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General Issue

The High Court on Constitutional Law: The 2019 Statistics

Author

Andrew Lynch

This article presents data on the High Court’s decision-making in 2019, examining institutional and individual levels of unanimity, concurrence and dissent. It points out distinctive features of those decisions – noting particularly the high frequency of both seven- member benches and the number of cases decided by concurrence over 2019. The latter suggests the possibility of greater judicial individualism re-emerging on the Court despite the clear endorsement of the ‘collegiate approach’ by Chief Justice Kiefel and its practice in the first two years of her tenure as the Chief Justice. This article is the latest instalment in a series of annual studies conducted by the authors since 2003.

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(2020) 43(4) UNSWLJ 1226: https://doi.org/10.53637/GATP6413