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Constitutional Law Note

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Constitutional Law Note CONSTITUTIONAL LAW NOTE Topic 1, 2 – The Structure of Parliament and Legislative Procedures o The Structure .......................................................................................................... 3 o Duration and Membership ..................................................................................... 5 o Standard Legislative Procedures: Commonwealth and States ............................... 8 o Commonwealth Alternative Procedures (section 57) ............................................ 10 o Commonwealth Restrictive Procedures (section 128) .......................................... 13 o Special Procedures for Financial Legislation (section 53, 54, 55) ........................ 15 o State Restrictive Procedures .................................................................................. 19 Topic 3 – Characterisation and Interpretation o Principles of Constitutional Interpretation ............................................................. 25 o The Process of Characterisation ............................................................................. 28 Topic 4 – Financial and Economic Powers o Taxation Power – section 51(ii) ............................................................................. 33 o Grants Power – section 96 ..................................................................................... 36 o Appropriation Power – section 81 ......................................................................... 38 o Corporations Power – section 51(xx) .................................................................... 41 Topic 5 – External Affairs Power – section 51(xxix) o Matters External to Australia ................................................................................. 49 o Extraterritorial Competence of the States .............................................................. 51 o Relations with Other Countries .............................................................................. 52 o Treaty Implementation ........................................................................................... 53 Topic 6 – The Executive Power o The Crown ............................................................................................................. 59 o The Prerogative Power ........................................................................................... 65 o The Implied Nationhood Power ............................................................................. 67 o The Commonwealth Executive Capacities ............................................................ 71 Topic 7 – The Inconsistency of Laws o The Meaning of Inconsistency ............................................................................... 73 o Direct Inconsistency ............................................................................................... 74 o Indirect Inconsistency ............................................................................................ 77 o Inconsistent Criminal Penalties .............................................................................. 81 Topic 8 – Intergovernmental Immunities o First period ............................................................................................................ 84 o Second period (Engineers’ case) .......................................................................... 85 o Third period (Melbourne Corporation case) ....................................................... 85 o Melbourne Corporation doctrine reformulated ................................................... 88 Topic 9 – Constitutional Rights o Just Terms for the Acquisition of Property – section 51(xxxi) .............................. 92 o Trial by Jury – section 80 ....................................................................................... 96 o Freedom of Religion – section 116 ........................................................................ 99 o Freedom of Interstate Discrimination – section 117 .............................................. 103 o Implied Freedom of Political Communication ...................................................... 105 o Voting Rights ......................................................................................................... 112 Topic 10 – Commonwealth Separation of Powers o Separation of Judicial Power (two principles) ....................................................... 115 o Exception to Boilermakers’ principle (Persona Designata) ................................. 118 o Preventative Detention and Chapter III Constitution ............................................. 123 o Separation between Executive and Legislative Powers ......................................... 125 Topic 11 – State Separation of Powers o Kable Principle ....................................................................................................... 126 o The resurgence of Kable since 2008 ...................................................................... 132 o The New Direction for Kable ................................................................................ 134 1. The corporations power - section 51(xx): Section 51 – Legislative Power of the Parliament The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: (xx) foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth; - There are two fundamental questions relating to the power: o What types of corporation does the Commonwealth Parliament have control? o What aspects of these corporations’ affairs are subject to Commonwealth control? - Under the doctrine of reserved powers (before the Engineers’ case), the majority of judges held that s 51(xx) allowed the parliament to legislate so as to control the legal capacity of corporations, but not so as to control those corporate activities – Moorehead (1909) Changes in the interpretation of s 51(xx): - The impact of the Reserved Powers doctrine: Huddart Parker v Moorehead (1909) - The rejection of the Reserved Powers doctrine: Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes (1971) a. Types of corporations the Commonwealth can legislate: What are trading and financial corporations? - The HC developed two tests: o The purposes (‘intended activities’) test: A corporation is to be characterised by reference to its purposes, rather than its activities. o The ‘actual activities’ test: A corporation is characterised as a trading or financial corporation by reference to its activities. Ie, trading or financial activities must form a substantial or significant, but not necessarily predominant, proportion of its activities. R v Trade Practices Tribunal; Ex parte St George County Council The purpose test Facts (p. 310): - The SGCC was a body corporate set up under the Local Government Act 1919 (NSW) to buy and sell electricity in an NSW district. - It also sold electrical appliances for profit. - SGCC argued that it was not a ‘trading corporation’ but a public service organisation. Held: - Majority: SCGG was not a trading corporation - “It is necessary to determine the true character of the corporation, upon a consideration of all the circumstances that throw light on the purpose for which it was formed.” (Gibbs J) R v Federal Court of Australia; Ex parte WA National Football League (Adamson’s Case) (1979) The ‘actual activities’ test Facts: - Adamson was a professional AFL footballer employed by the West Perth Football Club. He wished to transfer clubs to Norwood Football Club (SA). - Both the WA and SA football leagues were incorporated under their respective state laws for the purpose of promoting football (a non-profit objective). - BUT substantial income was generated by both leagues from gate receipts, broadcasting, fees, advertising, membership subscriptions etc. - Adamson’s release was refused. Adamson alleged that the WA football league, the SA football league and the West Perth Club breached the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) by preventing him playing for Norwood in the SA league. Held: - The Leagues and the Club were ‘trading corporations’ by reference to their actual activities. A majority of the High Court declined to follow the approach taken in St George County Council (1974) - Mason J (with whom Jacobs J agreed): ‘“Trading corporation” is not and never has been a term of art…Essentially it is a description or label given to a corporation when its trading activities form a sufficiently significant proportion of its overall activities as to merit its description as a trading corporation. … Whether the trading activities of a particular corporation are sufficient to warrant its being characterised as a trading corporation is very much a question of fact and degree. … I do not limit the concept of trading to buying and selling at a profit; it extends to business activities carried out with a view to earning revenue.’ What is a foreign corporation? - A corporation formed outside the limits of the Commonwealth (ie overseas): see NSW v Commonwealth (‘Incorporation Case’) (1990) - This means that a corporation formed under the law of a foreign country is capable of being regulated by the corporations power - The corporation does NOT have to be characterised as a ‘trading’ or ‘financial’ corporation to fall within the ambit of the power. What matters is that the corporation carries on some business INSIDE Australia. What is a trading corporation? Communications... and Allied Services Union of Australia v Queensland Rail
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