provide relatively brief, helpful summaries and explanations of the relevant facts and law. On the whole, the authors explain complex constitutional principles clearly, without resorting to over-simplification. It is, however, a relatively short text—for example, it is approximately half the length of Australian Constitutional Law & Theory by Professors Blackshield and Williams. As a result, each constitutional principle is addressed quite succinctly.

The authors provide some, generally brief, critical analysis of important decisions and principles. This is useful in contextualising the issues raised in the major constitutional cases and in elucidating important themes. However, some caution should be exercised in reading such critique because it is quite limited in its length and scope. I would hasten to add that this seems entirely consistent with the authors’ aim—that is, they do not attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of those issues, and such an attempt would be impossible in the space available. Instead, they provide a starting point for constitutional scholars wishing to conduct further research on these issues.

While all of the authors share responsibility for the book as a whole, the Preface discloses which chapters were written by which individuals. There are, therefore, some small differences in style and focus. For example, the first five chapters—dealing with fundamental principles such as the separation of powers— are written by Professor Ratnapala and are particularly well explained. Nevertheless, it is clear that some effort has been made to ‘sew’ together the various components to make the text homogenous.

This also raises a minor matter of style: the authors’ minimalist use of punctuation may be a little unsettling for followers of HW Fowler and other traditionalists. Commas are relatively rare. I do not remember seeing a semicolon. Such pedantry aside, the writing is clear and concise. Constitutional law is notoriously complicated. Much of the writing in this area discourages students from engaging with this subject because it is equally complicated and often riddled with barely penetrable Legalese. In expressing themselves clearly and (where possible) simply, the authors are able to open up federal constitutional law to a broader readership.

Edward Santow