2020
Book launch: The Frontiers of Public Law
The Hon. Michelle Gordon AC (High Court of Australia) officially launches the book 'The Frontiers of Public Law' (Hart Publishing, 2020) and offers her reflections on the collections contained within. Editor Professor Jason Varuhas (Melbourne Law School) and contributors Professor Anne Twomey (Sydney Law School) and Professor Kirsty Gover (Melbourne Law School) discuss core themes which emerge from the collection.
The Frontiers of Public Law contains selected papers from the third Public Law Conference, a major international conference hosted by the University of Melbourne in July 2018. This important collection includes contributions by leading academics and senior judges from across the common law world, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The collection explores the frontiers of public law, examining cutting-edge issues at the intersection of public law and other fields. The collection addresses four principal frontiers: public law and international law; public law and indigenous peoples; public law and other domestic fields, specifically criminal law and private law; and public law and public administration.
In common with the two books from the previous Public Law Conferences, this collection offers authoritative insights into the most important issues emerging in public law, and is essential reading for those working in the field.
Book panel discussion: Constitutional Change in the Contemporary Socialist World
4 November 2020
The Panel discussed Constitutional Change in the Contemporary Socialist World (by Bui Ngoc Son), which offers a comprehensive and holistic view of an understudied and overlooked area of constitutional law, essential for anyone studying or working in law, politics, or policy.
After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, there are only five socialist or communist countries left in the world – China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam – which constitute about one-quarter of the world’s population. Yet, there is little scholarship on their constitutions. These countries have seen varying socioeconomic changes in the decades since 1991, which have led in turn to constitutional changes. This book investigates, from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, how and why the constitutional systems in these five countries have changed in the last three decades.
The book then examines these constitutional changes by addressing four questions: what are the substantive contents of constitutional change, what are the functions, what are the mechanisms, and what are the driving forces? These questions form a framework to examine the processes of changes the five countries have gone through, such as making new constitutions, amending current ones, introducing more rights, enacting legislation, and defining the constitutional authority of the three state branches and their relationship with the Communist Party. While all five countries have adapted their constitutional systems, the degree, mechanisms, and influential factors are not identical and vary considerably. This book examines these differences and the reasons for them.
This Book Panel was co-hosted by the Asian Law Centre and the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School. Panellists included: Bui Ngoc Son, Cheryl Saunders, William Partlett and Tarun Khaitan.
Reforming Tax Sharing in the Federation
11 August 2020
Prof. Dr. h.c Rudolf Mellinghoff discussed tax equalisation and fiscal controls in Germany’s Federation and the lessons for Australia. The allocation of taxes in Germany between the Federal and State governments, where the most important taxes including income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax are jointly shared by the Federal and State governments. The panel discussed the vertical and horizontal distribution of tax revenues. It also examined the fiscal controls on the Federal, State and local governments.
Public finances are the reality of any constitution. Those who do not have sufficient financial resources of their own have no power to exercise their competences. Especially in a federal state, the distribution of financial resources is therefore of central importance. In Germany, the distribution of tax revenues is expressly regulated in the constitution. The financial equalisation between the Federal Government and the Länder (State) governments is particularly important and has been the subject of several cases before the Federal Constitutional Court. The aim of the constitution is to enable the Federal Government and the Länder to perform the tasks assigned to them under the constitution. Only in this way can the state autonomy of the Federation and the Länder become a reality and autonomy and responsibility for the performance of tasks develop. The financial constitution is therefore a cornerstone of the federal system.
This talk will discuss the principles of tax distribution in Germany between the Federal and State governments. First, it deals with vertical fiscal equalisation between the Federal Government and all of the State governments. It should be emphasized here that the most important taxes, such as income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax, are shared by the Federal and State governments. These joint taxes comprise almost three quarters of total tax revenue in Germany. The horizontal financial equalization then regulates the distribution of tax revenue among the individual states. Finally, this talk observes that the political power of the Federal, State and local governments also depends on the extent to which the Federal Government is allowed to spend its tax revenue in the States or municipalities. Here, too, there are constitutional provisions that must be observed in a federal state.
This event is supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Regional Programme Australia and the Pacific (KAS Australia) and co-hosted by the Tax Group and Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School.