Constitutional conventions in Australia : an introduction to the unwritten rules of Australia’s constitutions [Book review]

Abstract

One of the gravest dangers facing Australian constitutionalism arises from the fact that our constitutions are only partly written. The danger exists that politicians and others involved in operating the system will refer to the written constitution and, because a power is granted there, ignore the unwritten limitations on its exercise and argue that it may be employed at will and subject to no further requirements. The danger was well illustrated for me in late 2008 when I was teaching in Canada and heard the Prime Minister of that country stating that he would use all powers legally available to him to avoid a proposed vote of no-confidence while saying nothing at all about any conventional limitations that might exist. It is a shameful fact that many law schools unintentionally give credence to the idea that the written document is virtually everything by devoting little to no time in their courses on constitutional law to the subject of constitutional conventions.