Law Under a Democratic Constitution

Jeffrey Goldsworthy is a renowned constitutional scholar and legal theorist whose work on the powers of Parliament and the interpretation of constitutional and statute laws has helped shape debates on these topics across the English-speaking world. The importance of democratic constitutionalism is central to Professor Goldsworthy's work: it lies at the heart of his defence of Parliamentary supremacy and shapes his approach to both constitutional and statutory interpretation. In honour of Professor Goldsworthy's retirement, this collection provides new perspectives from a range of leading public law scholars and theorists on the legal and philosophical principles that govern the making and interpretation of laws in a constitutional democracy. It also addresses some of the challenges to democratic constitutionalism that have arisen in light of contemporary developments in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

1. IntroductionLisa Burton Crawford, Patrick Emerton and Dale Smith2. Goldsworthy on Interpretation of Statutes and Constitutions: Public Meaning, Intended Meaning and the Bogey of Aggregation Larry Alexander3. What is Statutory Purpose? Dale Smith4. Statutory Meaning without Parliamentary Intention: Defending the High Court's 'Alternative Approach' to Statutory Interpretation Patrick Emerton and Lisa Burton Crawford5. Goldsworthy on the Normative Justification for Originalism Lawrence B Solum6. Originalism and Explanatory Power: Text, Structure and the Interpretation of Constitutions Nicholas Aroney7. The Moral Motivations for Moderate Originalism Heidi M Hurd8. Authenticity, Ontology and Natural History: Some Reflections on Musical and Legal Interpretations Kevin Toh9. Populism and Parliamentary Sovereignty: The Goldsworthy SolutionAlison L Young10. Democracy, Mixed Government and Judicial Review Richard S Kay11. Models of (and Myths about) Rights Protection Richard Ekins12. Political Obligation and Public LawTRS Allan13. Response to Contributors Jeffrey Goldsworthy