Treaties and Australian Law - Administrative Discretions, Statutes and the Common Law

Abstract

This article demonstrates that treaties have had, and continue to have, effects on Australian law in a number of ways in the absence of legislation: through the doctrine of legitimate expectation; through their use in the development of the common law; and through their use as an interpretative aid in statutory interpretational. While the Teoh case has added to the Australian jurisprudence on the relationship between treaties and domestic law, it has not provided clear guidance on how the relationship will develop in the future. The case is indicative of the uneasy relationship between globalisation and national sovereignty and the competing pressures these place on the development of law within Australia