Melbourne University Law Review articles

Recent articles from Melbourne University Law Review

The push to reform class action procedure in Australia: evolution or revolution?
December 1, 2008... [Class actions were introduced in Australia over 1.5 years ago and, despite their initially slow uptake, are now well entrenched. In many respects, Australian class action procedure is more 'plaintiff-friendly' than its United States counterpart, such that Australia has become the next most...

Edward John Eyre and the conflict of laws.
December 1, 2008... [In 1865 Edward John Eyre, the Governor of Jamaica, in the course of suppressing a revolt, caused a leading activist to be tried and executed under martial law Over the next three years, a group of leading politicians and thinkers in England attempted to have Eyre prosecuted for murder. When...

Of 'sham' and other lessons for Australian revenue law.
December 1, 2008... [In describing the issues arising in Raftland Pty Ltd as Trustee of the Raftland Trust v Commissioner of Taxation ('Raftland'), the author examines what he sees as a general reluctance of Australian courts to embrace a more robust approach to designating documented transactions as 'shams', as...

Re-invigorating the accountability and transparency of the Australian government's expenditure.
December 1, 2008... [The implementation of the central concepts captured by the final arrangements in ss 81 and 83 of the Australian Constitution has evolved over decades. However, some uncertainty as to their actual content and meaning remains. Significantly, the roles of the High Court of Australia and...

Climate change law: the emergence of a new legal discipline.
December 1, 2008... [In recent times the issue of climate change has catapulted to the forefront of scientific and policy agendas. Climate change threatens to have wide-ranging impacts on ecosystems and presents enormous challenges for conventional modes of socioeconomic governance. Against this backdrop, the...