Principles of public law and statutory interpretation

The unit will introduce the basic principles of public law, government and statutory interpretation in Australian law. The unit will investigate the range of legal devices whereby Australia is governed, and will introduce key ideas pertaining to public legal entities, including the Crown. Fundamental principles of public law will be considered, together with the broader contexts in which they arise and operate. So will fundamental constitutional relationships between each of Parliament, the executive and the judiciary. The unit will also deal with statutory interpretation in depth, beginning with the fundamental constitutional principle of parliamentary supremacy, and exploring how the rules and principles of statutory interpretation flow from an understanding of the constitutional relationship between Parliament and the judiciary.