Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Making Sausages And Law: The Failure Of Animal Welfare Laws To Protect Both Animals And Fundamental Tenets Of Australia's Legal System, Elizabeth J. Ellis

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made.

The above aphorism, attributed to Bismarck, was quoted by Philip Ruddock when addressing lawyers in 2007 on the subject of law reform. Interestingly, Mr Ruddock also referred to the rule of law in the same speech. Apparently the juxtaposition of the rule of law with a preference for secret law-making did not strike the (then) federal Attorney-General as odd. Perhaps this is unsurprising: the rule of law is commonly invoked for effect and may be used for a multitude of purposes. For this, and other reasons, the …

Calling Out The Troops - The Australian Military And Civil Unrest: The Legal And Constitutional Issues By Michael Head, Cameron Moore

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

[As of 2006, part IIIAAA of the Defence Act 1903 (Cth) permits Australian military aircraft and warships to fire missiles into civilian aircraft or shipping where they present a threat to 'Commonwealth interests'. There is no need for a declaration of war nor any actual armed conflict to be taking place. This is not to say that there are no checks and balances. There are, and they include the concurrence in most circumstances of the Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Defence Minister and Governor-General. However, such powers were too much for the German Constitutional Court, which struck down comparable German legislation. This …