Law-making: Parliament and the Courts
Core concepts
Parliament makes statute law through a bill passing both houses and receiving royal assent. Know the stages: first reading, second reading (where debate and principle occur), committee stage, third reading, passage in the second house, and assent. Understand delegated legislation and why it is scrutinised. Candidates must explain the legislative process, the role of parliamentary committees, and the influence of minority government and the Senate on outcomes.
Courts make law through precedent and statutory interpretation. Distinguish the literal rule, golden rule and purposive approach (the modern statutory preference, supported by interpretation legislation). Understand ratio decidendi versus obiter dicta, and how a higher court in the same hierarchy binds lower courts. Know the doctrine of stare decisis and when courts may depart from precedent (distinguishing, overruling, reversal).
Traps
Do not say courts "overrule" statutes; courts interpret or invalidate them on constitutional grounds. Do not confuse reversing (same case, higher appeal) with overruling (earlier precedent, later case). Students often misstate that all obiter is binding. Avoid implying parliament can ignore constitutional limits.
Worked example
A superior court holds that a statute's term "vehicle" excludes bicycles. That statement, being essential to the decision, is the ratio and binds lower courts in the same hierarchy. A remark that "perhaps skateboards are also excluded" is obiter and persuasive only. Rule of thumb: ask whether the reasoning was necessary to the outcome.
Reform and influence
Understand law reform bodies, royal commissions, media, and lobby groups, and how courts and parliament interact: parliament can legislate to override a court's interpretation, but not to reverse a court's constitutional invalidity.