Interpreting constitutions : a comparative study / edited by Jeffrey Goldsworthy.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Goldsworthy, Jeffrey Denys.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Constitutional law--Methodology.

Constitutional law.

Constitutional law--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

xvi, 353 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

This book describes the constitutions of six major federations and how they have been interpreted by their highest courts, compares the interpretive methods and underlying principles that have guided the courts, and explores the reasons for major differences between these methods and principles. Among the interpretive methods discussed are textualism, purposivism, structuralism, and originalism. Each of the six federations is the subject of a separate chapter written by a leading authority in the field: Jeffrey Goldsworthy (Australia), Peter Hogg (Canada), Donald Kommers (Germany), S.P. Sathe (India), Heinz Klug (South Africa), and Mark Tushnet (United States). Each chapter describes not only the interpretive methodology currently used by the courts, but the evolution of that methodology since the constitution was first enacted. The book also includes a concluding chapter which compares these methodologies, and attempts to explain variations by reference to different social, historical, institutional, and political circumstances.

Contents:

1. The United States: Eclecticism in the service of pragmatism

2. Canada: From privy council to supreme court

3. Australia: Devotion to legalism

4. Germany: Balancing rights and duties

5. India: From positivism to structuralism

6. South Africa: From constitutional promise to social transformation.

Notes:

Originally published: 2005.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780199226474

0199226474

OCLC:

77012159